Picture 4
A Promise To Keep
Kat slumped into her not so comfortable bed after a hard day of training. The basic training just got harder and harder everyday but somehow she managed to cope with each passing day.
She sighed at the thought of what tomorrow would hold for her and if it would be better or worse. Usually it was worse. However this trail of thought didn’t last long as her eyelids fluttered down subconsciously and she had drifted into a dream.
This dream felt more like a memory. A memory from when she was about 8 years old. She vividly remembered her Dad coming home one day in his army uniform. She knew why he wasn’t home very much, only a couple of weeks every few years or so. But she didn’t feel sad because she knew he was out there being a hero.
When he was about to deployed for the first time, he had sat down with her and told her where he was going and what he was going to do. “You know Kat, I’m going to be flying planes and helicopters for the country. Cool, don’t you think?” And Kat would look up to him in mesmerisation. At that point she didn’t really know what was happening but seeing her Dad happy made her happy. When he left, she didn’t cry. Instead she would openly talk to her friends in amazement about her Dad.
However, on this year when her Dad arrived, she was much happier and gleefully enquired about his adventures. She could tell he was tired but he masked it with happiness to see his now much older daughter, but he was happier especially because he got to see her for another year.
On that day, may people had arrived, especially relatives. Kat’s mother made a lovely feast for everyone and she had a good time eating and talking to everyone. Most of her relatives, who she hardly saw, pinched her cheeks and commented on how much she had grown. She was tired of hearing after the fifth person, by she kept up the façade for as long as she could.
Kat was relieved when everyone had left because this meant that she could spend some quality time with her Dad. Her mother was busy downstairs with some cleaning when she crept into her parent’s room. She figured this was the most obvious place he would be and by her judgement she was correct.
Her Dad’s low but deep snoring filled her ears as the door creaked open. The light had been left on and it seemed like her Dad had just passed out on the bed as he hadn’t changed into some sort of sleepwear. She was a bit disappointed that he had gone to sleep so soon but something else caught her attention.
It was the helmet. His helmet. She reached up to the chair that it was sitting on and pulled it down, gently. She caressed the aviator helmet in her small hands. Her hands made their way around the thick, hard, maroon fabric. It sort of tickled under her sensitive fingertips but it sort of hurt also so she didn’t run her fingers over it for long. Next she touched the round goggle like circles that were fixated on the top of the hat. “That’s where I see out of.” She remembered her Dad telling her.
The lenses reflected the light behind her and it mesmerised Kat. It allured her to put it on. She knew it was her Dad’s prized possession but she couldn’t help it. The helmet was much too big for her head and it covered her eyes, which made her giggle.
Her giggle made her Dad stir on the bed and without her knowing he was sitting on the bed looking at her little girl. He smiled in amusement in the position that she was currently in. He got up from the bed and picked her little girl up.
Kat lifted the heavy helmet up from her eyes and looked back at the sparkling blue eyes she knew and loved but rarely saw. “Sorry, Daddy. I couldn’t help it.” She explained.
“It’s okay sweetheart. I think you suit it actually. Do you want to be an aviator like Daddy?”
“Does that mean I’ll get to wear the hat?”
“Of course!”
“Then yes! I want to be just like you Daddy.”
Kat abruptly woke up from her sleep. The images of her past came flooding back to her. That was one of the best and last memories she had of her Dad. The next time she saw him, he was in a coffin, being buried many feet below the ground.
She missed her Dad dearly and wished he had just stayed around a little longer, long enough to share some of the great moments of her life. But she didn’t blame him, she knew what he did was important and he was remembered greatly for that.
Her gaze fell upon the helmet which she had worn when she was 8 years old, laughing with her father. “I’ll make you proud Dad.” She whispered.
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