The Runaway Dreamers

Chapter 5

A flood of fear rushed through me, churning my stomach horrendously. I hadn't seen my father in over 7 years and seeing him in my cell in prison, was such a shock. I had to hold my stomach to stop me from vomiting. I couldn't explain how disgusting I felt.

The officer who brought him in took the handcuffs off of my dad's wrists, he refused to lose eye contact with me, despite me purposely surveying things in the cell. There wasn't a lot to survey, so I eventually met his eyes.

They were cold and I could see the pain behind them, haunting him. The officer left and locked the door behind him. Leaving us completely alone.

I was afraid of him. I got him here, what could he do to me? What would he do!? He started to walk towards me but rather than hurt me or even raise his voice at me, he pulled me in to a very tight hug. It was awkward as I didn't know what to do with myself.

"Dad, please. Let me go." I pleaded. I couldn't stand to sound harsh but I couldn't take it, I was going to break down any second if he continued.

"No! I've lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again! Saffron, I killed your mother because she wanted to send you to that boarding school! I didn't want you to leave!" His voice was shaking, and I knew instantly that he was lying.

"You mean that school I wanted to get in to so badly!?" I lied, as convincingly as possible. It was hard, lying and resisting the urge to cry at the same time was quite a challenge after all.

"Oh, princess! I just wanted you to be happ-" I cut him off immediately.

"Don't you dare call me that! I was your princess but now I'm not, okay? You can't tell me you wanted to be happy and then go and murder my mother!" I yelled. I was furious, how dare he lie to me like that!

I sat myself promptly on the bed, watching the door as the officer came back in. "Saffron, was it? Could we speak to you in the interrogation room please? Our station officer would like to speak to you, urgently." I agreed. Anywhere else beat that cell, even the creak, and I wouldn't go back there even if you paid me.

I stepped in to the interrogation room and saw a lanky man sat at a desk. There was a table lamp sat on the desk. It was an almost bare room, with just a desk in the middle and a plant pot in one of the corners, the plant seemed to be dying though, which said a lot. I perched on the chair opposite the man.

"Saffron, I would like to both thank you and apologise to you. I mistook you for a thief, a common crook. I'm truly sorry for that. However, I am so grateful. I heard from the hospital that you recently helped my daughter, Maia? Is that correct?" I had just sat down and all of these words seemed to flow out of him like a vocal river.

"Yes, sir. I believe she was the pretty young girl with a fear of bears. So she asked me to find a way to get rid of her fear. I succeeded by buying her a stuffed bear and comparing it to the real thing. Not my best method, but it seemed to really cheer her up!" I said, faking a smile. I hoped if anything this would get me out of here quicker.

"That means a lot. With her Down syndrome, I don't get to see her very much. I can't cope with the stress of work and seeing my own flesh and blood in that condition. It hurts, but you're different. You're main focus is to help those who cannot complete their life-long dreams. But, I'm curious, how far will you actually go for a child's satisfaction?"

I pondered for a minute. I'd never really thought about it, how far would I go? For one child's happiness? Also, how far would Carlos go? Then, I remembered. Where was Carlos? Was he back at the hospital? I was worried for him but I knew in order to see him again I had to answer his question.

"Well, when a child asks me to do something for them, it seems only proper for me to do just that. I've done things for children that I couldn't force myself to do once upon a time, but their hope in me gave me the strength to carry on for them. So I suppose, there is no specific limit just yet. Why do you ask?"

He paused. As if searching for a suitable answer. I watched his hands, he twiddled his fingers a little bit before he replied.

"I would like you to do something, for me."