It began as beautiful sunny day in the town of Ackor, Alaska. Clara had just arrived home when the clouds began to move in. She got out of her new truck and ran inside. The house, as usually, was a complete mess. Boxes filled ever inch of the living room and the kitchen. Clara and Greg were getting ready to move to Florida; it had been twenty years since she had any type of contact with her father. In fact, she didn't even really remember him at all; the last real memory that she had of him was the time that he had sat up with her when she was sick other than that his face was anything but clear to her. If he were to come up to her right now and say that he was her father, she wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying or not.

She did however, remember her dear mother's face quite well. She had raised her from the time she was three until she made it into college. She was there when she graduated college and made it into med school. She was moving down to Florida to finish med school and because she had been offered an internship at one of the local hospitals.

Still, she sometimes wondered what life would be like if she had grown up with a father. She remembered when her mother took back to the states when she was about four years old; they were living in England at the time. She remembered how her mother hurried her out of bed late at night and made her get into the car. She didn't say anything; but she could tell by her mother's face that something was definitely wrong. There are many things that one forgets about at a young age; but this event, haunted Clara throughout her childhood. One moment, things seem to be fine and the next they were running away from England and away from her father. She never really understood why her mother had decided to leave her father.

Unlike most people, her parents weren't divorce because her mother couldn't get her father to sign the papers. When she asked her one time why she just didn't force him into signing by taking him to court, she said that was not an option and left it at that; and unlike most divorce couples, her mother never had a bad thing to say about her father. In fact, she rarely ever talked about him. It was like he didn't exist at all. Clara even thought at one time that maybe he didn't exist because she couldn't see his face.

He just a blur buried deep into her past nothing more and nothing less. It was beginning to pour and that meant that she would have to load the boxes in the pouring rain all by herself since Greg wasn't home yet. The phone rang but Clara decided that the machine could take a message for her; she had had enough for the day. It seemed as if everyone kept calling her for the past week and a half.





"Hey Clara, this is you mother and I just wanted to tell you that I can't make it for dinner tonight. I'm sorry honey but I have tones of work to do. Talk to you later. Love ya." Jackie said over the machine.





Clara listened to the message, smiled to herself, and then went back to packing and carrying boxes to the car. There was one thing her mother always did and that was to tell her ahead of time her scheduled. Clara remembered how hard her mother worked to get where she was today. She remembered all of the crappy apartments they had to live in. She was always at work or going to school but she always made sure not to miss out on her daughter's life. When she was about eleven years old, her mother had finally been able to get herself through school with a PH.D. They finally were able to move out their crappy apartment and into something a bit decent.

She remembered how they both celebrated her new job and her graduation from school. It was just the two of them; when she asked her mother if she had any family or friends that she wanted to invite over she immediately said no. This is exactly why the memory of fleeing England creeped her out so much. What was her mother running from? She hoped and prayed that she wasn't in any type of danger.









He drove down the street until he came to a small white house; there was a wooden mailbox and a huge oak tree in the front yard. So, this was where she lived; his daughter that is. He saw a truck parked outside and guessed that it must have been either Clara's or her husband's truck. He was so excited to see her; as soon as he pulled up to her house though, he backed down. He couldn't just go up to her door and say hey I'm your dad. Especially since he didn't know how she would react to seeing him. He had no clue what Jackie had told her about him and he had to make sure that she would listen and understand first. He was deep in thought about the situation that he didn't feel a young woman tap his car window. He quickly looked up and realized it was her; he began to feel his stomach get all twisted in knots.





"You must be here to see the place. I hope you don't mind the mess." She said to him.

"Um...yeah, that's right I'm here to see the place." He said to her.

"I'm glad that you came; I was beginning to think that you weren't going to come at all and I was really getting worried." She said to him.

"I'm really sorry that I was late; so where are you moving to?" He asked her.

"To Florida; remember I told you over the phone earlier today?" She asked him.

"Oh yes, that's right; I must have forgotten, sorry about that." He said to her.

"That's alright; well, come on inside. It's much warmer and dryer in there than it is out here." He said to her.

"Okay, let me park my car." Hyde said.





Clara smiled at her unknown father and walked back inside. Hyde smiled back at her and was grateful that he would get to see and talk to her without her knowing. He got out of the car and walked up the path that led to her house. When he reached the front door he looked inside and noticed that there were thousands of boxes lying all over the place. He went inside and closed the door.

Clara came down the hallway and he was happy to finally get a real a glimpse of his daughter. She had short dark hair and was a bit taller than Jackie; she wore bracelets and a Cross with a diamond in the middle of it. She smiled at him and led him down the hallway. There sitting in boxes were pictures of Clara, Jackie, and what Hyde thought to be her husband.

One of the pictures had all three of them at a bar. Clara and her husband had shots in their hands while Jackie was holding a bottle of water in her left hand. They were all smiling and they were all very happy; Hyde became angry once again and soon remembered why he had come all the way to Alaska. Jackie was going to indeed pay for making him miss out in Clara's life.

Clara showed him to one of the smaller rooms in the house; there were boxes full of pictures and clothing. Hanging on the door was Clara's wedding dress. Sitting next to the dress was a box full of wedding pictures. Hyde picked up one of the pictures and stared at it intently.

"So this must be your wedding day." He said to her.

"Ah yes it is; I'm sorry about the mess." She said to him.

"That's alright. You and your mother look really happy here." He said to her.

"That's probably because we are; she's the greatest. I'm so glad that I have her in my life." Clara said.

"So this must be you father; right?" He asked her.

"Oh no, that's just a guy my mom use to work with. He walked me down the isle. My mother and him use to date but then he left her when she couldn't get a divorce from my father." Clara said.

"Oh wow." He said.

"Well, that's probably way to much information for you isn't it?" Clara asked him.

"No, that's quiet alright. So your mother ever get that divorce from him." He asked.

"Well, no she didn't. I keep telling her to just take him to court over it but she says that he'll no where she is if he does that. So it makes me think that she's really terrified of him for some reason. My guess is that he was either controlling or abusive." Clara said.

"No he wasn't." Hyde accidentally said.

"What do you mean he wasn't?" She asked him.

"I just mean that maybe she just doesn't want him back in your lives." Hyde said.

"Hmm...well, maybe I don't know. Listen, I got to get going; it was nice talking to you. If you have any questions feel free to call the real estate agent." Clara said.





Hyde walked out of the house; angrier than ever. After all this time, this is what she let Clara believe that he was an abusive controlling person. He never touched nor emotionally abused her ever. Jackie was going to fall hard and he was going to make sure it happened soon.





Clara went to answer the door; standing there was a man.





"Excuse me, I'm sorry that I'm late." He said.

"Late for what?" She asked him.

"Late to see the house." He said to her.

"Are you Mr. Arenoe?" She asked.

"Yes I am." He said to her.

"Oh no, if your Mr. Arenoe than who the hell did I show the house to?" She asked herself out loud.





Author Note: Ackor isn't real I just made it up.