Chapter 1: Happily Ever After?
Remember when the days were longAnd rolled beneath a deep blue skyDidn't have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standin' by
But "happily ever after" failsAnd we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on the small details
Since daddy had to fly
Standing beside a grave was a girl, her name was Sara. Tears were gushing down her flushed cheeks and standing beside her was a woman. The woman hugged her daughter sympathetically. Shaking uncontrollably Sara put a single flower on top of the grave and snuggled back into her mother's warm embrace. Sara's father had died in a plane crash some weeks before in the northern territory of Australia. He had been flying over there from England for a business trip. Unfortunately he never made it. An unexpected storm had hit the northern territory and they were trapped in it. The plane crashed into the bush and was found the next day. No one had survived. Sara's dads' body had not been found and so, lying beneath the head stone was nothing but an empty coffin.
From that day on Sara spent most of her time in her bedroom looking at all the photo albums. She was looking at one photo of her dad in particular. They had been on a fishing trip together and her dad was smiling cheerfully as he tried to bait up a fishing hook. It was one of the more, happier pictures of her dad. It was more relaxed and 'dad' like. Every other photo she looked at seemed forced as it was for business. Her dad worked as a salesman. Selling merchandise around the world. So he travelled to many different countries, specking at seminars to convince the company to sponsor in his product. His job didn't run to badly and paid for the house and Saras' school. But now that he was gone, her mum wasn't too sure what was going to happen. The house would most likely have to be sold and Sara would have to move schools. But at the moment nothing of that sort really mattered to Sara, all she wanted was her dad back. It seemed different without her dad there. He'd always go on long trips to other places but she'd always know he was going to come home. And now that he was gone forever, Sara felt very empty. Like part of her was missing. She'd seemed to be in a constant daze. As if none of this was real, That she'd wake up at any moment and her mother would be talking on the phone to her father. Saying that he had arrived in Sydney safe and sound. Sara wanted to be alone in this constant daze, to feel that everything in her life was normal, but her mother called her from down stairs.
"Sara, everything alright?"
Sara replied dreamily "Yes mum."
Sara hadn't been going to school since the night they'd had that fatal call from the police.
"Mrs Day?" The police officer said importantly
"Yes, Who is specking" Sara's mothered answered
"My name is Officer Zerk, I'm sorry to inform you that your husbands plane has disappeared from radar and feared to have crashed up in the northern part of Australia."
Mrs Day did not reply. She stood there stunned with shock. The receiver held loosely in her shaking hands.
The officer cleared his throat and kept going "Though there is no information to identify this statement we thought you should know."
Still Mrs Day did not reply just stood there.
"That is all, Have a nice evening." The police officer hung up.
How could anyone be told to have a nice evening when they'd just found out that their husband was missing. Sara's mum had been quite that day and not spoken a word of the phone call until the next morning when there was another.
"Hello, is this Mrs Day?" Officer Zerks voice echoed through the phone.
This time it was not Sara's mum who answered the phone, but Sara.
"No this is Sara, her daughter shall I get her for you."
"Yes please"
Sara handed the phone over to her mum and hung around trying to listen into the conversation.
She had heard low mumbles but no clear words. Then unexpectedly her mother broke into tears. Sara was shocked and stood there paralysed with confusion.
"Thank you" Mrs Day said softly through sobs and hung up. Mrs Day walked over to the sofa and plonked herself upon it. Still weeping she motioned for Sara to sit opposite her.
"Mum, what's wrong?" Sara asked concerned
Mrs Day cleared her throat and brushed tears from her eyes. "Your father was in a plane crash yesterday afternoon, they've found the plane, no one survived."