My Father
It is dark. All is quiet except for the squeaks and cracks of this 19th century house sinking into the foundation of the ground. I open my eyes and it is still dark. I reach out my right arm in hopes that my hand will find the button on my petite lamp. A soft glow illuminates my room. I sit up and strain to hear the soft voices coming from the television down the hall. I move my purple and pink flannel blankets off my body and get out of bed. The cold hardware floor sends chills up my body, so I put on my Barbie slippers. As I peek around the corner of my doorway I see my mother crying on the couch, using the television as a source of distraction in hopes that I wouldn't hear her. I've seen this scene many times these past 8 years, but I knew the scenes to follow would play out differently than they ever had in the past. She is waiting for him. Him I will not call my dad, but I will only call my father, although he's barely worthy of that title. Since I am now awake, I will wait, too. I sit back in my bed staring at the clock. Just as the hour hand reaches 2, I hear a car pull up. He's finally home. He drags his feet across the pavement and trudges up the fourteen stairs. He opens the door and slams it. He has no idea who is asl
My mother began to yell at him, telling him this was the last time she was going to deal with his problem. She was saying how this was a healthy situation for her and I to live in. Instead of tuning my mother out and giving the TV his undivided attention like he usually he did, he got up off the couch and stood right in front of my mother. Since my mother is 5'4" and my father is 6'2", he towered over her. He began to yell like he's never yelled before. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm guessing this is where I learned most of the profanity I know today. When his back was turned I ran into the bathroom to get a better view. The yelling and shouting became increasingly louder. My mother would say she was going to leave and my father would tell her that she wasn't. She told him he was the reason she was so happy in life, but he refused to see that. She pointed out that she can't be in a happy marriage when almost half of the time she has to worry about if her husband will come home and if he does what will happen. My father got only a few inches from her face, grabbed her arm, and said, "Fine, then leave me, but I know you never will. You can't." My father began to walk down the hallway, heading towards the bedroom. I slowly closed the bathroom door so they wouldn't see me. Instead of letting my father go into the bedroom my mother persisted, and told him that she would leave and he would regret not having us in his life. My father stopped, turned around and began yelling again. As my father was screaming, he raised his fist. As my mother stood
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Stop Stop, week week, looked dark brown, sit 'n bull, sit 'n, looked dark, cry harder, 'n bull, dark brown, i've seen,
Approximate Word count = 1044
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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