"1, 2, 3, good morning, sunshine!!"
The boisterous voices of his wife and little daughter echoed the halls as they woke him up from his deep slumber. It's 7a.m., time to get up and smell the coffee.
He walked down the stairs with a smile as he anticipated the smell of good roasted beans working their magic transforming into liquid gold. Daddy's liquid gold, that's what his daughter called it.
He's an engineer by profession, a scientist with a twist of art, a magician they say. He loved his job but his favorite past time is digging his head into nucks and cranny, bits and bolts in the garage and inventing stuff. Like the self-making coffee machine triggered by the sound of his wife and daughter's voices.
That. His alarm.
He walked across the living room into the kitchen and found himself some ready made toasts. That, another invention. Took out the strawberry jam and peanut butter that his daughter liked, he used a teaspoon and spreaded those yummy goodness across the toasts and before you know it, he raised the spoon in the air and said, "this is for you, darling..." and licked it with a big smile.
He had a lovely family, one that was an envy of the town. They were kind, happy, helpful, the kind of neighbors you'd want to have. But tragic knows no name, and in a freak accident one sunshiny day, his wife and daughter lost their lives to a truck in a horrible collision on the way to their daughter's school.
Three years and ten days, since that fateful day. Three years and ten days since he last heard those happy giggles, felt their warm hugs and seen their beautiful smiles.
A week after they passed, he went through his video gallery to find a video of them waking him up one morning. It was always the same routine, his girls jumping up in bed and waking him up with snuggles and kisses. He'd wake up with a happy groan from all the late nights he's pulled from playing with his toys in the garage the night before, always perfecting or repairing stuff.
He went to the computer and decided to make an alarm out of that video recording so that he'll not forget.
Not forgetting that warmth. Not forgetting their voices.
It took months for him to perfect the sound system that connected the house and every other little inventions that he's made, there's even a greeting from his wife whenever he opens the door welcoming him home.
Every little detail just so he could retain bits of their existence.
He touches the dream catcher on the wall that his wife bought during their honeymoon and say a little prayer each time, hoping he'd get through the day when the going gets tough.
They were a family of the little things. It had always been that way.
One very late night, after a long day at work he took a bottle of wine and sat in front of his computer. He had a rough day with the bosses howling at him over a project that's been put on hold.
He wasn't much of a drinker, and all that alcohol just made him wallow in sadness. He missed his wife, his daughter. He looked back at some photos and videos and his heart started beating faster as sadness turned into rage, he screamed bloody murder and for the first time, he felt robbed of the life and happiness he once had.
As he swayed his arms across the table his hand slapped against the wine bottle and in an instant it baptised his computer and dropped to the floor.
Pieces of broken glass and red wine splattered across the room. One even left a small cut on his leg.
He panicked realising that his computer had gone caput. He banged the CPU and keyboard as hard as he could, in his drunken state trying to resuscitate any hope of making it work again, and perhaps it was the mercy of the gods that night, it suddenly started playing again.
The windows jumped into a video that his wife took one afternoon of him and his daughter. She was learning how to ride the bike and in a split second her inability to balance the two wheeler left her with a scraped elbow and knee. She cried and he went to get her and hug her.
"It's alright, baby. When you fall down, you can get back up. Daddy's gonna be here for you. Always."
"Daddy,", with her squeaky little voice, "I'm always gonna be here for you, and mommy too! I love you, daddy!"
His wife was then seen putting down the recorder and went on to join the little hug party that ensued right after that endearing conversation.
He wailed like a baby that night, curled up as he slowly drifted off on the floor.
7 a.m.
"1, 2, 3, good morning, sunshine!!"
He was greeted by love, once again.
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
