The Father

Years ago in an old country house in a fairly small village lived a young girl with her father, a single parent. The little girl spent the majority of her childhood in the house by herself, since her father often worked most of the day, and she was left alone with her thoughts for hours and hours until daddy came.

It was the same ritual every night. Just as she was about to fall asleep her father walks in the bedroom and lays next to her on the bed, petting her hair until she fell asleep.

They both liked this a lot, especially since it was the only time the father could spend some with his little girl. Every single night she tried to stay up as long as possible so she could be awake when her father finally arrives home.

One night just as the girl was getting worried because daddy was an hour late, her father walks into the bedroom.

A tremendous weight fell off of her shoulders and she could finally go to sleep. Her father sat on the bed as usual and started petting her hair and forehead for several minutes. Just as she was about to doze off she heard a noise outside. This was strange because country people don't visit each other in the middle of the nights. She laid on the bed, listening, her father froze his hand as well.

Neither of them moved, they just listened. For several moments they listened to the silence. The girl thought it had to be one of the neighbors who missed the house and are now turning around and going back to their own homes. That is when when they heard the door open and footsteps inside the house. The little girl widened her eyes and freaked out.

She started grabbing her father, scared out of her mind, and was just about to ask him who's inside their house as she heard words that make her blood run cold.

"Sorry I'm late! I had a flat tire from the way home from work." The girl froze, she couldn't move, she couldn't scream. She was completely and entirely paralyzed with fear. Who is this man?

She could now feel him breathing on her, he started petting her hair again, he started touching her again. That's when the poor little girl fainted.

Some time later the girl woke up, the man still in her bed. She couldn't take it, it was life or death now. She started kicking and screaming and scratching the man's face, she started calling for help, she started calling her father with a loud, sharp scream and the man finally turned on the lights. It was her father. THE father. "Sweetie calm down! You've just had a bad dream.“

She resented her father for laughing it off and not believing her. She knew she was awake and she knew it wasn't a dream but that's what they all believed, that's what all of the village people believed and there was no other way she could convince them otherwise.

Or was there? A month goes by and one night her father comes home, walks into the bedroom and sees an empty bed and her daughter gone. Not a single trace, not a single sign of struggle. Vanished.

Today, most people in and around that county make sure to lock their doors at night, most of them even locking their daughters' bedroom doors. Despite not admitting it, they all believe in the story of The Father.