Strange sounds could be heard traveling throughout the house. A final loud THUMP! Then nothing, but sheer silence.
This was very odd, to say the least. As she hurried upstairs to see what had happened, there, her heart came to a sudden halt.
Her father's bedroom door was open, enough to allow a single thin beam of light to shine through, onto the hallway carpet. Was it he who made this noise? she wondered.
As she quietly pushed the door to his bedroom open, holding her breath to not make her presence known, she peeped inside and screamed!
There he lay. The only person in her entire world who loved her. Her father lay there, unconscious, with a black garbage bag tied around his neck. A bottle of ether, empty, on the floor beside him.
As she struggled to remove the bag, shredding it to pieces, the man she loved more than life itself, came to.
"Daddy why? she cried out! "Why?" she exclaimed, once more.
With what energy he had left in him, with what little strength he had, he responded:
"I am tired of living my life in vain!"
Her eyes immediately filled with tears. She could feel and understand his pain. She knew too well of which he spoke. His pain was hers as well.
"If you leave me daddy, I will be alone..." she cried out to him.
"You are strong, you will overcome this" he said, with his now fading voice.
"I will always be by your side" he muttered, as he closed his eyes.
"I love you daddy, please don't leave me alone!!!" she expressed with great sadness.
Within seconds, he was gone.
His pain and suffering was finally over.
