It was a brisk autumn day when Aiko Takahashi lost her innocence. The uncanny silence of her father’s home office was an eerie sight. Her home was usually a bustling wellspring of activity, but now still as a tomb as she stepped through the familiar threshold. The sun was getting low on the horizon, and when young Aiko flipped a switch, the walls had no power to turn on the lights.

“Mother?”

Not here. Maybe Mother’s out shopping? Gretchen usually handles that. Father may know.

Aiko crept through the hall that led to her father’s study. Her father hated noise but despised interruption. She tried to be as quiet as possible.

If I hear father, I will sneak out of here before he catches me.

The door to her father’s study was opened. She could see the silhouette of her father. He was sitting in a desk chair. Usually, he didn’t move much while he was working. Sometimes, Aiko would sit in the hallway watching her father work from afar. It was her way to spend more time with a man with a working obsession.

“Father?”

Aiko waited for a long moment. She heard leaves rustling outside. She took a hesitant step toward his office but froze in indecision. The sunlight, her only source of illumination, was waning. Soon, she would need to make a decision. She desperately wanted her father to be okay, but… she was afraid.

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“Father, it’s me, Aiko. Please do not be angry. Please forgive my intrusion.”

She pushed open the door to his study, just wide enough for her to enter. Her father appeared to be resting in his favorite chair. She took a slip of paper from a pocket in her school uniform. It was a permission slip that she’d hoped he would sign. It was her first field trip, and she looked forward to the zoo. She placed the paper in front of her father and bowed.

“Say something, yell at me. I’m in your study. I’m a bad girl.”

Tears welled in Aiko’s eyes, and the moisture from her mouth evaporated. Her heart seemed stuck in her throat. She touched her father’s hand—so cold. She gazed directly at her father for the first time. She couldn’t remember when she’d looked at her father directly. His lifeless stare stabbed her in the heart as effectively as any knife. Aiko stumbled back, her hand shaking as she realized the truth. Her father was gone. The weight of his absence settled heavily on her chest, and she sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

If I had not been so late?

At that moment, the world around Aiko seemed to blur into a haze of grief and confusion. She clutched the permission slip tightly in her trembling hands, scarcely able to comprehend the devastating loss that had befallen her. How could this have happened? Why hadn’t she noticed anything amiss? Memories of her father flooded her mind—his warm smile, his laughter, how he used to tousle her hair affectionately. Aiko had always admired him and respected him. He had been her guiding light, who understood and supported her dreams. She closed her eyes and tried imagining this reality away. When frightened, her father told her to close her eyes and imagine something nice. A vision of her mother invaded her thoughts. 

I hope she’s alright!

A hand grabbed her by the shoulder.