Casey handed the death certificate to the vault matron in exchange for the safety deposit key. Baffled, her father was not the type of man to have secrets, she allowed a few tears and sorted through his memories: two sets of dog tags, an unused train ticket to Denver dated June 4, 1943, a tiny gold wedding band and a photo of her father in dress blues smiling and embracing a beautiful stranger in an Army Nurse Corps uniform. Casey smiled at his happiness, glad that there was no one left to ask. She closed the box on his past and wondered if she ever really knew her father.
For more flash fiction @Friday Fictioneers drop by the library of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields here.
What's for dinner, Doc? 
Sometimes what’s left would read like a riddle.. this is like the beginning of a story digging into the secret family history.
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Hi Bjorn,
Yes, it’s on the list of great ideas to write about. Sadly, my ideas never write themselves. 🙂
Glad to see you,
Tracey
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Dear Tracey,
It seems that your muse is back with bells on. 😉 I found it ironic that the daughter was glad there was no one left to ask. If it were me I’d be burning with curiosity. I felt like I was right there going through the items in the box. Very well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I wouldn’t want to know my parents secrets but perhaps that ambivalence is the cornerstone of a bigger plot for Casey.
Tracey
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This is bitter-sweet – just like real life.
Nicely told and the start of a longer piece?
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Maybe so Patrick. Thanks for commenting and stopping by.
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It’s a great start! If I ever disappear in mysterious circumstance and they look at my novel notes in my phone . . .
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I’ll follow the trail my friend, unless you don’t want to be found. Please put all the clues it there. 🙂
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Quite a moment for her. I loved “glad that there was no one left to ask” – she can allow her imagination to fill in a happy story start to finish.
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I’m not sure we are supposed to know everything about our parents. I’m comfortable not knowing my father’s secrets.
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I agree with others here that this feels like an intriguing opening to something bigger.
(But you’re right – these things don’t write themselves. I have a lot of ‘openings’…)
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The best laid plans….
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This is excellent Tracey, a lot of emotion and mystery in this one!
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Thank you Joy. The more I re-read it, the more mysterious it becomes. I wondering, why is she so ambivalent?
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That’s a very good question! She did seem to not care one way or the other.
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Do we ever really know anyone (including ourselves)?
Good piece.
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Thanks Mick. Maybe we never do know ourselves. It’s worth asking ourselves occasionally.
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I hadn’t thought of this picture suggesting safety deposit boxes, but that’s such a great idea – so many options with those. And I love this story. Sounds like her father might have had a marriage she didn’t know about.
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We later found my grandfather had. 😯 Sometimes it’s better not to know.
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So is this based on a true story?
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Not mine – but probably someone’s. 😕
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I’m wondering myself. I think they were supposed to marry but never did but I’m not sure.
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Dear Tracey,
I have been thinking about how to tell my son about events similar to those in your well crafted story. Perhaps it is better to not ay anything. Oh, and, your muse? Back in style.
Aloha,
Doug
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Mahalo Doug,
My father started revealing his secrets in the last year of his life but we don’t always know when that will be. If it’s important for your son to know then tell him now. Only this moment is guaranteed.
Glad to see you back at FF,
Tracey
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My father’s a complete mystery to me. Not sure I need to know what he got up to in the 60’s!
Rosey Pinkerton’s blog
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Right Rosey?
After all they were the psychedelic ’60s. Did the UK, “tune in and turn on?”
Best let Dad keep those secrets.
Thanks for commenting
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I’m proud to say I’ve hugged a lot of pretty women without it going any further than that. However, I loved the fact that there was opportunity to read more into your story. I can certainly relate to Casey. It was a hard day, with many tears, going through my mother’s stuff six months after her death.
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Yes, bitter sweet but I loved my parents old photos.
Hugs,
Tracey
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Oh, how beautifully told. I could see it all.
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Thanks Lorna. Knowing you, you would have found the perfect photo to go with the story.
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I do like my photos…or someone else’s photos. 😉
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Wonderful sense of discovery that there may have been more enjoyment in the life of a parent or loved one than we knew. Something I think most of us wish for.
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Perry,
That’s how I see this too. Do you have secrets (or tats) that you don’t want your son to know about? 😉
T
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This is so beautiful, and true. Parents are parents, not people, until they aren’t there any more. I can very much relate, there was a lot I only learned after my father’s death. If you’re in a happy family, maybe it doesn’t matter so much. But if you’ve been fighting often and didn’t get along–learning about your parents’ life and things that shaped them can shed a completely different light on these conflicts. Sorry for being so long-winded. 🙂
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I agree. Our parents are shaped by many events that we could never witness as their children. This is a fascinating conversation – Do we ever really know our parents as people? This space is free so never hold back your words. I love your comments.
Tracey
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As someone said, do we ever really know anybody? A lovely nostalgic piece Tracey.
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Thanks Sandy. As Mick asked, “Do we even know ourselves?”
I think not.
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Even without any of these mysterious clues I found that there was so much i didn’t know about my father. I hope my blog helps my kids to know me better when I am gone.
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My father revealed different pieces of his past to my sister and I in his last year of life. We have just recently started comparing notes. Now we are trying to understand why he told each of us different chapters. It’s a mystery.
Tracey
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Well THAT’s interesting!
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I would so want to have someone to ask! All those unanswered questions burning a hole Inside!
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Dale,
You and Rochelle want to know and Amy and I want secrets to stay secrets.
🙂
Tracey
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Funny how that works!
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I know the feeling of not wanting to know and letting things be and rest as they do in a photo. Sometimes, we don’t need to know everything. Nicely done, Tracey.
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Amy,
Sometimes the past is best left in the past but it makes for good discussion.
Tracey
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I wonder how often this kind of thing happens. I think our parents are the people who we know the least, despite the fact that they are often the people who love us most, and know us best. Maybe that’s how it has to be. I love this story. I’ll be pondering this one for some time.
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True Margaret
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It looks like her curiosity is being stifled by fear. Everyone ~ well most people, if you come from a somewhat normal family ~ want to think their family is perfect. The photo is showing her that perhaps it was not. WOW … I just made up my own interpretation. Sorry .. but that’s what it seemed like to me. I loved the way you wove something so powerful out of a very simple image.
Your great … !!!
Have a Great week …!!!
Isadora
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That probably is the case with this character. Thank you Isadora.
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