Gina Heslop
A father finds himself bewildered by his young daughter’s bedtime prayers that seem to foretell unfortunate events. The three-year-old, after the usual blessings for Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma, adds an unexpected twist with a casual “goodbye Grandpa.” The father, puzzled, questions her choice, to which she innocently responds that it “just seemed like the thing to do.”
The unexpected unfolds when, true to the bedtime farewell, Grandpa passes away the next day. The father, attributing it to a strange coincidence, is taken aback but doesn’t dwell on it until a few months later. The daughter, in her nightly prayers, bids farewell to Grandma, and, unsettlingly, the grandmother meets her demise the following day.
Feeling a growing unease, the father listens anxiously as his daughter, once again, concludes her prayers with a surprising “goodbye Daddy.”
Troubled by this eerie premonition, he spends the following day on edge, anticipating the worst. Unable to face the possibility, he seeks refuge at work, extending his stay until midnight to avoid returning home.
When the clock finally strikes midnight, the father breathes a sigh of relief and heads home, his nerves frayed. Upon arriving, his wife, unaware of his day, questions his late hours. Reluctant to discuss it, he merely states that he had the worst day of his life. However, his wife, with a twist of dark humor, responds with her own shocking revelation. Apparently, the mailman had dropped dead on their porch that morning.
This darkly comedic narrative explores the interplay between superstition and coincidence, leaving the reader with a wry smile at the unexpected twists of fate in the father’s life.
