It's been three months since I had dropped my daughter off to college with the lack of her presence being felt across the house. Clothes and random plates were strewn across the house with dishes in the sink also piling up. My daughter had took care of almost every chore in the house and now that she was gone I just couldn't keep up. It's not that I was genuinely a messy person but my job often had me working late overtime with few days off. I tried to clean the house on my days off but it just grew quicker than I could clean and at one point I just gave up.
Luckily today was one of my days off, meaning I could relax. I had start a hobbie of developing a video game aimed towards kids just to pass the time. Usually I would be hanging out with my daughter and taking advantage of the few short days off I had. The realization that I am truly alone hit. I had no one, not even the meows of a cat. Deep down I knew it, I just had been trying to distract myself from the fact.
I let out a big sigh. Just my life huh. But before I could do any more sulking the phone in my pocket started to ring. I pulled out the thing from my pocket, it may not be the latest brand but it still did the job well. I saw that it was from the college trying to get in contact with me. I wasn't expecting a call today but maybe they were calling to inform me how Rose was doing. I answered the phone with its cold screen pressed against my ear.
"Hello, what can I do for you today?" I asked with as cheery a voice as I could muster despite my previous mood.
"Hello, this is Athan Rain, the father of Rose, right?" The speaker on the phone said, sounding like they had a worse day than me.
"Yes, this is Athan Rain, how can I be of assistance?" I asked politely, my name meaning immortal with my father hoping I would live a long life.
"We have called to inform you that your daughter Rose has not been attending her classes. If this keeps up she shall be expelled." The voice on the other side of the phone said calmly but I couldn't believe it. My daughter was a hard worker, no way would she miss her classes at all.
"Are you sure you're not mistaking her with another Rose?" I asked.
"Yes sir, since the start of the month Rose Rain has missed all classes she was taking. She is currently threatened with expulsion from the college," the voice said as I grew more worried that something had happened to my daughter.
"You've got one more month. If she misses any more she will be expelled. We are being generous due to her previous performances," the person on the phone said before they hung up on me as I was left to sit in silence again.
I tried calling Rose 3 times but all I got was the rings of the phone. My mind couldn't help but think of what happened to her. I immediately grabbed my keys and got in the car. I drove as fast as I can to get to her dorm. I figured she might be taking a break or partying too hard but you can't ever be too sure. The seat felt real and hard as I drove, my mind was just racing through the possibilities.
I hadn't feared this much since Rose's mom died from blood poisoning. It was a strange disease that turned one's own blood to a poison to their own body. The doctors had done their best but they didn't have a clue on how to solve it. The fear I felt back then seeing my wife's body lying in the hospital room with the hum of machinery still haunts me. I feared Rose would inherit her mother's illness and I prayed every day that she would live a long life. My heart was pounding as I drove, a father couldn't help but imagine the worst. I steady myself as I arrived at the college.
I rushed to her dorm, pushing kids out of my way. Heart beating too fast to feel until I arrived at her dorm room. I knocked 3 times, no noise. I tried knocking a couple more times until someone on the other side spoke.
"I got it, I got it, hold up," a girl on the other side of the door said as she opened the door. She was small for her age but undoubtedly looked like she was turning 19.
"Hello, I'm here to check in on Rose. I'm her dad and was told she was missing classes," I said with a smile, but inside my stomach was turning inside out like someone hit me with a mallet in the stomach.
"Ah, Rose hasn't been in the room since last month. She just told me to take care of her cat since she was going on a trip," she responded as she rubbed her eye, clearly annoyed she was woken up.
My worst fears were coming to light slowly. I felt my heart drop as panic set over me.
"Do you know where she went?" I asked quickly. It probably could be seen I was clearly panicking but I didn't care, I needed answers.
"No, she only said that she would be gone a while and if her dad came to tell you that she left a note under her bed," the girl said more calmly, probably because she could see me panicking.
"Ok thanks," I said as I decided to take the cat and run back home. All I could think was what was Rose thinking? She had college work she has to do. It wasn't the time to be going on a trip.
Just then the cat in the cage spoke.
"Calm down, fattie."