Page 49 of Losing the Rhythm

“Yeah.” Even I thought it was rather unbelievable. I finally realized Dad was leaving and went to the window. He was still sitting in the driveway, and from the look of it, not moving.

It took at least a full minute before his car finally started and he backed out.

“That’s your dad?” Toby asked.

“That’s my dad.”

“Holy shit, I can’t believe he came all the way here to see you.”

“I’m not dreaming, right? That was him.”

“No you aren’t,” Justin said. “He really came.”

“To see me,” I added, still covered in a weird numbness. It felt like I was in a half-asleep state and my dreams were seeping into the reality around me. “Do you think he’ll disappear again?”

“I don’t think so.” Justin reached over and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “A man who’s willing to travel this far to see you won’t run off so easily.”

I wanted to believe in that, I really did. But something in me felt off. Felt like what I saw was only a dream, and dreams were always only fleeting. He could so easily disappear as easily as he appeared.

“Let’s move this back to my place,” Seth said. “I’m sure right now, a distraction is needed and those pumpkins aren’t going to carve themselves.”

They managed to all agree and herded me out of my house before I really had a chance to say anything. Before I knew it, I was sitting in front of the coffee table with the pumpkin I picked out yesterday sitting in front of me.

Toby and Paxon were flourishingly showing off all the tools they were able to find. I thought it was going to be a simple set up. I remembered seeing the pumpkin carving packs sold in stores, the flimsy looking ones with orange handles.

These didn’t look like that.

There was even what looked like a drill kit.

The tools looked sturdier, shinier, and sharper.

And was that a screwdriver kit, but instead of different screwdriver tips, different blades were on display?

“What’s this?” I asked, grabbing a small black thin box that barely fit in my hand.

“Knife sharpener,” Paxon said. “The tools can get dull quickly.”

I picked up the pumpkin scraper. It even had a pumpkin face decal through the middle. It was kind of cool.

“Okay, let’s get started,” Seth said. He placed a couple bowls on the table between us. “Make sure all the seeds go in there.” He gave Toby a warning look.

Toby smirked before picking up a carving tool and working to carve out the top of his pumpkin.

Everyone else picked up a tool and began doing the same thing.

I stared at them all working diligently. Paxon’s expression was probably the most hilarious as he determinedly worked to remove the top of his pumpkin. His was a little lopsided, but it still held a nice roundness to it.

“Cadence?” Justin asked, nudging me lightly. He was sitting to my right, already working on cleaning out his pumpkin. He was working rather quickly. “Need help?”

“No.” I cleared my throat. “I’m good.”

“We didn’t really push, but how are you holding up with seeing your dad? Do you want to talk about anything?”

I pressed my lips together and made an effort to pretend I was following along with them, grabbing the tool Justin had used. I stabbed down into the pumpkin and slowly worked my way around the stem.

“What am I supposed to do?” I finally asked once I pulled the top off. I only said it loud enough for Justin to hear me. The others were too distracted trying to get all the guts out of their pumpkins and talking about the designs they were thinking about.

“About your dad?” Justin asked.

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