”When is Daddy coming home?” Madison asked her mum.

“I am sure he will be home very soon, darling,” she answered. But deep inside Madison’s mum was worried. Her husband was supposed to be home two hours earlier from a work trip overseas and he still hadn’t returned. ”Anyway, it’s time for you to go to bed, honey.”

“But Mummy, I want to wait for Daddy,” whined Madison.

”Don’t worry you will see Daddy in the morning.”

” Fine,” exclaimed Madison as she stormed off to bed.

After Madison was in bed and asleep, her mum tried to call her husband but there was no answer. After trying and trying to get in touch, she finally gave up and got into bed, hoping that when she woke up this would all just be a bad dream.

The next morning Madison’s mum woke up to the sound of Madison crying. Strange, she thought. She got out of bed and walked into Madison’s room to find her sobbing quietly under the covers.

“What’s wrong, honey” she asked.

“You said Daddy would be home,” Madison answered.

“Well, I thought Daddy would be home too. He is just taking a little longer than we thought.”

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Madison jumped up as quick as lightning and went to answer the door.

“Daddy! “she screamed.

Madison’s mum ran out of her room to see her husband at the door embracing her daughter. After a lot of hugs and kisses Madison’s mum and dad sat in the living room while their daughter played in her room.

“Why were you so late? What happened?” Madison’s mum demanded.

“Well, when we got on the plane everything seemed alright, but then when we were about a quarter of the way through the flight we were told something was wrong with the engines so we had to parachute out of the plane. While we parachuted I lost my phone and wallet. When we landed, I tried to call you using a friend’s phone but there was no connection. We had to get on another plane to get home but it took them a while to find a plane. When we finally got on the plane there was no way I could contact you, so after the flight I got a taxi and came home.”

”Daddy come and play with me please?” begged Madison.

“Sure,” her dad smiled.

And from that moment on the three of them lived as a happy family.

By Camila Paez-Piedrahita
Age 12

(Written as part of Expressions Media’s Express Yourself school holiday creative writing workshop.)