SHORT STORY

 PAPER PLANES WRITTEN BY Marìa Carretero

This is the story of a kid and his father , who was so inside his world that let his kid fly far far away , like a small and fragile paper plane , simple to break and tear.

But once you wrinkle a paper too much, it's impossible to be the same again.

It was about 8:30 at night, Dave, a 35 year  old man, is checking on his economics book. There are many papers on the wooden desk while his son Alex plays with a paper plane running around the house.

Suddenly , while chasing the paper plane , Alex ,his 5 years old son, accidentally bumps into his fathers desk and spills the coffee on his fathers papers.

“Look what you have done!” his father shouts

Dave starts cleaning the papers and Elena , his wife, comes in.

“Let me help you out” she says while heading to the desk.

The kid frightened looks at his father ruining angrily his paper plane and throwing it away.

“You ruined my whole work! , go to your room immediately” the father says shouting to the kid.

Alex lowers his head and goes to his room as order from his father.

While Alex is in his room , still with his paper plane drowned in coffee on his hand, he starts cleaning it with a towel and when he finishes he puts it on a box, putting the box inside his closet.

Later he lays on the bed and close his eyes. Seconds later the door knocks and his mother , Elena , comes in and sits in the border of the bed next to Alex and starts playing with his hair.

“Alex , don’t worry about it” says Elena while watching his son

“Mommy , it wasn’t my intention , I swear” says the kid with a guilty look.

“You know it Alex, don’t bother your dad while he’s working” says the mother while hugging his kid.

“But he never wants to play with me” says the kid breaking the hug.

“He’s a very busy man, but he loves you” says the mother kissing his son head to stand up and leave the room.

( 2 Years Later)

Dave is on the garage, opens up his car trunk taking out some folders from the bank he works in, he starts looking from an specific sheet

Alex , now 7 years old , came out of the house full of happiness playing with a paper plane in the air , by the moment he saw his father , he runs into him to show him his plane.

“Daddy , daddy , come to play with me please” says the kid 

“Wait , wait” says Dave making a hand signal to stop his kid , without leaving to stare at his papers.

The kids plane falls from his hands to the ground, but without caring he stares at his dad waiting for a response.

“Daddy, but today is sunday” the kid says

“Not now kid, I have a lot of work” the father says getting into the house so the kid stops bothering him.

The kid looks at his paper plane , now on the ground with dirt on it and runs into his father before he enters to the house

“Daddy , but would you play with me when you finish your work?” Says the kid agitated and anxious

“Alex! Leave me alone! go ride your bike or watch some tv!” The father says lightly pushing him aside and while entering to the house he accidentally step on the small paper plane without notice it

The kid watch his now ruined paper plane , and lowing his head pick up the plane and try to take off the dirt on it and fix the wings cause it was crushed, almost buried in the ground. 

He kind of fix it , but when he sits on the ground and throw his paper plane to make it fly it rapidly falls , it was damaged and broke , unable to fly. 

The kid crestfallen and stooped gets into the house , stairs up to his room and put the paper planes on the box in the closet with all the others.

( 3 years Later)

Alex, now 10 year old.

It’s the am , Alex wakes up with energy, he’s excited cause of his soccer game , he starts softly playing with his soccer ball around the house , when he heads the kitchen saws his father sitting there with the eyes on his laptop while taking the breakfast.

“Good morning dad are you coming to my soccer game?” Alex says sitting on the table.

Remember It’s today!” Says with an excitement look on his eyes 

“I can’t son , have a lot of stuff to do, tell your mom to go ” Dave says without look away from his computer

“But dad, I wan’t you to come , I entered in the soccer team for you in the first place “ says Alex now with a blank face , half angry , half disappointed , half hurt.

“Tell your mom to make a video with the cellphone and I see it later” Dave says careless without stop looking his computer

Alex lose his appetite and stand up the table , and go to his room there he starts packing what he needs for the game and in the deep of his backpack he found a paper plane crushed by the soccer ball, careless he stares at it and put it with all the others in the box.

( 4 Years later)

The family is sitting at the dinner table.

Alex , now 14 year old.

“Dad , tomorrow is the father-son fielday at school are you coming,Right? You promise.” Alex says before taking a piece of meat to his mouth.

“Of course I’m going son!! “ Dave says while eating his food.

“ for real?? That’s awesome!! Can’t wait! Thanks dad!! “ Alex says happily to continue eating his food.

The place is full of sons with his fathers, Alex is sitting on a side waiting for her father to arrive , impatiently looks at his watch several times continuously.

“It’s too late , I know he won’t come , like always, I don’t know why I’m still believing him” Alex says to himself .

While seated on a school corner , Alex saw a little kid playing paper planes with his father , both throwing it and picking it up , with hopes that the little plane gets to each other.

“ I would give anything to be that child” Alex says sighing with his head low.

( 4 Years Later)

The times has changed remarkably. There’s an ambient of rush in the family house.

A small red car is parked on the front with the trunk opened.

Alex , now 18 years old, rolls a big suitcase to the little car and put it inside the trunk.

Alex mom, Elena , is helping him with some small boxes to put it inside the trunk.

While Dave, Alex father, is on the house living room observing throw the window every move. He looks sad , crestfallen and walking side to side with crossed arms.

“Honey, take care , wish you the best on college , I know you’ll do great my beautiful baby, please come visit us” Elena says with tears in his eyes hugging and kissing his son head for an extended time cause she doesn’t want to let him go.

“I will mom, thank you. I love you” Alex says hard hugging his mom for a little while too.

Alex kisses his mom head after the hug and closes the trunk to get on his car and turns it on.

Dave came out of the house and head to Alex’s car, little knocks the car window , making him to lower them.

“Son, I’m going to miss you so much” the father says while staring at Alex.

Alex keep silent without even looking at his father , after some seconds he takes out of the back sits something like a shoe box and with an emotionless hard face gives it to his father.

“ I also missed you in this moments” Alex says pulling up the car window and gets away on his car.

Dave , shocked stares at the box and when he opens it , see all the damaged paper planes Alex have been keeping for the last 13 years, every moment that Dave have missed when he needed it .

In the bottom of the box , down all the paper planes there was a note Alex wrote :

“ I only wanted to fly one with you”.