Calm and quiet, he listened. Made me believe I had something important to say, even as a child.

His hand warm on mine, he gave me a book. “Read this. Tell me what you think.”

I have yet to read it, and now it’s too late. My father is dead.

Madelaine Wong teaches creative writing at The Alexandra Writers Centre in Calgary, Alberta. She won Freefall Magazine’s Chapbook contest in 2010. She has stories published in Dark Gothic Resurrected, Mused, Toska Magazine and in Shy, an Anthology. She is also the co-author of Cradling the Past, a Biography of Margaret Shaw.
See more at madelainewong.com.