Book of Daughter and Father

He bought a cute little notebook and made the first entry for his daughter who was a little over 14.

‘Hi, Darling,

How about writing a joint journal? Each of us to write a few sentences, daily as far as possible. That should take about 5 minutes, I guess. Shall we name it ‘Book of Daughter and Father’?’

Initially, both wrote almost daily. Thereafter, father wrote more often than daughter.

Father asked: why aren’t you writing regularly?

Daughter: Nothing interesting happens daily. What to write? Today, I had Maths, Eng, Social Studies, and Science classes at school, and back at home, did homework? That would be so very boring!

One day, she wrote:

“Here is the poem I had contributed to the Wall Journal in my class.

Even the Moon has spots

A nightmare come true,

A pimple on my nose,

Big, ugly and red.

I stared at the mirror,

My eyes full of horror

Yes, a nightmare come true.

I rubbed and scrubbed,

hoping it would go;

but my stupidity made it grow

and grow

bright red.

I noticed Dad looking keenly

At that damned spot,

With an amused smile on his face.

‘What does he know, how terrible to get pimples?’ I thought,

But then he said

‘The moon also has spots;’

The simple pimple

No longer bothered me.

(I don’t mind getting pimples at all … neither do I get so jumpy and fussy as I have mentioned in this poem – but I had to make it a little – what do you call it- better. So …)”

The project ran for a little less than two years, and then daughter and father got too busy to write.

Fast forward twenty years. Daughter, a marketing manager, suddenly quit her well-paid job.

Why, asked father?

To write a novel. My target is to launch the book by 31 Dec.

That she did. Though she dumped the manuscript for the novel midway, and wrote fifteen short stories, instead.

Father complimented her and asked: what did it cost to publish your book?

Less than 35k, I paid for editorial service and the cover design, she said.

That was the upfront cost, not including a year’s salary daughter had foregone to write the book!

Father: How about our ‘Book of Daughter and Father’? The manuscript is still at home.

Daughter, after a pause, ‘Oh, that’s ancient history!’

The manuscript waits hopefully among father’s diaries.

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