30. Cardinal fallacy

Now, lets go for a very short story. This thing about me not recognizing my father, it wasn’t true all the time. There were precise moments when I knew exactly who he was, I was just mistaken about the directions he took in terms of cardinal points.

Take this instance in the suburb. I’m sitting on the floor, playing. It’s almost noon. My mother is cooking lunch. I see her legs in front of the stove a few inches away from me (we weren’t yet using the metric system). When I turn my head to the left I have a full view of the front door.

My father’s there, stoic, like a statue, a brown suitcase next to him. He’s not doing anything. Staring in the distance, but not seeing us it seems. After a while, I look at my mother and, meaning to be of service, since she's busy and doesn't appear to have noticed him either, I tell her: “Mom, dad’s leaving. He’s waiting to say goodbye.”

It was quite logical. There’s a man there, wearing a coat, a suitcase at his feet. The door’s wide open, and he’s not moving.

“You’re an idiot,” she replied rather dryly.

“He’s coming back.”

I always disliked the way my mother found fault with my logic.

Much love,
Laolao