The last phone call

It was 1am when the phone rang and when Josh picked it up, he couldn't believe it. It was dad.

"Josh, I don't have a lot of time. I have to go. They have offered me a new live." He was obviously choking up but trying hard not to sound that way.

"Dad, are you alright? Where are you, I want to see you. I want to see you again." Josh missed his father. They had always been close since his mother died when he was just a little kid. Being a single parent was no easy task, but he did everything possible. Even when he had to work late, he'd wake up early next morning to fix breakfast and lunch for Josh. He always made sure he had his milk and something fresh in his lunch box everyday.

"Don't worry, they are very nice to me here. But I have to go. I want you to take good care of yourself, and be strong, OK? You are the only thing I care about in this world..."

Dad had taught him how to be strong, not as much with words as by example. Standing up to injustice, defending the weak, he had always been his hero since he was a little boy.

"Dad, I want to see you, I want to come to see you, I don't understand, I love you, I want to see you again?" Seeing dad working hard and taking care of him well, he had always hoped to repay him one day. Now Josh had graduated and had a job, but that hope would never be fulfilled.

"Son, I love you more than anything in the entire world. But I have to go. Take good care of yourself. Goodbye." dad said before the call disconnected.

Josh bursted into tears. His facial muscle contorted uncontrollably. He didn't get to say all the things he had wanted to say in the call, but he was grateful for the one last chance to say goodbye; something he didn't get to say before his father died in a car accident one month before.