Words From My Father

"Klock … Klock … Klock …," the sound of a hammer echoed in the darkness.

Johan opened his eyes to a familiar setting.

He was in his basement, his father was in front of him with a hammer, nailing a piece of wood into the floor. His father's muscular frame showed through the thin layers of his white t-shirt and he swing down the hammer.

"Didn't this already happen? This looks familiar," Johan muttered to himself.

"Johan, my boy," boomed his father, "though this is a simple piece of wood and looks like it does nothing, it will be used as the foundation for the wall, thus, it is super important that we get it right."

[Ahhh,] thought Johan, [this is when we were finishing our basement at the house. Whn I was eight years old ...]

"Your mind and body are the same," continued his father, "you set the foundations correctly, and everything else will come more easily to you."

"Gotcha pops," said Johan smiling to himself.

This was a precious memories, the days before Johan learnt of the hardships and confusion that ensued with being a teenager.

"Funny thing is," said his father, "no one will care or notice whether your foundations are off. You might not even notice it, if you don't know the magnitude of its importance."

Johan glancing at his father affectionately. His father was a friendly but hard man; an authoritative man with a forceful attitude, and the realities of the world that he conveyed often proved to be very true.

"You listening boy?," said his father glancing at Johan. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Johan nodded.

"Good," said his father. "So while no one will care, or perhaps not even notice, you'll feel it, because if you get the foundations wrong, everything will come harder to you going forward. Grades, strength, and even effort to reach new heights in knowledge, strength, and your professional life. Small things early on, have bigger effects later on."

"I got it pops," said Johan.

"I don't think you do," said his dad. "Because that in itself isn't enough. Tell me now, what else is there?"

Johan didn't remember this part.

"I am not sure," said Johan.

"You never remember the lessons I try to ingrain in you," said his father with a sigh.

Turning to Johan his dad put his hand on Johan's shoulders, "Even if you got firm foundations, people will try and undermine you, undermine your skills, take advantage of you, and misrepresent you. So you have to fight, you have to make people angry, and you have to defend the honest guy that does things fairly because if everyone plays dirty, you ain't going to have a fair game.

Your teachers, friends, family and maybe even me will at some point discourage and tell you you're hopeless. That you are no good ... Never lose faith, never give up ... do not listen to the nay-sayers. Always push. That is the reality of life."

Johan nodded.

His father strengthened his hold on Johan's shoulders, "You have to fight through the pain, the dirt, and you gotta make a huge mess, but never lose sight of your goals, goals are important, a vision ... a destination. You might loose, but never stop trying to win. Every loss is a step on your path to victory."

Johan nodded again.

"Regardless of whether it is a demon or something else," said his father with a stern look his face staring into Johan's eyes.

Johan stared back as the memories of the monster in the alley came to him.

"No boy of mine will lay down," boomed his father. "Be strong, stand up, and push! Push! Push! Things will get hard! You are my offspring, and in my family, we fight or at least give it all we got! That way we won't have regrets."

Johan's mouth dropped as his father faded away.

"That's right," thought Johan. "If you don't try, you can't win. I will not die without having accomplished anything. I'll survive this."

Johan opened his eyes and found himself lying on the floor of the alley. The moon was fully illuminating it and things were as clear as they could be.

The creature from moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Johan glanced behind him and saw Jade lying on the floor. Her neck was bent in a way, no living person could bend it. In the center of the alley, where the beast had been standing was the woman from moments ago, the beautiful almost godly blond woman, lying lifeless with scorch marks surrounding her. The blood still was seeping slowly out of the fist sized hole in her stomach.

Johan struggled and got to his feet. He felt that he would have died if he didn't push back.

"Jade," whispered Johan hoarsely, "Jade are you alright? Wake up!"

A lump appeared in Johan's throat. He realized the magnitude and complexity of the situation he was in. Jade was dead, he was seen at the crime where his parents were murdered and in the alley was another women, dead.

No one would believe that he wasn't guilty.

[What should I do?] thought Johan.

As if the heaven was answering his thoughts, a police car sped into the alley, lights blazing. Johan was surprised that he hadn't heard it. He touched his ears and felt a wet thick liquid. Looking at his fingers, he realized it was blood.

Two officers jumped out of the car and ran to the girls checking for their pulse. Then they ran to Johan, hands waving and frantically pointing at the girls.

Johan shrugged and showed the blood on his hands and pointed to his ears.

The police officers glanced at each other nodded and escorted Johan to the car.

[So my boy,] said Johan's father's voice in the back of his head, [I'm dead, your mom's dead, and those two girls. At the very least, it is going to be a fight from here on out. But, that is life. Anyone who hasn't fought historically, has been taken advantage of by those that have.]

[Great,] thought Johan. [I am hearing my dead father's voice. I must be going crazy …]