"Terms of Abandonment" - short story

The first time she saw him, her biological father refusedto speak with her. She had been waiting at the corner coffee shop, as agreed,but when he showed up, he didn’t even cross the street and approach her table.She remained there for half an hour after he walked off, her cappuccino coldand forgotten.

What kind of father was he to have had no concern for herall these years? Admittedly, she had rarely given him a second thought untilshe packed up her mother’s belongings in the weeks following her death anddiscovered the box of her memories. A high school yearbook, report cards fromgrade school, a trophy from a running competition. Dried flowers inside a smallbook of poetry. Nothing worth saving. She would remember her mother for otherthings. And then, at the very bottom of the box, several envelopes, the addresswritten in fading blue ink.

With shaking hands, she opened the first letter. Itstarted out with ‘Dearest Marjorie’ and every other sentence contained words ofendearment. ‘Love of my life’. ‘My Marjorie’. ‘Oh, my darling.’ Sweet nothings,Kitsch phrases for sure, yet they were words expressing passion, a connectionthat must have been just as strong for her mother.

His name was Emmanuel, but he signed his letters Manny.Even though everyone called her mother by her nickname, Marge, he addressed heras Marjorie, as if he was afraid of letting go of a single letter in her name.

Yet he had let her go. Shortly after her mother gavebirth, Emanuel disappeared from her mother’s life and never had he appeared inhers. Whenever she asked her mother to tell her about her father, beggingalmost, the discussion had been taboo. She learned nothing at all and thesubject was dropped.

Read the full story in In Parentheses Literary Magazine (Volume 9, Issue 2) Winter 2025. Available for purchase on MagCloud.