I took my hand from his cheek and lay on my side next to him.  I placed my head on his shoulder. The fabric of his clothing felt soft and slippery against my flesh. I sniffed his pyjamas, the aroma of his skin and clothing made me feel slightly more unperturbed and I closed my eyes.  I spoke to him for hours after. I rambled on and on about anything that came to mind.  I forgot for a long period of time that he was not alive.  I was, in a lot of ways, talking to myself. I never noticed that though.  I fell asleep eventually. I felt whole as I drifted off, as if he was not just a corpse.  He was not my father any longer and I knew he wasn’t but I ignored my common sense.  I just wanted my last moment with him and I wanted him to be him.  

  When I awoke from my forty winks I sat up, yawned then stood.  I looked down at my father and smiled despite the reality of my situation coming back to me. It was all a slap in the face to me. 

   I made a quick decision: I would depart from the mansion and look for an apartment.  Perhaps a roommate as well, I thought dryly.  Father had money for me; he was a very well prepared man.  The money settled and collected dust in a vault in Daddy’s library.  He told me to only use it when he died. 

  I had never in my life left the mansion.  Father saw no reason in me leaving the house because everything I needed was within the walls of our home.  I had a reason now. I would be successful in my travelling and findings.  I bent over his body and gently kissed his soft, cold cheek.

  “Good-bye, Father.”

  I opened the front door of the mansion slowly. The sun shined into my face and burned my retinas.  I squinted and stepped forward out of the house.  I closed the door behind me, and walked down the drive-way onto the free-way.  The wind pushed against my body; it felt cool against my moist skin (it was very hot inside the house).   I walked at a fast pace and set out on my new life, hoping for the best.