I knew he was telling the truth, he couldn't possibly have conjured up the emotions I had seen on his face, especially under the current circumstances. Still, I had to ask one more question.

"But that message Pa, it looked so..." I left the question unspoken. He nodded.

"She enjoyed our conversations," he said after a while. "She was planning to teach English. She would often text me to say something like that." He paused, gathering his breath. "She was a nice person. Who knows, if she had been in England, maybe..." The words died away, and then he continued. "The kisses were Chinese characters. She didn't know that they don't display on an English phone. They were ba ba. Chinese for..." There was a pause as he gripped my hand. "Goodbye."

He looked at me and I nodded at him, then lent across and kissed him on the lips. He sighed, and his face took on a peaceful countenance, content that he had discharged one final duty as Pa: to take away the pain of my misunderstanding. He closed his eyes, and after a few moments, I left him to rest, went to sit outside, and began to write these words.

Return to stories