"Abraham, he's already asleep," interrupted Charlotte.
Abraham looked to his wife when he heard her voice, then back to his five-year old son. Kyle was asleep, apparently for a while, so Abraham decided to end the bedtime story for now. Maybe he would tell Kyle the rest someday...
Days turned to months, and months to years. Kyle grew with time, and remained good friends with his buddies. They were the children of Abraham's friends Joseph, John, Michael, and Gabriel. Kyle and his twin sister Diana were the only children of Abraham and Charlotte, and both took after their father. Michael was married to Sarah, and their children were Luke and Matthew. John and Mary had Rachel, Tyler, and Peter. Joseph and Gale's children were Dustin and Justin. Gabriel and Elizabeth's children were Leo, Ethan, and Scott. They were all good friends, parents and children alike, regardless of their ages.
On this, Kyle and Diana's fifteenth birthday, the five families all attended the birthday party--at least, what remained of the families. Most of the fathers had disappeared by that time, but there was no evidence or notification of any deaths, and each of the children could feel that their respective father was still alive. As for relatives, only some from the mothers' sides of the families had been able to come. Others had been held back by sickness or work or some other reason, but did send their love. Some of the children's maternal grandparents had come as well, and they were grateful to see them once again. But for some reason, the children knew nothing of their father's sides of the families. Their fathers did not like to talk about the past, and none of the children had ever really met any paternal relatives--they had heard of cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and other ancestors, but only by listening in their fathers' private talks with each other. They knew so little about their own fathers, and now only Abraham and Gabriel remained with their families.
Regardless, the children were glad that so many of the families had come to the twin's party. Diana received a bow and arrows from her father, and Kyle received some new books--he was always a bit of a bookworm, but could not be seen as a geek or a nerd. Diana and Rachel enjoyed playing with her new video games, while Kyle spent some time with his male friends playing, wrestling, eating, and so on. Then, Charlotte called everyone into the dining room for the birthday dinner, with Kyle and Diana getting the most. When it was time to serve the cake, Kyle noticed that John was leaving--rather unexpectedly, without giving any sort of reason, even to his own wife and children. Charlotte and Abraham emerged from the kitchen with the cake, but Abraham was looking out towards the front door. It seemed as though he had known that John had left, but how could he have known if he was in the kitchen the whole time?
Later, Kyle and Diana waved goodbye to their friends as they went back to their houses. Abraham and Charlotte were still cleaning up in the kitchen, but insisted that their children go back upstairs to have a little fun before bed. When they walked the stairs, Kyle could tell that something was going on. He grabbed Diana's arm and pulled into the upstairs bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"Kyle, what is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," Kyle answered. "Maybe I'm just worried."
"About what?" Diana asked.
"Well, our friend's fathers have disappeared," Kyle explained. "And just today, John abruptly left. What if he is disappearing, too?"
"Rachel, Tyler, or Peter would know that," Diana replied. "But, I can't deny that I felt that as well."
As if on cue, Diana's cell phone buzzed: it was a text from Rachel. Diana opened the text...and almost dropped the phone after reading it.
"What did she say?" Kyle asked.
"John...IS gone," she answered, obviously scared.
Now Kyle was afraid, because this meant their own father was the only one of the five left. Was he going to disappear, too?!
Kyle unlocked the bathroom door without flinching, and rushed back to the stairs. There was his father, heading for the front door, looking as if he was indeed going to disappear. Then, just as Abraham reached for the doorknob, he stopped. He sighed, looked back, at looked at his son straight in the eye.
"I wish I had time to explain," Abraham said. "But it seems that some stories must end without a happy ending."
When Diana appeared next to Kyle, she also looked at her father, and he looked at her as well.
"Forgive me, my children." Abraham said. "I must go."
He turned and opened the door.
"DAD! NO!" Kyle shouted as he ran down the stairs. He reached to grab his father's coat, but only succeeded in tearing off some hair as Abraham hurried out onto the porch, shutting the door behind him. Diana and Charlotte came to comfort Kyle, before Charlotte opened the door to stop her husband herself. But it was too late: when she opened the door, Abraham was nowhere to be seen. The car was still there, and there was no one outside up and down the street. Abraham, like his friends, had vanished.
Kyle barely had the strength to go back upstairs, so Diana helped him back to his room. She did not go back to her own room, but sat in the chair at the desk while Kyle lay down on his bed, staring at the red hair and dead skin still in his hand--their father had dealt with periodic episodes of dandruff. Now, their father was gone, just like those of their friends. The twins could truly relate to how their friends felt now. Their beloved father was gone, and they did not know if they would ever see him again.