Shades of absence.

The night had closed its curtain on the small village, and the place was quiet except for the sound of the wind blowing among the old oaks.

The village.
The village. 

 In a simple house on the outskirts of the village, Jenny sat alone, staring at an old, worn-out photograph that she had placed on the table in front of her. 

The photo was of her father, who left years ago in search of work in a distant city, promising her that he would return soon.

 But the days turned into years, and no longer.

Jenny
Jenny

 Jenny had grown up without her father, struggling every day to get over the difficulties that she and her mother faced.

 Her mother repeatedly tried to plant hope in her little heart that one day her father would return, but she died before this hope came true. 

Since then, Jenny has been living on few memories, and her heart is burdened with loneliness and nostalgia.

Jenny and her mother.
Jenny and her mother.

At night, while the wind was blowing strongly outside, Jenny heard a knock on the door.

 The hour was late, and she did not expect anyone to visit. 

She cautiously opened the door, to find an elderly man standing there, covered in snow, his eyes sunk in sadness.

 The man hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "Jenny?"Jenny froze in place. 

The voice was familiar, but it sounded distant and broken. 

She took a deep breath and asked in a shaky voice: "Dad?".

Father's return.

 The man nodded silently. 

Fatigue had taken a big toll on him, and the timelines were clearly visible on his face.

 Jenny could not move, it felt as if time had stopped for a moment. 

This was the man I had been waiting for all these years, the man I dreamed of returning day after day. 

But at that moment, she realized something painful. 

The person who returned was not the man who left.

 Time has changed him, and so has she.

 What was between them was more than a physical absence, there was a deep emotional gap that no word could fill.

Father's return.

 A tear fell from Jenny's eye, and she realized that the past could not be restored. She smiled sadly and motioned for the man to enter. 

Despite the pain she felt, she knew that life would go on and that she had found her father again, even if there were shadows between them that could not be dispelled.

 That evening, they sat together in silence, trying to retrieve what could be retrieved, but deep down, they both knew that some things had been lost forever.

Jenny.
Jenny so sad. 

 Moral: sometimes, what we miss is not just people who have missed, but the Times and feelings we had with them, the hope that everything will return as it was. 

But life teaches us that moving forward is the only option, even if memories are stuck in the shadows of absence.

Suggested stories:

The Last Goodbye.

The real cost of honesty.

The Last Letter.