A Father’s Day Surprise For Bob Smith

Almost everyone wants to make Father’s day a special day for their father. The Smith family: a kindhearted family from Pennsylvania has been through a lot in the last year. The Smith family had a family member pass away last year. The two girls in the Smith family are on a mission to make sure their dad has a great Father’s day this year because he truly deserves it.

The reason the Smith family has been through a lot in the last year is that Lori Smith, the loving mom and wife in the family passed away a year ago from breast cancer. It was so hard on the two girls when they lost their mom. The dad, Bob Smith showed great strength through the completely terrible ordeal. Even though Bob was hurting inside, he wanted to be strong for his two beautiful girls. After Lori died, Bob Smith became a single dad to eighteen-year-old Kenzie Smith and twenty-one year old Caitlyn Smith. About three months after Lori died, Kenzie and Caitlyn moved to Los Angeles, California to follow their dreams in acting. Their dad was happy for them and he supported their decision to go to California, but of course he was going to miss his two girls a lot. Kenzie and Caitlyn felt bad for leaving their father alone in Pennsylvania, so it was time for them to do something special for their dad. With about three months until Father’s day, the girls knew exactly what they were going to do to make Father’s day special for their father.

Almost three months later, the girls were off work from their acting jobs for a week and they decided to get started on the Father’s day surprise. Caitlyn and Kenzie packed up their suitcases, and then ordered two plane tickets for that night. At about 1am, the girls headed to the airport and boarded their flight to Pennsylvania. While they were on the plane, Kenzie called a hotel close to her father’s house to reserve a hotel room for her and Caitlyn.

About three and a half hours later, the girls arrived at Harrisburg International Airport. They drove to the hotel, and then they walked up to their hotel room with their suitcases and went to sleep. At 10am, the girls woke up, both of them got cleaned up, and then they went out to do some shopping for their dad. They drove about ten minutes to the local Wal-Mart to get some groceries for a breakfast buffet for their dad. They got pancake mix, breakfast sausage, bacon, orange juice, and fruit. After they got the groceries, they went to the craft section and got a big poster board, markers, and glue to make a homemade Father’s day card from the both of them. After they got the supplies to make a homemade Father’s day card, they thought about what they could get their dad. 18-year-old Kenzie suggested that they should get a toolbox because the one he has now is old and falling apart. They got a stainless steel toolbox, and then they bought some Father’s day wrapping paper. After that, they checked out at a register and put everything in their car, and then 21 year old Caitlyn Smith and 18-year-old Kenzie went to the local beer distributor and got two cases of beer for their dad. After they got the beer, they went back to the hotel, relaxed, watched TV, and then went to sleep. The girls got everything they needed for the Father’s day surprise that they were planning for their dad.

At about 4am, the girls drove over to their dad’s house, they opened the door with the key that they had, and then they slowly brought the toolbox in the kitchen. Then they brought the beer, the groceries for the breakfast buffet, and the wrapping paper in the house. They wrapped the toolbox, and placed it on the kitchen table, and then they wrapped the beer that they got and placed it beside the gift-wrapped toolbox. Then they brought the craft supplies in the house to make a card, and they placed the supplies in the living room. They sat down on the floor, and started making the homemade card. After they were finished with the card, they placed it beside the gift-wrapped toolbox and gift-wrapped beer. Then the girls started to make the big breakfast buffet. They made bacon, breakfast sausage, strawberry pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and plain pancakes. When they finished making the delicious looking breakfast buffet, Kenzie went outside and parked the car behind the house so their dad would not see it when he came home from a night shift he worked at his job. About ten minutes later, the girls heard their dad trying to unlock the door. When Bob opened up the door and walked inside the house, the first thing he saw was his two girls standing in the kitchen. Kenzie and Caitlyn both said at the same time, "Happy Father’s day dad! We love you!’’ Bob smiled and walked over to his two girls, gave them a hug, and said, ''this is an awesome surprise! I missed you girls so much!’’ Bob sat down on a kitchen chair and talked to his two girls about what has been going on with them in California for the last couple of months. When they finished talking, Bob put the Father’s day card in his hand and started reading the card. On the front cover of the Father’s day card, it read Happy Father’s Day to an amazing dad. Bob saw a picture of the two girls and himself on the cover of the card. Bob gave the card to Kenzie and told her to read it to him. She opened up the card and read to her dad what her and Caitlyn wrote. ''You have been an amazing dad to us. You helped us get through the terrible time when mom passed away. You gave us your honest opinions about our decisions on what we wanted to do with our future and you supported every decision we made. You are such an amazing dad, and we hope that we can be an amazing person like you. Happy Father’s day dad, we love you so much! Thank you for everything that you have done for us.'' At the bottom of the card it read that in two weeks the show that the girls are acting in is being cancelled and the girls decided to come home and attend college close to home. Bob walked over to his two girls with tears falling out of his eyes and said that the card means a lot to him, and he is happy that his girls are coming home. Bob walked over to the two gifts sitting on the kitchen table and opened them both. He smiled when he opened the beer and said,” I will definitely be putting this gift to good use!'' Bob smiled again when he opened up the toolbox and he said that they did not need to spend their money on him, but he loved both gifts very much. After they threw away the wrapping paper, and put the toolbox in the garage, they started eating the breakfast buffet. Bob told his girls that the breakfast was delicious and then he went to go take a shower, while the girls cleaned up the kitchen.

 Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, so after their dad was done in the shower; the girls took him to an action movie at the local theater that lasted from 11:30am - 1:30pm. After that, they took some umbrellas and went to Lori’s gravesite. They stayed there for about fifteen minutes. It was still raining, so they decided to check the weather in Slippery Rock, PA at Slippery Rock amusement park. It was not raining there, so they drove almost two hours to the park. They went on almost every roller coaster, played almost every game, and went on the water rides too. At 8pm, the girls and Bob left the park and the girls dropped off their dad at his house. The girls hugged their dad and their dad thanked them for an amazing day. The girls left and went to their hotel room to get their suitcases, and then boarded the plane back to L.A. Kenzie and Caitlyn were so happy that they made Father’s day special for their dad.

The girls came back home to PA for good about two week later. They moved back into their old rooms at their dad’s house, and enrolled in college. Kenzie and Caitlyn will always be interested in acting, but they decided to focus on some other dreams that they could accomplish close to home. Both of them have a dream of wanting to be a music teacher after they finish college. Almost everyday the girls and their dad visit Lori’s gravesite. Bob sat down beside his wife’s gravesite one day and told her about the amazing Father’s day surprise that the girls gave him. Bob will treasure the memories of that Father’s day surprise forever.


-Realistic Fiction Short Story.

The Heroes In The Johnson Family

Many families in the United States of America have lost family members in the United States Armed Forces. It is always tough on a family when they find out that a family member has passed away. The Johnson family: A kindhearted family that lives in North Carolina has been through a lot in the last couple of years. The Johnson family had three family members pass away while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Susie Johnson’s dad passed away in the Vietnam War in 1968 when she was just a year old. Her mom told her a lot about her dad when she was growing up. Susie is very proud of her dad for serving his country. She always wears a locket necklace, and inside the locket necklace is a picture of her dad. When Susie’s two boys were younger, Lucas and Logan would always ask their grandma to tell them stories about their grandpa.

Susie’s husband, Jeremy Johnson died two years ago while serving in the United States Armed forces. The night that Susie found out that her husband had died, she had just came home from a 19-hour shift at the hospital when her doorbell rang. She opened the door, and right when she saw the men in uniform, she knew that something terrible had happened. One of the men gave her a letter and it read that Susie’s husband, Jeremy Johnson was killed in action and his body was going to be brought back to the states in a couple of days. Susie fell to the ground and sobbed uncontrollably after she read the letter. She hugged the men in uniform, closed the door, and then just sat on her couch in disbelief that night. Susie's two boys, Lucas and Logan came down the stairs from their bedrooms, and sat beside their mother wondering what was wrong. Susie told her two sweet boys that their father passed away. Lucas and Logan started to shed some tears, and hugged their mother. About a week and a half later, Jeremy was given a full Military honors burial. To this day Susie still has problems dealing with the death of her husband. Sometimes she has a dream that Jeremy is not dead and everything is okay. Every day is different for Susie. Some days she is okay, but other days she has a hard time dealing with the loss of her husband. How does Susie get through it? Ever since her husband died, she has been attending a support group for wives who lost their husbands in the Military, She has been busy taking care of her two boys, and she has been very busy with her career as a doctor.

Four months after Susie’s husband died, her 20-year-old son’s Lucas and Logan sat her down one afternoon and explained to her that they want to join the Military. They said that they admire what their father did for their country. Susie was scared to death because she did not want to lose her two boys. She had to take some time to think about her son's decision to join the Military. After a couple of days of thinking about it, she told them that she is proud that they want to serve their county and she knows that their father is looking down from above so proud of them two. A year and a half later Lucas and Logan were both deployed. Susie hoped and prayed that her two boys would come home safely after their 6-month deployment was over. With three days left in Logan and Lucas’s deployment, Lucas was out on patrol with a couple other soldiers and Lucas was shot and killed. Other soldiers told Logan that his twin brother is no longer alive and he sobbed uncontrollably. The commander of Logan’s unit told Logan that he could go home early to tell his mom Susie that Lucas had died. 30 hours later, Logan’s bus pulled up to Camp Levine with the screaming families excited to see their family members coming home. Logan saw his mom, Susie standing right beside the bus smiling and getting ready to hug both of her sons. As Logan walked off the bus, Susie bolted towards the bus and gave her son a huge hug. Logan’s eyes began to fill up with tears and he told his mom that Lucas passed away. Susie dropped to the ground, put her head down and cried uncontrollably. Logan took his mom’s hand and they walked toward the car to head home. While Logan was driving back to the house, his mom just could not believe that Lucas was gone. When they got home, Susie went to the couch and just sat down in shock. Logan was trying hard to stay strong for his mom, but that night he couldn’t help but burst into tears out on the front porch of their house and drink a couple of beers. The next day he started to help his mom plan Lucas’s funeral and within a week Lucas was given a full Military honors burial.

A week later, it was Memorial Day. Susie and Logan stopped at Susie‘s dad‘s grave site, Susie’s husbands grave site, and Lucas’s grave site that day. They put a Memorial Day wreath on each of the graves, planted some flowers, and said a couple of prayers. After Susie and Logan were done visiting Lucas’s grave, they went to Logan’s Military base, Camp Levine. Camp Levine was hosting a memorial/tribute ceremony for all of the soldiers who passed away during their deployment. During the ceremony, General Stevenson showed a memorial plaque to the families. The plaque had pictures of every soldier that was from Camp Levine and was killed in action. Right when they took the cover off the plaque, Susie and Logan saw Lucas’s name and picture on the plaque. Both of them started to shed some tears. After the ceremony was over, General Stevenson walked over to Susie and Logan. He told Logan and Susie to meet him in his office in about 10 minutes. Logan and Susie both had concerned looks on their faces but they started to walk over to General Stevenson’s office. About 10 minutes later, General Stevenson opened the door to his office and invited them both in to sit down. He started his conversation by saying that he was very sorry to hear that Lucas had passed away. General Stevenson said that he knows that Logan did a great job on his deployment and he wants to offer Logan a job as a military recruiter. Susie’s face looked happy when General Stevenson offered Logan the job. Logan thought about it a bit and said yes he would accept the job. Now that Lucas has accepted the job as a Military recruiter, the chances of him being deployed are very slim. After Logan and General Stevenson finished their conversation, Logan shook his hand and walked out the door with his mom. When they got home, Susie hugged her son tight and said that she was so glad that he was going to be home permanently.

A couple of days later, Logan started his new job as a Military recruiter and Susie got back into her normal routine with her career as a doctor. Almost every day Susie and Logan visit the graves of the family members they lost. Every Memorial Day, Susie and Logan have decided to devote the day to Susie’s dad, Susie’s husband, and Logan’s twin brother Lucas- three people who will always be remembered and be in the hearts of Susie and Logan.

-Realistic Fiction Short Story.