“Hurry up, Shayan,” mum called, rousing him for school after much delay. Eventually, Shayan joined his sister, Neha, and his mother, asking when their father would return from Islamabad.

“It’s been a week,” Neha said.

“Yes, I miss him a lot,” added Shayan.

Their mother replied, “Oh, he called me last night while you guys were sleeping. He was quite busy with his work, but it’s completed now, so he will return tomorrow.”

“Great!” Neha exclaimed with happiness, turning to Shayan. “Do you remember? Tomorrow is Father’s Day. Why not surprise him?”

Mother agreed, saying it was a wonderful idea.

The whole day, both Neha and Shayan planned how they could surprise their dad. Then they came up with an idea.

“First, we will make a card for dad, then we will go with mum to buy a gift for him,” Neha suggested and Shayan agreed.

They started making a card for him and wrote, “We love you, dad. You are our hero, mentor and inspiration. We can’t even express in words what we feel for you. We are grateful to have you as our dad. Your sacrifices and support don’t go unnoticed. You’ve taught us so much about life. So, Happy Father’s Day, Dad. We love you and always pray for your health and long life.”

After finishing their card, they went to a gift shop to buy a gift for their dad. They were confused about what to buy, but after a lot of discussion, they ended up buying a watch since he was fond of watches.

The next day, when their father came home, Shayan and Neha hugged him and wished him a happy Father’s Day, giving him the card and gift. Their father was surprised to see the efforts Shayan and Neha had made to make the day special for him.

Dad read the card, and his eyes welled up with tears. He loved the watch and wore it right away, hugging them back and saying, “I missed both of you a lot.”

“Uhmm, why don’t we celebrate this day with an outing somewhere?” Mum suggested with a smile.

“Yes, let’s do that. Where would you all like to go?” dad asked.

After much thought, they decided to go out for fishing. The kids knew their father loved fishing and, since he was always busy, he rarely had time for his favourite activity.

Then they left for the port where they would go fishing. While they were in the car, their father said, “First, we will visit an orphanage and give them some charity and gifts, as those children don’t have their father. This is the least we can do to make them happy.”

They stopped at a mart and bought some fruit baskets and chocolates. After that, they visited the orphanage and gave the gifts to the children and a charity cheque to the manager for the children’s welfare. The smiles on the children’s faces were heart-warming.

Later, they went to the port and started fishing, enjoying quality time together. Finally, they had dinner at their dad’s favourite restaurant and ended an amazing day with cherished memories.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 15th, 2024