Appearances are deceptive

Natalia had been standing by her mother's grave for an hour. Today was the fifth anniversary of her death.

"Oh, Mom, it's a shame you didn't get to meet Daniel," the girl said to the gravestone. "I'm sure you would have been delighted with him."

Daniel had been Natalia's boyfriend for two years. They loved each other and wanted to be together as long as possible. Natalia said goodbye to her mother and left. She went to Judyta, her friend whom she had known intimately for almost ten years.

"Hey Judyta! Can I come in?" the girl asked.

"Question! Come in and take off those wet clothes. I'll get you something dry," her friend replied.

Natalia didn't even notice she was soaked. She kept thinking about how her father and brothers had already forgotten about her mother and hadn't even gone to light a symbolic candle at her grave. After her mother's death, her father wasn't particularly depressed. And then he met Izabela, his current wife. The girl was standing in the middle of the hallway, thinking, when she was interrupted by Judyta's younger sister, Kamila.

"Why are you standing here alone?" the girl asked. "Did that poor Dytka leave you here?

" "Judyta just went to get some dry clothes for me. Can't you see I'm soaking wet?

" "I'm going home now because Lulka is hungry and I need to feed her," the girl announced, and went into her room.

Just then, Judyta arrived with dry clothes, took her friend to the bathroom, and told her to dry her hair. Natalia herself went to the kitchen to make tea. Natalia obediently slipped into her friend's clothes and went into the kitchen. Judyta stood leaning against the sideboard, waiting for water and eating crackers. Natalia sat down at the table.

"Five years ago, my mother died," the girl began. "I was at the cemetery."

Judyta approached her friend and hugged her tightly. That was exactly what Natalia needed today. "

I remember the day your mother died. Your father came to my house that day, and they talked until late.

" "Really?" Natalia asked, surprised. "You never told me." "

Because you always insisted your father didn't love your mother! But he did love her, and very much. He cried when he was here."

The girl was floored. She had never considered that her father truly loved her mother. Even when she was alive, he hadn't shown her affection. He forgot their wedding anniversary, her birthday, her name day.

"What else do you know?" she asked her friend. "

I don't know anything more. I didn't want to eavesdrop," Judyta replied.

Natalia got up and ran out of the apartment. She ran straight home. She entered the living room, where her father was sitting, looking at photos. She stood in the doorway and looked at him. His bangs fell over his eyes. He brushed them back from time to time. At one point, he picked up a portrait photo of his mother and stared at it for a long time. His gaze was practically piercing. He caressed her mother's face, her hair, and her cheeks. Natalia felt tears falling from her eyes, one after another. Her father turned abruptly, as if he heard the tears falling, looked deeply into his daughter's eyes, and burst into tears. He cried like a child whose parents had taken away a beloved toy. Natalia went to him, hugged him, and they stood there in the middle of the room, where the clock her mother had bought her ticked quietly.