The Power Of Hopefulness

My father was ordered to fight in the war. No one in my family wanted him to go- as we were afraid that he’d never come back. But, alas, the world acts in very strange ways as it never goes by what we expect. A member from each household was compulsorily required to play their part in the war, which we learnt the next day. We were devastated upon hearing the news, but surprisingly my father seemed totally unaffected. He showed no signs of worry. He declared, “I have to protect our country- so that the present and future generations will continue to exist.” 

You see, my father is not a coward. He is a very brave and courageous man, which was one of the qualities I admired about him. However, I did not like him going into the war. It just sent me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I only had a week with him before he departed on his dangerous journey. I confided in my father about my fears and in response, all he said was, “Be hopeful my dear, I will be back before you know it”. I sort of felt relieved after that conversation and tried to remain positive.

On the bright side, my father used to be a highly trained policeman which he retired from a few years back. He has trained in various tough situations to deal with the dangerous criminals. Moreover, the members who joined to fight in the war were provided training before heading out into the war. This made me feel a little less worried. 

The following week flew by incredibly fast. The time came, to say goodbye to my father. I tried hard not to break down in front of him, and told him to stay careful and to keep all his senses on alert. He nodded as he waved his goodbyes. But before leaving he left us a parting message, “I will be back, after a glorious victory so please, stay hopeful till the end for me. Goodbye.” He left us standing on the porch, as we watched him hop onto the cab and slowly pulling out of our driveway. 

The days stretched on, each passing day felt like an eternity. One day turned into one month and one month turned into an entire year. We still haven’t received any news or updates about the war situation. My family was starting to lose hope. But I never did, as my father’s words kept repeating itself over and over in my head. I was the pillar holding my family before all their hopes came crashing down as I tried to keep them to stay hopeful till the end. 

It has been a year and a half, still no news. My family was now on the verge of losing hope completely and slowly I was starting to lose hope too. 

About a month later, there was a knock on the door. I was now about to receive the shock of my life. As I opened the door, standing in front of me was my father, his face covered with a few bruises but not enough to hide his broad grin and his huge smile on his face. I couldn’t help but shed tears of happiness as I wrapped him around me. My mother and my younger sister rushed to my side after hearing the commotion. Both of them were just as shocked as me but quickly embraced him in a tight hug. We stood there for about an entire minute before breaking apart. Me and my family were extremely happy and I never felt this happy for ages. Nothing could ever describe what I had felt at that moment. 

I learnt a valuable lesson- to never lose hope no matter what, good things will happen as long as you be positive. I was glad that I didn’t lose any hope.