The Black Surface

“What?” Vero thought she was misheard. There’s no way her father said that she couldn’t come back. “Dad, what are you saying?”

“You can’t go back here.”

“Why?!” Vero almost screamed when she asked that. This was the worst news she had heard after moving here. “Dad, don’t pull my leg! Are you not listening to me? The person is still alive! He is here!”

“Vero, we’ll talk about that later, ok? Now, you must—” Her father’s next voice faltered. Only in the form of fragments of words that Vero could not hear.

Once again, Vero took the phone away from her ear and looked at the signal indicator on the screen. The signal was very weak.

“Dammit.” She put the phone to her ear as she walked out of the room. “Daddy! I can’t hear you! The signal is terrible,” Vero said in a hurry. She opened the door to the verandah and stood there, hoping for a better signal. “I was walking out to find a better signal. Don’t hang up the phone just yet.”

No answer.

“Dad?” Vero took the phone away and looked at the