The Mystery of My Father’s Death

By Josh Chiu

On a dark stormy night, roaring thunder and jagged streaks of lightning filled the sky. I tossed and turned on my bed, unable to sleep through the cold chilling night. Suddenly, a shadow zoomed across my window. I immediately pressed my face against the window to get a closer look of the person who just went pass. Why would anybody be out in the middle of the night?

      I heard a muffled scream from my dad’s bedroom. Without thinking, I dashed into my parents’ bedroom. Shocked, I found my dad leaning against the wall half-conscious and a knife was stuck in his sternum. I quickly rushed towards him, falling on my knees and cried, “Dad!!!” He spoke in a weak raspy voice, “A…a…arm…dr…dragon…” After saying his final words, he fell to the ground and lay as lifeless as a statue.  Tears streamed down my face. I kept thinking why anyone would want to kill my dad. I was puzzled and filled with anger at the same time. Soon, I was determined to get revenge. I decided to find out the truth behind his death and most importantly, to fish out the vile murderer.

As I was thinking deep about my father’s final words: ‘Arm’ and ‘Dragon’ What did he mean by that? While I was searching hard through my brain, an image suddenly flashed through my head – it was a man trying to steal a purse from an old lady. It all happened on a Sunday afternoon a few months ago, when my father and I were on our way to meet our friends. As soon as my father spotted the pickpocket, he immediately grabbed the man by his arm, exposing a dragon tattoo on his arm. My father alerted the police nearby and got him arrested. Before the man got on the police cruiser, he gave my dad a look of hatred. I was sure that was the man responsible for my father’s death. 

Without hesitation, I ran to the nearest police station and told the detective everything I knew. He quickly gathered the police force to hunt down the suspect. When they reached the old and shabby hut with black-tinted windows, the police surrounded the hut and charged in, catching him red handed. They saw a man with a dragon tattoo on his arm burying a pair of black gloves with blood stains. After analyzing the pair of gloves, the police found that the blood on the gloves matched my father’s.  The murderer was soon sentenced to life imprisonment.

        I felt relieved that this dangerous man was finally being locked up and that he could no longer harm anybody ever again. Although justice had been served, I still hated this man a lot.  However, I knew that I had to let go of the grudge within me. Just as my dad had always taught me, “Forgiveness is the key to happiness”. It’s easier said than done, but I will do my best to make him proud.