“How was your stay at Nana’s?” My father didn’t like to mince words, but he always asked the same question. I always gave him the same answer.
“It was good.” I sat in the rear seat of his car during the trip back to his apartment outside of Las Vegas, the leather seat sticking to my thighs where my shorts stopped. I pushed my ponytail off my shoulder. The party lights in the distance outdid the stars every time, forcing the moon to hold reign over the desert alone. My dad turned on the radio, jazz music sliding from the speakers to my ears. It only took a moment before I slept.


The car sat along the road. We didn’t move, engine still purring. My father appeared to be a statue in the driver’s seat. “Daddy, are we there yet?” The question was rather stupid; even the bright lights of the city were gone. I received no response. “Daddy, why did we stop?” Again, my father refused to answer me and my childish nature kicked in. “Daaaaaadyyyyy,” I whined. “What’s going ooon?” He responded sharply, demanding silence. “Be quiet, Ki!” My mouth snapped shut. He opened his door, stepping out of the car.
“Hey! Why are you here?”
A voice called back to him. “Why? To travel of course!”


I marvelled over the smiling creature sitting beside my father. He was tall and thin, dark haired and young. My father wasn’t very pleased when I asked him to ride with us, but I didn’t see any problems with him.

“He’s not lost,” I said.
“Then why do you want him to come with us?”
“I want to know where he’s going.”
“He told us where he’s going.”
“That’s why you should take him! You are the best cab driver ever.”
He chuckled. I don’t know if he thought I was funny, or if he laughed because he disagreed. I knew it would take us five hours to get to the top of Sheep Peak, and five hours to get back. If I convinced my father to take me along, he would have to spend the day with me. He promised. It was five months ago that he promised he would take a day off for me. I couldn’t remember the last time he kept a promise.

Either way, the man rode in our car and my father drove, the dark desert plains racing past. The man sat upright for every second I observed him, never growing weary. He watched my father, face lit by the glowing instruments on the dash.
“I appreciate your gesture. Not often does one find such hospitality in a land such as this.”
My father didn’t turn to face him. “Yeah. It’s my job.”
The mysterious man turned back to me. “My name is Hex.” With a twist of his hand, a flower appeared between his fingers. “For you,” he said, heartwarming smile never fading. I took it from his hands, observing its features. White fluff poked through the tear-shaped bud. I pulled at the coating, but Hex stopped me.

“It’s a special flower,” he said. “Wait for the right moment, then ask it for what you need.”

I fell asleep again. When I woke, my father and Hex stood outside the car. Hex pointed up the hill, and my father shook his head. They both looked strange beside each other. My blonde, stocky father standing beside the pale, skinny, dark haired gentleman.
I pushed open the door and stepped outside. The cool night air chilled me. I forgot my cardigan at my Nana’s house, and I expressed my love for dresses too early in the season, wearing my favorite pink sundress into the night. I thought my father would send me back to the car, but he kept speaking to Hex. As I watched, I noticed something beyond my comprehension. My father was laughing, genuinely.
I hadn’t seen him smile like that since my mother passed. She and my uncle, whom I had never met, died in an accident. I figured his happiness made sense; he didn’t have much else to smile about. While I thought about it though, it saddened me. I always wished I could make him smile.
I refocused. His laughter made me smile. My father deserved to be happy and the man who made him remember what he possessed was my hero. I walked over to them. “Daddy, I’m tired.” He looked at me, returning to what was at hand.
“We’re going home. Don’t worry, Ki.”
“Aren’t we going to help Hex?”
“Yes. We’re taking him to his camp on the mountain.”
Hex intervened. “As long as I’m not taking you out of your way, John.”
My father shifted his weight and looked at the gentleman, then walked back to his car. The clouds peeled back to reveal a bright, circular moon. I looked up at the mysterious man, his tall frame straight and eerily relaxed in the light of the moon. He peered down at me.
“Aren’t you going back to your father’s vehicle?”
“What’s that?”
“His car, Kiwanni.”
“Oh. How do you know my name?”


The headlights flashed on, illuminating our backs, the moon reflecting sunshine the way parents share love with their child.
Hex held out his hand. “Let me show you something.” I took his hand. He walked me over to the edge of the plateau, standing only a few feet from the edge. In a fluid motion, he waved his arm, turning it into a spectacular cape. The silky stars, sewn into the deep blue fabric, glistened in the moonlight. The embroidered mountains stood firm while the breeze blew through them, and the threaded cityscape of Las Vegas near reflected the intense display now resting a few miles from our plateau. He draped the cape over my shoulders.
“Isn’t the moon wonderful?” he said. His smile lifted his lips.
“I like it.”
“Would you like to go there?”
“I think so.”

I took his hand again as he walked me to a hedge. Pushing back the branches, he revealed a circular garden where faded circles etched the ground. A square, carved into a rock surface, rose from the ground. The faded circles shimmered simultaneously with the cape. Hex lifted me onto the platform.

“Stand very still,” he said. “We’re going to go.”
He brushed his hands, from which a fine white powder spilled onto the ground. The circles gleamed in the moonlight, spinning in place. With the wind intensifying, I felt very unsafe. I remembered where I felt better, safer.

“What about my daddy?”
“He hasn’t come yet. We must leave without him.”
“I can’t go without my daddy!”

My father appeared at the hedge. The powder whirled around us, a white tornado. I ran towards my dad, but Hex’s hand snatched my arm and held me back.
“It’s too late! You have to come along now,” he said. My daddy threw himself into the dust, plowing into Hex, knocking me off the platform. In a flash of blinding light, both were gone. I was alone now, the sun rising in the east, my hand holding that little green flower.
I spotted a piece of paper floating in the faint breeze that remained. I snatched it from the air: a picture of my mother, my father, and me when I was a baby. My father’s arm rested on her shoulders while she held me. Beside them both stood Hex, strongly similar in appearance with my mother.
“I need my daddy,” I said, blowing the white fluff off my flower. A familiar hand touched my shoulder.
“Your daddy needs you too,” my father said.
Not only did I get my father back, I got the whole day with him too.