The Best Surprise

By Aubrey Dunn

The glory of children are their fathers (Prov. 17:6).

Lucy was happy whenever Daddy was home. But she was sad when he had to go on business trips. When he came home, though, he always had a surprise for Lucy in his suitcase.

Once the surprise was a doll from Mexico with a red ruffled dress and a tiny red rose in its hair.

Once the surprise was a white fan with a pretty design from Japan. It folded and unfolded with a click.

Another time the surprise was a paper lei from Hawaii. Daddy said, “A lei means ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’ and ‘I love you.’”

On his next trip, Daddy brought Lucy a shell from the ocean. It was chalky white and pink on the outside. The inside flashed bright green and purple when she turned it. “Put it next to your ear,” Daddy said, “and it will sound like the ocean.”

One day Daddy came home from a trip with two surprises. The first one was a tiny blue box to put things in. But the other surprise was even nicer: “I’m not going on any more trips,” Daddy said. “I’ll be here every night from now on.”

Lucy clapped her hands. “Hurray!” she shouted. “That’s the best surprise of all!”