One morning in July, Tina came downstairs and saw Mom and Dad talking at the kitchen table. Mom saw Tina standing at the doorway. She smiled at Tina, but her smile was missing in the sunshine.
"Good morning, my little treasure," Dad said. "Could I talk to you about something?" "OK." Tina said. "You know that Dad has a very important job," Mom said. Tina nodded. "He helps keep people safe." Tina said.
"That's right," Dad said. "Sometimes that means I need to help people who live far away from us," he paused (停顿).
"When I do that 
I have to leave you and Mom for a while." Tina looked at Mom then at Dad. "Are you going away?" she asked. Dad nodded. "Dad, how long is a while?" "In order to really help," he said, "I have to go back home in July next year." After Dad said this, Tina couldn't hear anything but the tick-tock of the clock on the wall. Then Tina felt tears started to roll down her cheeks.
Tina didn't want her dad to leave her. That's because Dad is her favorite person. Dad and Tina do lots of fun things together. They can spend a whole day playing table tennis. They play musical instruments together. Dad plays the drums, and Tina plays the cymbals. Mother calls them "rock stars".
"But if you are away for that long," said Tina, "won't you forget me?" Mom put her hand on Tina's back and Dad pulled her and Tina into a big hug. "No, honey," Mom said, "Dad could never forget you."
