Will You Be My Daddy?

—Will you be my dad?
– I’m sorry… – he began, not knowing how to continue; until that moment he had never spoken with children. – Who are you?
– I’m Anya. And this is Koshik, – the little girl about five years old lifted the penguin higher, showing it to the man. – We’re playing “mothers and daughters.” Only we don’t have a dad. Isn’t that wrong?
– Well… actually, yes. It is wrong, – he agreed.
– See! I told you! So will you be my dad?

from the author:
He ran away from the noise of the city, from betrayal, from a life that no longer pleased him. In the quiet of a village morning, in meditation and solitude, he hoped to find peace. But fate had a different gift in store for him.