"Will you sing me a song?"

Today, I woke up early. To avoid falling behind in school, I often go in for tutorial. Chem tutorial starts at 8am. My Father drives me, but we have to leave by 7:30. I set my alarm for 6... with the hope of getting up relaxed, having a shower, and maybe watching the news. But, this does not happen. I pull out of bed at 7:10- scramble for food, and rush out of my house feeling gross. I will back track a bit though. 7:10... I come out of my room. My Dad is already sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper, and drinking his coffee. He comments on my grumpy face, and tells me to hurry up. I pour some cereal...and we sit briefly and talk. We usually both agree that it would be nice to stay home, pull out the amazingly warm electric blanket, curl up on the couch, put in a Harry Potter movie, and fall asleep. We laugh. I am still exhausted, so I eat quietly while he talks about news articles. This is the ultimate in small talk. The time is now 7:25. I have 5 minutes to pull everything together, but still I sit. This is where he asks me a question. A question that nearly always brings me close to tears. But as hard as I try, I am unable to hold a straight face. I always smile. "Will you sing me a song?"