“Christine, come and sit down. We want to talk to you.” Christine’s father asked her after dinner, just as she was about to leave the table. Her mother was sitting next to him. Christine sat down nervously.
“Christine, we were thinking about your future, what you want to be,” her mother started, “What is your ambition?”
“If you want to be a lawyer,” her father interrupted, “I can help you build the pathway to success. If you want to be a doctor, I can help you build your road as well. If you want to major in business, you can always come and help dad. It depends on what you want. It’s about time you start thinking about what classes you are going to take for your exams Christine. So tell me, what is your ambition?” Christine didn’t answer.
“Don’t tell me you want to be an artist,” her mother added.
Her father motioned for her mother to be quiet. “It’s fine for you to be an artist. Would you rather find big money, or would you rather make a job out of your hobbies, only making ten or fifteen dollars a day?”
Again, Christine didn’t answer. Her parents looked at her expectantly. “Actually…” Christine started. Her parents leaned forward a bit.
“What dear? Say what you want to say.” Her mother told her.
“Remember that job I told you about?” Christine asked, they nodded, “Well, this guy thought that I was pretty good and…” she drifted off and lifted her head a bit to see what her parents reaction are so far. They looked clueless. She took a deep breath and continued, her voiced lowered to a faint whisper, “He thought that I was pretty good, and he really liked my song and he thinks that I have the potential to be a professional entertainer.”
Her parents leaned back, unsure of how to answer her. Finally, her mother broke the silence, “Well, it’s a rather big risk don’t you think? What if you won’t become famous?”
“I don’t know mom, I really don’t know how to answer you on that one. All I know is that, I’m determined to be a singer and I know that I’ll succeed.”
Her mother glanced at her father. “I don’t know Christine. I really don’t know. Let me think about it.” Her father left the table.
“But dad! You have to let me! My life would absolutely be miserable if I be a doctor or lawyer or anything else besides this! Please dad!” Her father slammed his bedroom door. Christine sulked. “It’s the 21st century dad! You have no control over what I wanna be!” She shouted, with tears rolling down her face. Her mother came over her and patted her shoulder with sympathy.
“Be strong dear, your father will come to his senses, you’re right, we don’t have any control over your future,” her mother whispered softly into her ear. “Your father is like that, you know him, don’t cry.” She followed him upstairs to their bedroom and shut the door slowly, giving Christine a sympathetic smile before she shut the door completely.