I understand

"Dad wants you there," Amy insisted and hung up the receiver before Pamela could respond.

Pamela sighed. It had been like this ever since she, Pamela, had married and moved to another state twenty years ago. Amy, now the only sibling living with Dad, had - well - had patented his needs and wants as if nobody else knew what these were.

Dad's 75th birthday was coming up on the 23rd. It was a working day and Pamela had an important presentation to make to important clients. The party had been an almost last-minute idea of Amy's ('Dad would love it') and Pamela couldn't desert her team at work at such short notice.

She knew Dad would understand. Dad had always encouraged her to follow her career, he would have cheered her on with this presentation. But Amy always answered his phone now, and she hadn't been able to speak to him.

"What's up?" she heard Jim's voice ask.

"It's this party of Dad's, Jim. It's on the 23rd, the day we do the presentation."

"Hmmm. Your sister giving you a hard time?"

"You bet. She won't even let Dad pick up his own phone."

"Let me dial your Dad's number from my phone. Maybe she'll let him pick up an unknown number."

"Worth a try. It's 7423232323."

"All those 23s!" Jim gasped.

"Yup. Amy paid a whole lot to get the number with Dad's birthday repeatedly in it."

Jim threw back his head and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Pamela asked.

"Well, your sis has given you the answer. 23 is a spiritual number. It tells us to keep on our path regardless of obstacles."

"But - but - part of me feels guilty, ditching Dad on his birthday."

"You are not ditching, my girl. You didn't say you'll come to the party and then not turn up. On the contrary you'll be ditching us if you leave on the day of the presentation. "

Pamela hesitated.

"Listen," Jim went on. "Let me dial this number with all these 23s and let's see what happens."

"Okay," she sighed.

Jim dialed.

They waited. Would a male voice answer, or a female one?

It was a male voice.

"Hello?"

Jim handed the phone to Pamela.

"Dad, Dad, Pam here, Dad."

"Oh."

Immediately, she understood. Her sister was near her father. She dropped her voice to a whisper.

"Dad, I have an important presentation on the 23rd. I can't let my team down. May I meet you and hug you a couple of days later?"

"Listen, young lady," came the strident male voice in response. "Don't you come around here on my birthday, see? You give me that day and another with my family. I won't be free to see you before the 25th, you understand? You understand?"

"Yes, Dad, I understand!"

Prompt ▼

PROMPT
Spiritually speaking, the number 23 encourages us to keep going on our path and maintain positive thinking.

Your entry for this prompt should be about a character struggling to go on. They see the number 23 in multiple places. Finally, someone tells them the significance of the number. What happens?
One of your genres must be Spiritual