Lars watched his daughter as, once again, she rambled on about tasks which she needed to complete before she left for Uni. Lars wasn't actually listening to Erica, as he had heard all of this before. Instead, he was contemplating a task HE needed to complete. One he wasn't looking forward to.
Erica was a beautiful girl by anyone's account. Her mom, Abeer, was of Middle Eastern ancestry. Her Father, Lars, was Scandinavian. She seemed to get the best of both her parents. She was 5' 9" and weighed 150 lbs., not quite as tall as her father who was 6'. She had her mother's olive colored complexion with large brown eyes. Her black hair was straight and long and often unconsciously used by Erica to partially cover her face. Yes, Erica was very shy.
Lars and Abeer met as the companies they worked for finalized a joint venture for the exploration of North Sea oil. A few months after meeting they married. Abeer always told her daughter, "when it's right, you'll just know it. When I met your father, I knew almost immediately I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him." Abeer also told her daughter other things. Things all mothers tell their daughters to protect them from dangerous behavior and "perverted men" as Abeer called them.
After marrying, Lars accepted a job on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. Within a year Erica was born. Most people would be bored with the seclusion the island offered; however, Abeer and Lars loved it. As long as Lars completed his assigned tasks, he had the freedom of time to spend with his young family. Tranquility was interrupted when Abeer was diagnosed with lung cancer. Within 4 months Lars and Erica were alone.
Erica stopped in mid-sentence. "Daddy! Are you listening to me?"
"Sure honey. What did you say?" Lars replied not realizing what he had actually said.
"If you were listening to me, why did you have to ask what I said?" They both laughed.
Quickly Erica became serious again. "I really need to go shopping before going to the University. What I have is fine for the island, but there are going to be a lot of new people I will be meeting and I don't want them to think I'm some poor charity case."
"Sure honey, we'll do that this weekend. Ok?" Lars didn't even hear whether his daughter replied. He was back to his deep thoughts.
Erica has been pretty much isolated from the real world her entire life. How was she going to cope with all of the new people she would surely meet. Tranquility seemed like the perfect way to raise a child, but neither Lars nor Abeer thought of the long-term consequences of their daughter's social development. Lars knew from his own college days that there were many predators more than willing to exploit Erica's innocence and naivety. She trusted everyone since no one had ever betrayed her.
With only a couple of weeks until she was to report to classes, Lars knew he was quickly running out of time.
Dinner was finished and Erica washed the last of the dishes before changing into her night clothes. Usually just one of her dad's old large T-shirts. Lars always liked the fact that Abeer had found his T-shirts comfortable as a night shirt. When Erica was only 8 she asked if she could have one. She always enjoyed mimicking her mother. Erica was so tiny it drug on the floor. "Oh well, you can keep it sweetie. Someday you'll grow into it." her father told her.
"I think I'll go to my room to finish reading. 'Night Dad." Erica said as she disappeared down the hallway.
Lars knew this was it. He had been avoiding this for over a year, even delaying Erica's attendance last year because he just couldn't bring himself to have this talk.
With a light, obligatory, tap on her door, Lars' voice cracked as he said, "Erica, I need to talk to you about something very important."
"What is it Dad?" Erica asked worried. She couldn't imagine why her father was so sullen sounding.
Lars sat on the edge of Erica's bed. He looked around the room at all the pink. Teddy bears along with 100s of other stuffed animals filled the room. On the bookshelf was a complete set of literary classics. All of which, Erica had read. He thought to himself, what a contrast of personalities Erica is.
"As you know sweetie, you will be meeting a lot of new people when you attend Uni. Most of these people are good decent people, but also there are those who take pleasure in taking advantage of those who are naive and inexperienced." For over a year, Lars played this sentence over and over in his mind for this exact moment. He recited it perfectly. That was as far as he had ever gone in preparing for this moment. He couldn't bring himself to think about was how he would continue past that sentence. After several seconds of silence, and Erica staring at him in anticipation, he decided he might as well jump from the frying pan right into the fire.
"Sweetie, do you masturbate?" He said in almost a whisper.
"What?" Erica replied.
Not sure whether her response was because she was unfamiliar with this term or in shock that he would ask her such a personal question. He tried another direction. "Do you ever touch yourself there?" Pointing to her pussy which was barely covered by the large night shirt.
This caused Erica to blush. Instinctively she drew her knees to her chest pulling the nightshirt over them to her bare feet. This covered her entire body, feigning protection, "DADDY!"
"I know honey, it's embarrassing to talk about, but we have to. I'm not happy about this either, but I can't just throw you into a pack of wolves uninformed. This was something your mother would have talked to you about if she hadn't died. I know she would have been better at it, but all I know is to do it the only way I know how. I love you sweetie and would never hurt you. " Now in a firmer voice Lars asked his daughter, "Do you ever masturbate?" When she turned her head and looked away from him he decided he needed a new tactic. Force would accomplish nothing.
"Your mom told you to never touch yourself there, right?" Lars lowered his voice wanting to sound as compassionate as he could be, in spite of being as embarrassed as he was. Without looking at her father, Erica nodded to his question.
"And she told you to never allow anyone else to touch you there either, right?"
Again, Erica nodded in acknowledgement continuing to stare at the wall instead of her father.
"Well sweetheart, you were very young and she told you those things to protect you from harm. They were the right things to tell you at the time. Her instructions were appropriate for your age. By the time you were 16 yrs. old mama had died. She never had a chance to give you advice for a young woman. Do you understand?"
Talk of her Mom brought tears to her eyes. When she turned to look at her father she noticed his eyes were watery too. Even though 2 years had passed, the wounds were still not healed.
Lars put his hands on Erica's knees. Neither took that as a sexual gesture; rather, one of comfort. Lars continued, "you do realize that in order to have a normal life you will have to date. Once you start dating you will begin to have feelings for the man you are dating. You will want to have physical contact with him such as kissing and hugging. You have been secluded on this island all of your life. You have not experienced relationships in the usual way."
"What do you mean Daddy?" Erica asked sincerely.
"Most kids start at a young age playing and flirting innocently with members of the opposite sex. By the time they are your age they have learned about the physical aspects of a relationship. Girls by your age have usually kissed many boys. Many have experienced variations of sex and how to control their sexual urges and pressures put on them by the opposite sex. If you don't listen to me you are either going to end up pregnant within a few months, or be all alone as doubt inhibits you in developing a relationship."
