So...
...the only place he could have gone was through a locked door...a door to which he held the key?

Even if your father's assurance of no malicious intent is true, surely it's far more sensible to assume the possibility of a "funny turn" and amnesia, something along the lines of sleepwalking, say...a mental episode, than something supernatural? He unlocked the door and went out spent the three hours doing who knows what, then came back, and couldn't remember doing so?

Or perhaps he left, went home, sat in front of the TV...then three hours later thought "Hmm...have I forgotten something? Oh god, I forgot the kids!" and raced back to collect you, lying to cover it or, if you wan't to think better of your father, blocking out the traumatic memory of abandoning you.
(Musuko, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 18:27, Reply)