Dad's Notebook

Dad's Notebook is an important file received in Silent Hill 3. Unlike most other memos, the notebook is an actual item present in Heather Mason's inventory. The notebook bears the title Simple Works and has the words "To My Dear Daughter..." written on the cover in Harry Mason's handwriting. It appears as an aged document with bloodstains running up the length of the cover.

Heather receives the notebook from Douglas Cartland, who found it in Heather's home. He says Harry was holding it when he was murdered by the Missionary. During Heather and Douglas' car drive to Silent Hill, she explains the contents of the notebook, which detail the events of the first Silent Hill game and what happened afterwards.

Transcript



 * "I hope this will never come to
 * any use; maybe it's better if
 * you never know.
 * More than anything else, I fear
 * the possibility of your going
 * away, far from me.


 * But sometimes we have to
 * tell the truth.
 * That's why I'm writing this, before
 * I'm lost in death and oblivion.


 * What happened back then?
 * That has something to do
 * with who you are.


 * It all started 24 years ago. Coming
 * back from a vacation, my wife and
 * I found a baby on the side of the
 * highway. Since we were childless,
 * we thanked God for letting us meet
 * this child... this girl. We took her
 * home.


 * 3 years later, my wife died, and
 * another 4 years later — 17 years
 * ago —, I came to Silent Hill.
 * I heard the girl's pleas and took
 * her with me, not knowing why
 * she wanted us to go there.


 * And it was there that the girl went
 * away. Not that she actually went
 * anywhere, nor did she die.
 * 'Returned to her original self'...
 * that's what Dahlia Gillespie said.


 * 'Original self'... That was the young
 * woman burned by her mother as a
 * sacrifice to God... Alessa Gillespie.


 * Half her soul escaped in those
 * flames and went on to live in a
 * baby... in that girl of mine. Of ours.


 * 7 years passed before that half-a-girl
 * returned to Silent Hill and made
 * Alessa whole again. Newly
 * strengthened, she vowed to kill God.


 * God, a fetus nestled into this
 * sacrificial girl's womb, was
 * summoned with the usual rites.
 * This was Alessa's wish, no matter
 * what the outcome — even if her
 * own existence were at stake.


 * But that wish was not granted.
 * My interruption meant she prayed
 * instead for the girl's return.
 * I alone couldn't bring her back.


 * Dahlia did it — I only helped at the
 * birthing ceremony, to bring God out
 * of Alessa.


 * The newly-born God wailed
 * once and was dead.
 * All from that girl's — and probably
 * Alessa's — conscious resistance.


 * That's not the end.
 * After God had vanished in a glow
 * of light, Alessa reappeared and
 * gave me a baby.
 * She looked a lot like that girl so
 * long ago.


 * And then Alessa was gone, dead.
 * There was nothing I could have
 * done to help.
 * I simply clutched the baby to
 * my chest and ran off.


 * The whole thing felt like a dream,
 * but I had proof that it wasn't.
 * The girl was nowhere to be found,
 * and in my arms... the baby.


 * Now 17 years have passed.
 * It feels like only yesterday, and
 * again it feels like a million years ago.


 * I confess I had reservations at
 * first about raising that baby.
 * Could I love her?
 * Her existence was thoroughly
 * unexplainable.


 * I thought, 'She could be that young
 * woman who snatched away my
 * beloved daughter.' That led to
 * sadness, anger... there were times
 * when I put my hands around her
 * tiny little throat.


 * Several times I even considered
 * abandoning her.
 * That's what a terrible person I am.


 * But I decided to raise her after all.
 * I just couldn't seem to let her go.
 * When she... when you look at me,
 * you laugh, so...


 * Even now, I can't forget
 * about that girl.
 * But I love you. I have no doubts
 * about that. That's all I ask you
 * to believe.


 * To my precious daughter...
 * — Harry Mason"

Trivia

 * The quote of Dahlia Gillespie from the first game is properly "...restored to her former self." Localizer Jeremy Blaustein of Silent Hill 2–4 was not involved with the translation of the first Silent Hill; although the writer of the original Japanese script, Hiroyuki Owaku, had written for both games. It could be explained in-universe as a misrememberance on Harry's part after 17 years.