Thursday, August 17, 2017

Write, Edit, Published August 2017 challenge. Reunion

Write, Edit, Published bloghop. This blog hop was started by the lovely Denise Covy and joining her is Yolanda Renee. This month the challenge is to write a story with the prompt, Reunion. Sorry I'm late, I won't bore you with the reason. To read other fabulous stories, go here.






Reunion

Timothy reached for the letter he’d set aside three days ago and gazed at the return address. His anger hadn’t subsided from when he first found it in his mail slot. Rather, it had intensified.

Rage had kept him from his family all these years. More than twenty. He nurtured it. Like rain on sandy soil, his irritation flowed in little rivulets, each holding the memories of what had been done to him. The first when he had been fifteen. His father accepted a job in New York City and moved his entire family from the beaches of southern California to the city that never sleeps. A surfer, Timothy had lost his chance to compete in the champion trials, and he’d lost his friends. There wasn’t any place to surf in New York City.

At school, he had to endure name calling and never did make new friends. His grades had plummeted. Who knew what might have happened in southern California. He might have been on the honor roll. In New York he flunked. There was no ivy league school for him. Instead, he attended a small college.

When he’d graduated from that little college, his father didn’t come. Afterwards, in an argument his father let him know that he was a big failure and a disappointment.

He landed a job in California shortly after that and had moved. Every year invitations came for family reunions and Christmas. He threw them all away and never sent a single gift. He ignored news of his sister’s weddings and the birth of their children. He burned the only photos he had of his father.

He jumped in his chair when the phone rang. Timothy lifted his iPhone and recognized the number from New York. He nearly tossed the expensive phone aside, but something made him stop. Who would it be? His father or his mother? Father never called him. But his mother had left one tearful message after another on his Birthday’s and a Christmas. It was probably her. The only bright spot in the list of wrong doing.

His mother had encouraged him through all the problems. If it hadn’t been for her, he never would have gone to college at all.

He swiped the phone and hesitated before saying, “Hello.”

“Timothy.” It was his father. His thumb hovered near the end call button.

“Please come, your mother has cancer. Her only wish is to see you again.”


Word Count: 408

I can't say that this was the most joyful thing I've ever written, but this is what came to me. I hope you enjoyed it.

Nancy

26 comments:

Denise Covey said...

Hi Nancy! I'm glad you made it. I've added you to the list. Timothy's story is not that unusual, I'd say. So much bitterness remaining from those years when he felt he'd been wronged, his dreams dashed. Perhaps in his case, he's left the reunion too late. Very sad. Families are so complicated.

Thanks for writing for WEP, Nancy. Your stories are always anticipated and appreciated.

Denise :-)

Yolanda Renée said...

Always glad to have you, Nancy! I recognize this story and it's a sad one. I hope he fulfills her wish.

Elephant's Child said...

I suspect that many of us have experienced variations on this tale.
Family dynamics are complicated and often painful places.

N. R. Williams said...

Yes, this is an old tale we have all seen. Thanks for coming by.
Nancy

Olga Godim said...

How sad. Sometimes, our families complicate our lives on many levels, but I wish your hero could come to terms with his.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nancy - so sad ... and sadly, so true - reunions often arrive too late - yet somehow perhaps he should have made good years before ... a lesson somehow many of us need to learn and appreciate. Regrets - I bet he'll have a few ... just desperate when families are torn apart ... well done on the writing and telling ... cheers Hilary

Nilanjana Bose said...

So often the perceived sins of the father are visited on the mother/other family members, so unfair. Anger is a useless, corrosive emotion unless channelled constructively. Feel so sorry for his mum, hope he makes it back in time! Sad story, and all too common. Well crafted, in such a small word count too. Thumbs up!

Julie Flanders said...

Oh, this really is so sad. I hope your character will fulfill his mother's wish. And perhaps let go of his own bitterness. Such a true-to-life story - well done.

I don't think I've been to your blog before this hop - great to meet you!

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks everyone. Nice to meet you as well, Julie.
Nancy

dolorah said...

Moving can be difficult for children. So sad. This was sorrowful, but it did have a hopeful ending.

N. R. Williams said...

Yes, it did. Thanks Donna.
Nancy

Pat Hatt said...

Family life can sure be complicated indeed sometimes. But if he visits never know what fences may be mended.

Donna B. McNicol said...

Unfortunately, this happens much more often than we would think. Well written, kept me reading to the end.

cleemckenzie said...

Families are our greatest assets and our greatest challenges. I understood the dynamics in your story very well. I really liked your metaphor about water on sandy soil. It was perfect.

J Lenni Dorner said...

A very moving ending. I've met a few people who could claim a story much like this as their own. Great job writing this.

D.G. Hudson said...

The ending brought tears to my eyes, because a mother, at least the good ones, always suffer most when there is a disagreement between the child and the father. You wrote it well, N.R.! Family disagreements are tough.

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you all.
Nancy

Deborah Drucker said...

Sad how we can let our resentment and anger keep us from forgiving. We can cut ourselves off from others until it is too late.

Lisa said...

The sad thing is that this sort of thing is all too common. I have family that I never see and I know others who have the same. It's sometimes down to something very small, and other times not so small but in the end, it's time wasted that you never get back...
Great story that made me think.

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you all.
Nancy

baili said...

i am glad i read it today .
relationships have complications sometimes and sensitve heart suffer with it

Chrys Fey said...

The ending really punched me in the gut.

Gina Gao said...

The end was really heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing.


www.ficklemillennial.com

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks for coming by Baili, Chrys and Gina.
Nancy

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