FICTION | THREE PART STORY

Prodigal Son — Homecoming

(Part 1) — At least one person in his family was inwardly happy that he was leaving home. It was his Big Brother.

Photo by Isaac Withers on Unsplash

One day, against his will, a young man had to return home after a few months of city life, losing all his wealth.

As he had no money for a carriage fare, he traveled on foot from the city, which was a hundred miles away from his home.

Exactly how long he lived there was beyond his reckoning. His concern was how he lived. Sometimes he felt that it was a short period, but sometimes he felt that it was too long. Of course, it was less than a year, because the cycle of seasons was not yet completed.

The first part of that life was full of bliss, as he wished. So, then he felt that it was a heavenly place. While the other part was complicated, it came to be a treacherous space for him. And so from the start of the second part, he lost his sense of timing.

It was during this second period he lost all the money. It was not the money he earned by doing any job. It was the cashed amount of his share of the family property allotted to him by his father in consideration of his constant and insistent demand.

That's the kind of money he lost. In a sense, the price of his birth!

When he confirmed the huge loss, when even the last coin he had was gone, he was devastated. He was so helpless that he could not stand a foothold in that city. He also felt as if his connection with this world had been severed.

He thought it was not a human city but a wildlife sanctuary. He was determined to escape from the animalistic living environment.

At a moment when he felt contempt and hatred for himself as never before, he walked straight to the nearby beach. His move was to commit suicide by jumping into the sea from a rocky cliff. It was infamously known as Suicide Point.

But just before the final moment, an inner voice said, 'Your bond with this world is not broken as long as your father or mother lives.'

He listened attentively to the voice as if hearing a call. Instantly, he abandoned the attempt and walked away. The walk began to lengthen. He continued his pace in the blazing sun, past streets, crowds, broad avenues, and then valleys and plains.

Throughout the long road of return, he regretfully recalled not about the defeats he faced in the city, but about his parents who always showered him with affection and love.

His father had admonished him several times in a stern voice and his mother in tears that what he was about to do was unwise.

At least one person in his family was inwardly happy that he was leaving home. It was his Big Brother.

Now he wanted to repent before his parents and ask for their forgiveness. That didn't mean he was wrong to take his share and leave home; it was because he had hurt them both by nullifying all that they had given him.

Like his father and mother, some of his friends were against his reckless move when he decided to leave. But he didn't care. Others who knew him did not properly understand or appreciate that he had his own reasons and motives behind that daring move.

One after the other, those reasons and motives filled his mind in this order:

First, his father was getting old. He couldn't carry on with his life in his father's shadow.

Second, Big Brother was gradually becoming the center of power, neutralizing the existing power of the father in their household. He never had the heart to accept it.

Third, as a liberty lover, he believed that his rights were constantly being taken away at home. It wore him down. He wanted to breathe the fresh air of independence.

Fourth, he wanted to be a self-sufficient person. For that, he had a burning desire to carve out a small sphere of action of his somewhere in this world. Family ties that interfere with it should be avoided.

Fifth, his rural surroundings had several limitations and inconveniences when compared to urban areas; he could not bear the resulting stagnation of life. His young, young heart was always after new and exciting things.

Sixth, he longed to travel a lot and see the unseen sights of this vast world.

He may have had relatively less important reasons and motives in mind at that time...

He believed that leaving home would solve all his problems.

In those days he was confident of his success in life. Life was promising for him. The world was stretched out before him, welcoming. He never thought about the rough side of life. His mind was full of daylight, music, and joy. From his point of view, every night outside his territory was full of the moon.

Being a self-sufficient person, he was not afraid of anyone or anything. Likewise, he did not bother to intimidate anyone for anything.

He also had a firm belief that the destiny of any man is determined by that man himself.

So, despite the efforts of his parents and close friends, he could not be deterred from taking the plunge.

But destiny!

What was he like now?

Despondent, depressed, and remorseful.

As he got closer to home, his mind began to be filled with worries that were not present at the beginning of his travel. Suddenly, a crucial question arose within him: How would he be received there, one who had left home to live alone but returned failed?

Since it was an act of severing family ties on his initiative, he was aware of the fact that he was like an outsider on his return to the bungalow. He had learned that no one cares about losers, especially family members.

By the time he had finished his travel on the public road in front of the house, he was exhausted to the max. It was a day and a half journey. During the night, he rested in an empty hut by the roadside.

His entire walk was in the blazing sun. Unable to advance even a step further, he had to take refuge in the shade of the veranda of an old abandoned grocery shop by the roadside.

Instantly, the shade of the roof gave some relief. If the heat of the sun scorched his body all along the way, the heat of his failure was still scorching his mind.

He felt it was a blessing that the small bazaar, with only a few shops, looked deserted due to the intense midday sun. Otherwise, his acquaintances would have bothered him by asking unpleasant questions.

Sitting there, he could see that his house was sweltering in the midday heat. He could not rest there for long. So, after a while, he got up and looked at the house and thought, what might his parents be doing now?

As he gazed thoughtfully for a few moments at the big house, which lay a little above the level of the road, he recognised an unknown pang welling up somewhere inside him was overwhelming him.

Could it be the pain of losing a home? After all, he was born and raised there! Despite all the unhappiness he had experienced, some good, nostalgic memories flashed through his mind.

To be continued