The Cruel Cold World
The boy sat on the chair in the wide corridor. He sat ecstatic about the promotion of a managing director his father just rose to in his place of work. His father was a steadfast breadwinner in the family. He loved his father dearly. His father was that type of dad that placed God alongside the family first before anything else. A devout man. His father gave more of himself to the family, he was there during his assignments, during playtime, during dining times, during pickups from school, during sick days and even during bedtime stories because of this Jerry loved his dad immensely.
The corridor was illuminated in light that shun from the bulbs dangling in the air. The chair was warm and comfy. The wallpaper of the Holy books was attached to the tail end of the corridor that linked to the main kitchen. His mother was busy that night. She was happy. She couldn't hide her happiness gravitated towards the sudden promotion bestowed on her husband. She had gotten the news from her husband on a phone call and the success called for a small family celebration. Both mother and son were happy to see the head of the family progressive. The kitchen was in a rush hour. Different uncooked recipes finding their way to go through the fire to make something delicious. The boy Jerry was salivating to all the yummy aroma that bombarded the lively corridor.
Shortly, the phone rang — “Honey I am 17 minutes away from the house, hope the food is almost ready? I will be there in the speed of lightning, love you” — The woman was happy, they both scheduled the mini party to kick-off 30 minutes from the current time they agreed to start the celebration but the husband decided to be prudent with his timing to inform her of his location. She gave four responses to her spouse's call — “Darling that's awesome, yes, just some little sandwich left to prepare, I will be expecting you, I love you too” -- Now everything from the kitchen was ready, serenading music was buzzing in the living room, the table was set and filled with all sorts of delicious delicacies, all the whole chairs occupied except one, the husband. The woman was getting worried, he told her earlier he would join them in 17 minutes time but it was over 30 minutes now and nothing yet. The vibe to celebrate an achievement was drowning in the sea of worry.
“I can't wait anymore, I should call him to see if he's near and ask what's delaying him” — that was how the horn of a car sounded in the frontage of the house. The sign that daddy had arrived. He rushed into the house and apologized to his wife with a heart melting kiss and explained what delayed him. The family didn't care. It was his day so a little delay was nothing. All chairs at the dining table were occupied. Dad, mom and little Jerry ate, sang, and danced. The moment of fun was splendid. In between the mini party, the man whispered to his wife to please excuse him that he forgot a gift he bought for both of them. He walked past the door whence he came in and went straight to his car. Immediately, three incoming calls buzzed on all the open lines of the family three telephone.
The woman didn't want to pick it at first but for three open lines to ring simultaneously, she decided to pick the call — “Hello, are you the wife of Mr. Tim” She replied “Yes” “I'm sorry to inform you of the death of your husband, like an hour ago, your husband was involved in a ghastly accident with a gasoline tanker” — she immediately cursed the informant and ended the call. She deemed the call as a bad joke and a sinister plan to ruin her happiness because her husband was beside her the entire time the man on the phone was saying he was involved in an accident. She didn't throw caution to the wind though. She immediately raced herself outside to the garage to verify that her husband was not in that tragedy that she heard on the phone rather in his car to fetch both her and their son the gifts he forgot in the car.
To be continued…
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