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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: The Family Reunion (06/05/08)
It had been 25 long long years. Yet, here he was staring at the front door that was sunken
into the darkness. As he stared, trembling and weeping, he reflected over the past twenty
four hours. His mind was a hurricane of thoughts trying to break free through his skull.
Every once in a while a stray thought, like debris being tossed about within the storm,
would fly by before vanishing again. He couldn’t grab onto one thought, for once he did
it was as if a dam had broken and the flood of thoughts came pouring in. He didn’t really
want to grab on though, reality was so far from just that…..real. The world had been
turned upside down and shaken. The world he had known for 25 years.

As he thought about what his genetic link to the man, that was probably sleeping in a
room somewhere behind that front door, was his mind began to wander again. “Does he
look like me? Why didn’t he ever contact me? Maybe he is awake in bed thinking about
me.” The reality of the situation was that no one in that house was doing this, for it was
3:00 a.m. and that entire universe within those walls was completely alien to him and he
alien to them.

Quickly he reached for his cell phone and called his dad who answered with a hint of
insomnia, “Hello?” Kevin let the hurricane blow, “I’m not mad, I just think I need some
time, It all happened at once and I’m not sure what is going on, And everything is really
strange right now so just forgive me I just need some time, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” As
he hung up the phone empty silence was a thick blanket in the air smothering him, letting
him know he really was alone and letting the storm brew again.

By now Kevin felt like a teenager all over again. It was such a long exhausting day and
all he really wanted to do was rebel. Thoughts of streaking through the neighborhood
were quickly replaced with fingerprinting and iron bars. Then Kevin’s mind did what it
always has done with something truly painful. He started to joke and wander into his own
world.

This brief hiatus was only a patch as his laughter morphed back into tears as if gas was
liquefying. Doubt and reality crept back into his mind and he was upset at the world.
Tired of crying and sitting, Kevin drove some more not really knowing what he is
looking for but hoping something would catch his eye subduing the storm still raging in
his head. He found that something at a gas station close by. Sitting for a moment, as if
that extra minute and a half was going to “fool” anyone into thinking he hadn’t been
crying, he walked in to grab some sweets.

While reflecting on his youth through gummi bears and an ice cream sandwich his life
culminated on the drive home. At this point he realized that the lies told to him through
his youth were out of protection. Maybe the protection wasn’t always for him but it was
towards him. His dad was his dad and always had been. This new “father” that was
presented before him had never been there, ever. Therefore was not his dad, only an
acquaintance.

As he sneaked in through the locked door of his new house he took a deep breath. He
walked down the hall and looked in on his new wife with loving eyes; she would never
know the internal struggle in which he battled over the course of the next days. Kevin
was careful to enter the next room quietly and as he approached the crib and looked down
on his baby boy, he gently kissed him on his head and whispered, “I Love You!” At that
moment he promised to always be there for little Jacob and to forever fight the in suing
battles that his biological father possessed. He turned around and left quietly pulling into
bed next to his wife. This was the only family reunion he needed for today. After all he
was finally home.
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This article has been read 542 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Sara Harricharan
06/12/08
Wow, quite some suspense here! You have some good emotion and atmosphere, but it's a tad choppy in some places. Try not to make the lines too long, or it sort of interrupts the flow a bit. Otherwise, this was pretty good! ^_^
Chely Roach
06/15/08
The mental image of Kevin staring at the front door of his biological father's house put a knot in my stomach, which then rose to my throat. My heart went out to him; I cannot begin to fathom the onslaught of emotions that would come with such a revelation.
I absolutely love the progression of this piece into forgiveness, understanding, and the refocus onto his new family. This was captivating, and beautifully expressed...