Rob Beatson 2006
The old man in the small boat, rocking gently back and forth as the morning fog rolled off the point. Hunched and broken, he sat staring at the deck, waiting to scatter the ashes of the only person he ever cared about. The woman in the pinstripe suit sat at the bow scanning the waters in hope the other boat would soon appear. Two hours overdue, it looked as though the ashes would never see the waters off Nantasket Beach.
The old man was in the most pitiful of situations. He had loved only two things, money and his late wife, yet neither showed him love in return. He had cast aside the other aspects of his life, three daughters, family values, general charisma, and had focused only on his two loves. He had only one son, one cast in the same lecherous, greedy, and deceitful mold as himself. No matter what flaws a man may have, all can be forgiven, but this man's biggest err was not dying before his son set his sights on the family fortune. The son felt no shame; he wanted that money and he knew how to get it. The fact that he bore the same name as his father only made it easier. Forgery, bribery, there was no extent to the depths of his greed and what he would do to take everything away from the old man. The ashes of his mother were merely a pawn, the one thing the old man wanted. The son had taken it all; the real estate, the land, the bank accounts, but most importantly, he had the old man's spirit. Hope of seeing his beloved wife's ashes lovingly disposed of was the only thing that kept the old man's heart beating.
The sun had long since broken through the clouds as the hours dragged on. Any other occasion, and it would have been a beautiful beach day. Shined shoes and Sunday best, the grandchildren hung their feet over the edge of the pier while the sound of the small wave lapping at the moored boats was the only conversation that morning. Their thoughts turned to the grandfather they hardly knew. The grandchildren couldn't understand why the old man was so desperate for the ashes or why his son kept them from him.
The son knew he wouldn't show with the ashes, everyone but the old man knew that. This is wasn't a mistake. This was a final act in the most tragic of ironies. A lifetime dedicated to only money and a cold, unloving wife, and what did the old man have to show for it? A day spent on a rough chop alone on a boat with neither one.
Back on the dock, two of the man's daughters sat in waiting. They knew their brother well; they already knew he wouldn't show. They just wished that their father could have seen it coming. Despite his emotional absence in the lives of his children, the thought of the old man in the small boat with just his lawyer and the captain was almost enough to make them feel sorry for him. Almost...
This excerpt was submitted to the New England Young Writers' Conference (open to sophomores and juniors) and gained Rob acceptance into the writing program, held at the Bread Loaf Campus, Middlebury College, Vermont.
his greed and what he would do to take everything away from the old man. The ashes of his mother were merely a pawn, the one thing the old man wanted. The son had taken it all; the real estate, the land, the bank accounts, but most importantly, he had the old man's spirit. Hope of seeing his beloved wife's ashes lovingly disposed of was the only thing that kept the old man's heart beating.
The sun had long since broken through the clouds as the hours dragged on. Any other occasion, and it would have been a beautiful beach day. Shined shoes and Sunday best, the grandchildren hung their feet over the edge of the pier while the sound of the small waves lapping at the moored boats was the only conversation that morning. Their thoughts turned to the grandfather they hardly knew. The grandchildren couldn't understand why the old man was so desperate for the ashes or why his son kept them from him.
The son knew he wouldn't show with the ashes, everyone but the old man knew that. This wasn't a mistake. This was a final act in the most tragic of ironies. A lifetime dedicated to only money and a cold, unloving wife, and what did the old man have to show for it? A day spent on a rough chop alone on a boat with neither one.
Back on the dock, two of the man's daughters sat in waiting. They knew their brother well; they already knew he wouldn't show. They just wished that their father could have seen it coming. Despite his emotional absence in the lives of his children, the thought of the old man in the small boat with just his lawyer and the captain was almost enough to make them feel sorry for him. Almost...
This excerpt was submitted to the New England Young Writers' Conference and gained Rob acceptance into the writing program, held at the Bread Loaf Campus, Middlebury College, Vermont.