Father (standard:other, 1700 words)
Author: Rabab	Added: Jul 04 2006	Views/Reads: 2993/2006	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The story of a father who loves his son regardless of how he treats him. The last days of a man who couldn't handle happiness.

The small room seemed to feel so much larger today to the tiny man
propped on the bed in front of the lone window. He sensed a change in 
the wind coming through the flimsy curtains that hung down in tatters 
behind him. The room had acquired a brightness notwithstanding the 
peeling paint on the walls and Sid, as people called him, felt on top 
of the world. His 19 year old grandson was coming to visit. It had been 
15 years since he had seen Aly, 15 long years that he had spent in this 
small one room house with no one to smile and tell him he was loved. He 
chuckled to himself and thought of the time when his grandson had been 
born a tiny premature baby. 

He had been waiting outside the labor room when the nurse came out
smiling holding a tiny bundle in her arms. He had suddenly been 
transported back 28 years to a similar place with a different nurse and 
a different baby-his son. It seemed like yesterday when he had held his 
first and only son in his arms and gazed down into his puffy face. Now 
he was smiling down at what he had helped to create-his grandson. A 
beautiful baby with his high nose that had run in the family for years. 
Sid smiled now as he thought of the day they had brought him home and 
his wife had laid him down in the pretty little room specially 
decorated for him. Flowers bloomed in every corner of the room and 
stuffed toys smiled down at the newest member of the family. 

Sid sat up with a jolt as he realized he was picturing the homecoming of
his son not his grandson! 

‘What is wrong with me?' he thought shaking his head vigorously as he
got out of bed. 

‘It isn't as easy as it used to be,' he screamed out as his joints
cracked with every move. ‘ But today is a special day' he said and, 
pulling himself together, he waddled off to the kitchen. 

At first he was surprised to see that it was clean and tidy but then he
remembered that he had done that before going to bed last night. ‘nine 
thirty five' said the clock in the kitchen, not much time before 
Taimoor gets here. It was a good thing that he had requested  Shamim, 
his next-door neighbour's daughter, to bake a cake for him. He would 
have to mow her lawn in return for the favour but that didn't matter as 
chocolate cake was Taimoor's favourite. He set about arranging things 
in his only room for breakfast. 

The warmth of yesterday's phone call was still fresh in his heart as he
placed the plates on the table. Taimoor had called him at Shamim's 
phone number, he couldn't afford a phone himself, and said that he 
wanted to meet him. He still couldn't believe that his grandson wanted 
to see him when his father had decided it was impossible to keep him in 
the house. The house that he had built with his sweat and blood, the 
house that his loving wife had decorated with her savings. They had 
been so happy in that house and the arrival of their longed for only 
son had made it an even happier place. 

Aly's first day at school had been difficult-not for Aly but for his
parents. They couldn't trust the people in that place called school 
with their darling. 

‘Would they understand his feelings? Would they see the potential behind
his quiet nature? Would they let him have his way as they did?' These 
were only a few of the worries that plagued the parents of the  
resolute young boy who walked into school. His teachers, however, did- 
as teachers often do- see the darkness that lurked behind the small, 
dark eyes. When Aly was in eighth grade, his teachers called the 
parents to school to talk about his selfish and disdainful nature. They 
told Sid and his wife that Aly showed a total disregard for other's 
feelings and his own responsibilities. Sid, who flared up at the 
notion, screamed at the teachers and abused them for maligning the 
character of his perfect son. So, Aly's school was changed. It was 
changed again when he was in his final year of high school due to a 
similar situation. Being a brilliant young man, Aly was admitted in one 
of the best universities of the country where he scored outstanding 
grades. He was employed by the most successful  multi nationals of the 
world and that was when the trouble began. 

As soon as Aly got a job, his attitude towards his parents changed. He
thought they were old fashioned and slow.  After leaving for a position 


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