A Quest For Love - S01 E08

Story 1 week ago

A Quest For Love - S01 E08

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 8

A Quest For Love

The backyard of the small house on Willow Lane was so quiet that you could hear the soft sound of the wind moving through the grass. David stood very still. He held the yellowed piece of paper in his hands. He held it so gently that it looked like he was afraid it would turn into dust and blow away. He read the words over and over again. Each time he read them, his eyes became a little more wet. The anger that had been on his face for so many days was starting to melt away. It was like ice melting under a very warm sun. He looked at his father, Mr. Okafor, who was still sitting on the wooden crate. The old man looked like he was waiting for a giant storm to hit him. He looked like he was ready to be yelled at again.

David finished reading the letter for the third time. He let his hands drop to his sides. He looked at his father with eyes that were wide and full of surprise. "You have had this for five years?" David asked. His voice was not loud and mean anymore. It was thin and it was trembling. It was the voice of a boy who had finally found something he thought was lost forever. He looked at the shaky handwriting on the page. He realized that his father had been carrying this apology around for half of a decade. For five long years, those words had stayed hidden in a small wooden box.

Mr. Okafor nodded his head very slowly. He did not look up at first. He kept his eyes on his shoes. "I have had it since the day you left," he whispered. "I wrote it when I was sitting alone in the kitchen. I wanted to run after your car. I wanted to give it to you before you reached the end of the street. But I was afraid. I thought you hated me for what I had said. I thought you would throw the letter back in my face. So, I put it in the box with Toby’s things. I thought it was safer there."

David let out a long, shaky breath. It was a sound of deep sadness. "I thought you hated me, Dad," David said. He wiped a tear from his cheek with the back of his hand. "That is why I stayed away. I thought you never wanted to see us again. I thought you were happy in your silence. Every time I thought about calling you, I remembered our fight. I remembered how you looked when you told me to leave. I did not know you were waiting. I did not know you were sorry."

Leo stood near the big oak tree and watched them. He felt a small spark of hope in his chest. This was it! This was the moment his quest was supposed to finish. He had brought the secret out into the light. He had shown the son that the father was not a stone man. He had shown the father that the son was not just a mean businessman. They were two people who had been lonely for a very long time because of a big mistake. It looked like they were finally going to make things right. David took a step toward the wooden crate. He reached out his hand. It looked like he was going to give his father a very big hug. The air felt light and happy for the first time.

But then, a sharp and loud sound broke the beautiful moment. It was a ringtone. It was a very modern and very fast sound that did not belong in the quiet backyard. It was David’s cell phone. It was sitting in the pocket of his expensive suit. The phone vibrated and sang its loud song. It was a sound that reminded everyone of the big city and the busy world outside. David stopped moving.

He did not hug his father. He did not even finish his sentence. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He looked at the screen. His face changed instantly. The softness went away. The tears stopped. The mask of the stressed businessman came back on.

"It is the office," David said. He looked at his father, but his eyes were not seeing him anymore. He was seeing his desk and his computer and his meetings. He answered the phone and spoke in a very fast voice. "Hello? Yes, I am still here. No, I am almost finished. What? Right now? But I am in the middle of something. I see. No, I understand. I will be there." He hung up the phone and looked at his gold watch. He looked like he was in a panic. He looked like a man who was being chased by a clock.

"I have to go," David said. He began to pace back and forth on the grass. "That was the main office. They said I have to leave for the city right now. If I am not at the meeting tonight, I will lose my big promotion. I have worked for three years to get this job. I cannot lose it now. Everything is riding on this. The house, the school for Toby, everything."

Leo could not believe what he was hearing. "But David!" Leo shouted. He ran forward a few steps. "You just read the letter! You just found out your dad loves you! You cannot go now! You have to talk to him!"

David looked at Leo, but his eyes were hard again. They were like cold glass. "We do not have time for this right now, kid," David snapped. He waved his hand at the moving truck. "The movers are done. The car is packed. My life is in the city, not here in this old garden. Dad, get in the car. We are leaving. We are already twenty minutes behind schedule."

Mr. Okafor stood up from the wooden crate. He looked at the letter that was still in David’s hand. He looked at the house that was now empty and dark. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the words would not come. He looked at Leo, and his eyes were full of a very deep apology. He looked like a man who had lost his voice again. He slowly folded the letter and put it back into his pocket. He did not fight. He did not argue. He just followed his son toward the shiny black car.

"Dad, hurry up!" David called out. He was already opening the car door. He was tapping his fingers on the roof of the car. He was looking at the road. He was not looking at the trees or the park or the memories. He was only looking at the future. He was only looking at the city.

Leo stood in the middle of the driveway. He felt like his heart was being squeezed by a giant hand. He had worked so hard. He had brought flowers and drawings. He had faced the scary man. He had found the secret letter. He had done everything a hero was supposed to do on a quest for love. But the quest was ending in sadness. The quest was ending with a car driving away. The son was choosing his job over his father. The city was winning against the park.

Mr. Okafor got into the back seat of the car. He moved slowly, like every part of his body was made of heavy lead. One of the movers closed the car door with a loud thud. It was a final sound. It was the sound of a lid closing on a box. David jumped into the driver’s seat. He started the engine. The car made a low growl. The exhaust pipe blew out a puff of gray smoke. David did not look back. He shifted the car into gear and started to pull out of the driveway.

Leo ran to the edge of the road. He gripped his soccer ball so hard that his fingers hurt. He watched the black car move away. As the car pulled toward the street, Leo saw Mr. Okafor’s face in the back window. The old man was looking back at the house. He was looking back at the park. He was looking back at Leo. He raised his hand and pressed it against the cold glass of the window. His fingers were spread wide. He looked like a prisoner being taken away from his home. He looked like a man who was being stolen by the big city.

The car reached the corner and turned. The sun hit the back window for a second, and then the car was gone. All that was left was a little bit of dust in the air and the smell of the engine. The moving truck followed behind the car, its big white body blocking the view of the street. Then, it was gone too. The house on Willow Lane was completely silent. The "For Sale" sign stood in the grass, looking like a lonely soldier.

Leo stood on the sidewalk for a long time. He felt like he wanted to cry, but the tears would not come. He felt too tired to cry. He felt like the quest had been for nothing. He had tried to fix a broken family, but the pieces were still on the ground. He looked down at his shoes. He saw a tiny yellow petal from the flower he had brought days ago. It was dry and brown now. He picked it up and let the wind take it away.

He began the long walk back to his own house. The town felt different now. The park felt different too. He passed the gate of the park and saw the wooden bench. It looked so small and so empty. He saw the red swing. It was perfectly still. There was no one to watch it. There was no one to wait for Toby. There was no one to scare the sun away. The man who scared the sun was gone, but the sun did not feel bright anymore. It felt cold.

Leo reached his front porch and sat on the steps. He thought about Mr. Okafor in the back of that car. He thought about the hand on the glass. He realized that love is not always enough to change the world. Sometimes, the world is too loud. Sometimes, people are too busy. Sometimes, the city is too big. He felt a very heavy sadness in his chest. He felt like he had lost a very dear friend.

But then, he remembered the letter. David had read the letter. The son knew the truth now. Even if they were driving away, the words were inside David’s head. Leo wondered if those words would grow like a seed. He wondered if David would eventually remember that a promotion is just a job, but a father is a heart. He hoped that somewhere in the big, noisy city, David would look at the yellowed paper and remember the park.

As the moon began to rise over Green Valley, Leo looked at the stars. He made a small wish. He wished that the prisoner would one day find his way back home. He wished that the quest for love was not over, but was just taking a very long detour. He held his soccer ball tight and went inside. The street was dark, and the park was empty, and the man with the gentle hands was far, far away.

Why do you think David chose his job promotion over staying to talk with his father?

Do you think a job can ever be more important than a family member?

How do you think Mr. Okafor felt as he watched the park and Leo disappear through the back window?

What do you think will happen to the small wooden box now that they are in the city?

Is the quest for love really over, or is there still hope for Mr. Okafor and David?