The Story Spark was – Fathers. The writing prompt I chose was – A father and son or daughter sit down for a serious talk. (We had 25 minutes to write)
The Test
It was time for that talk. You know the one, where your father sits you down and has that heart-to-heart talk with you about life, liberty, and the pursuit of money, I mean happiness.
The problem was that his son had no interest in hearing any of it.
It might have been because the father waited until his son was about to turn 18, and his son didn’t trust him. I mean, why should he?
His son was a product of the digital age and had already felt fully educated by his friends, the TV, and the Internet. What could he possibly learn from his father?
The father knew his son thought that way, so he had a plan.
He explained that his son was going to do something that could be done quickly or take a long time, depending on how he responded to it.
The son took the obvious answer. “I choose to do the quick one.”
“You mistake the choice options,” he said. “You don’t get to choose, it’s what you do with the situation you’re given as to whether or not it takes a long time or a short time.”
The son did not understand but said, Go ahead. What’s the situation?
The father was quick to respond. “You are restricted to this house until you can prove to your mom and me that you are trustworthy, productive, self-sufficient, and that you can survive safely on your own.
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” his son replied.
“Good,” the father said, “You should also know that you will not have access to any electronic devices, nor TVs. There’ll be no computer, no phone, except our wall phone, which will be monitored so that it is not used, except for an emergency, no iPad, or smart watch. The clocks will remain as they are, mostly analog, but your clock radio will be digital, and you will be able to set alarms and listen to music. You can seek information and assistance from anyone in the household should you need to know how to do or make something, or want someone to talk to.”
His son’s whole body sagged as he took into account all that was being asked of him.
“But how am I supposed to do that?” he asked. This is my spring break. What about my friends?”
“Not to worry,” his father answered. “We’ve discussed this with the parents of all your friends. They liked the idea so much that they are going to do it with their children at the same time.
“You can’t do that! That’s child abuse! That’s illegal!”
“Do you forget that I’m a lawyer. I’m not doing anything against you that‘s harmful. In fact, as I said, this can be done really quickly. Just prove to us that you know how to be an adult and can make your way in life, should we not be around.
His son thought about it for a while, not that he had a choice. “When does this seclusion begin? Do I have time to prepare for it?”
“No,” the father said. “It begins now.”
“But,” was what came out of the son’s mouth.
“Your mom and I trust you, as I’m sure others in our house do. We’ll all be here if you need us. We’re not abandoning you. My only advice is to be thoughtful in your choices and enjoy the experience. You will know when you succeed or fail.”
His son knew there was no point in arguing. He’ll just take that challenge. He’ll show them what he can do. The question was, what should he do first?
And so the test began.
