Friday Fictioneers – Confession

~ neilmacdon
auto-aftermath
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

“You remember that letter, Dad?”

The note told his parents he didn’t love them.  It was a harsh thing, but he was angry as only a teenage boy can be.  The storm passed in days, and he didn’t think about it again.

The guilt kicked in during his twenties. He considered confessing he hadn’t meant the rejection, but that seemed weird a decade on, and he lived with the remorse. Forty years later, at his father’s deathbed, he unburdened.

“Don’t remember that at all,” the old man said.

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.

Fancy sharpening your skill with writing exercises? The Scrivener’s Forge offers a new exercise every month to hone one aspect of your craft. Take a look at this month’s exercise on character and world-building.

 

69 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Confession”

  9. There are those that forget and those who hold onto a memory forever. A friend of mine when I was about 8 told my mother the house was a mess and she still talks about it 40 years later. Then again, that wasn’t her child.
    xx Rowena

    Like

    Reply

  13. All those years wasted on worrying for nothing because as parents, we truly have to forget some of those “I hate you moments” or we’d crumble ourselves…

    Like

    Reply

  16. Ah, this is so lovely Neil. Rings true to me, that the pride and love he feels for his son would erase any daft spontaneous selfish acts the boy committed as a teen. Nicely done

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. It’s often the way, that we carry guilt around for some insult or sleight the recipient doesn’t even remember. Especially when it’s a parent who knows you didn’t really mean it. Nice piece!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. Boy, this one hits close to home, Neil. We’ve all said angry things to our parents and carried the remorse and guilt. Thankfully, Mom & Dad have thick skin and something called unconditional love.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Very insightful. Often the perpetrator suffers more from the outrage than the victim. And children don’t realise, their parents love them come what my and have a great capacity to forgive

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. What a touching and thought provoking story! The things we hold on to…Sometimes forgetting is a way of letting go and perhaps even on his death bed, this father taught his son just that.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  35. Dad was once a teenage boy so may well have written a similar note to his parents and never taken it on board as much as the writer did. Really enjoyed your different take on the prompt.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment