Nanoprep Contest Round 1

The door burst open and Henry walked through the door, a grim look on his face. Dirt covered his cheeks and sweat was pouring down his face. He stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. “Simon, are you in here?” he shouted despite the answer being obvious. There was no-one in the room. He walked over to Simon’s desk. The desktop was covered with papers and books, mostly technical magazines and reference works related to the farming they did on the property. He pushed them aside, looked under them and flipped through them. Nothing.

He turned his attention to the desk drawers. He opened each one, rummaged around a bit and then closed them, one after another. The bottom drawer, the last one he opened, contained what he was looking for. He hesitated for a moment before he reached into the drawer and extracted the black box he had found inside. He rotated it in his hands, a smirk on his face.

“Dad, what are you doing?” a voice from behind him suddenly said. He turned around and saw Simon, his son, standing in the doorway. For a moment, neither of them said a word, until Simon’s eyes wandered to the box Henry was holding in his hands. Simon’s face turned pale as he looked his father in the eyes. “Dad? What are you doing?” Simon repeated.

Henry held up the black box. “The question, son, is what YOU are doing? Have we not talked about this before?”

“Dad…”

“Don’t call me dad. It is disrespectful, Simon. I am your father.” Simon rolled his eyes and stepped toward Henry, his left hand stretched out, his right hand curled into a fist. “Give that to me, please,” he said.

“This garbage is going where it belongs, in the trash,” Henry said and pushed his way past Simon and through the door.

Simon was taken off guard by the sudden movement and found himself trailing behind his father. “Give it to me, it’s mine.”

“I don’t care. It’s poisoned your mind long enough. I’ve had it.” Henry stomped through the living room and into the kitchen, heading for the back door, Simon in tow. Just then, the back door opened. Henry froze and Simon ran into his back. They both tumbled to the floor. Henry, off guard and surprised, dropped the box which was scooped up by Simon a second later. Simon quickly got to his feet and backed away, his left hand stretched out in front of him, his right hand holding the black box tightly.

“Henry, Simon? What’s going on here?” a woman’s voice said from the direction of the door. Henry and Simon, too caught up in the tumult, looked turned towards the door to find Martha, the mother of Simon and Henry’s wife, standing there, a concerned look on her face. “Henry?”
Henry managed to get to his feet, pointing a finger towards his son. “Martha, I told you he was up to no good. I found it, just as I told you I would.”

“Found what?”

“The device.”

“Henry—” Martha started.

“It’s poison. It’s ruined him, I’m telling you.”

“Henry, does it really matter?”

“Does it really matter? Of course it does.”

“Did you tell him? Did you tell Simon?”

Simon, stepped forward, a confused look on his face. “Tell me what?” His parents looked at him and exchanged looks before looking back at Simon. Henry cleared his throat before taking a step towards his son. “Simon, we have decided to sell.”

“What are you talking about? Sell what?”

“The farm. We’ve had several corps offering to buy up our land and we’ve finally decided that it’s time.”

Simon looked at them, bewildered. “You’re selling the farm? Why? When?”

“It’s already done.”

“It’s already done? What does that mean?”

Henry sighed. “Simon, it means the farm, the land, the crops, everything, is no longer ours.”

Simon could feel his face turned red as he listened to what his father was telling him. “You’re telling me that our land, where I grew up, where you grew up, is no longer ours. You just sold it, just like that? What about me?”

“Simon, the proceeds of the sale will help secure our future—”

“Oh stop it, dad. There is no us in this. There never has been. Since I was a kid you’ve had me working like a slave on this farm. Long days, few breaks. You cut me out from the world outside. You cut me out from friends and social life. Dad, I barely have any friends and those I do have, I have a hard time spending time with because there’s always something that needs to be done around here, always.”

“Simon—”

“You know I’ve always hated it. The farm, the work, being stuck here. You never cared. It was always about getting it done. I even had to sneak this,” Simon said as he held up the black box. “It was my escape from this hellhole, my lifeline into a potential normal life. I always had hope that at some point in the future, all of this would at least be mine. It was something worth working for.”

Martha stepped forwards, towards Simon, hands outstretched. “Simon, my boy, you know we have always loved you—”

“Mom, I’m sorry, but no. You, perhaps, but dad never showed any kind of love. Ever. And now, everything I had to look forward to, as much as I hated it, you took even that from me.”

Henry took a step closer to Simon. “Boy, don’t you talked to your mother like that.”

“Oh dad—” Simon felt tears in his eyes. “Here I am, spilling my guts to you and you don’t even care. I’m done. I’m out of here. You take your money, go retire, whatever, I don’t want any part of it. I always thought family meant taking care of each other, loving each other. You are my family by blood but I feel like I have no family, no-one who cares. It’s just me.” He turned and walked out the door.