Son,
I know I do not have much of a right to call you that. All I have given you so far is my name. Do you know that story? After you were born, I refused to sign your birth certificate until your mother named you ‘Hart’ though I refused to marry her. I also promised to give her hell in custody court if she didn't obey me. Yes, I held her hostage all those years. I doubt she ever told you. I decided where you lived, what school you went to, and on and on. I thought I had the right to dictate from afar while I wrote checks to sustain you.
I don’t know why I was like that, Owen. I was a terrible man and I still am.
I had nothing to do with the person you have become, as you are well aware. It is probably for the best. I would have ruined you. Hart men have a darkness in them. I pray that it skipped over you and that your mother’s loving influence has made you into a better man than I and less a Hart. I spoke to your mother recently. She forbade me to contact you. She told me you were in your finals before graduation and that I had no right to seep into your life again. She said specifically I had no right to try ‘sneaking out from hell to drag you back with me’. She was right. I let it be. I hope you can forgive me.
I hope you did well.
I’m writing you now, and I wanted to speak with you then, because I have a progressive cancer and the doctor tells me I don’t even have six weeks to live. Suddenly, I am confronted with my mortality and regret. I never gave you anything but my name and money. How would you like some more? As you have by now found out, I have passed and I’ve left you my entire estate. Go and enjoy your life, my son. You are a rich man now. I hope that you find yourself long before I did. Before time catches up with you. Take care of your mother.
Love,
Renly
Owen had memorized every line of the letter his father had left him in his will - along with millions upon millions of dollars. A Hart’s inheritance. The letter - and the circumstances - had changed his life's trajectory. He had floated his resume before graduation hoping to land some job. Any job. He planned to move back with his mother while he searched for employment.
But now he found himself with a lot of money and a curiosity to ‘find himself’ as his father had instructed him.
He bought an old - rumored to be haunted, or whatever - home in the town where he was born. A place he had never lived but only heard the worst of things from his mother. It's a black hole there. Sucks in everything good, even light.
The idea upon his returning to home that was never home was to discover his roots. Maybe write a book. Maybe meet a girl. Maybe fix up the old country home. Maybe do whatever struck him.
What an opportunity.
He bought the house sight unseen. And here he was with the realtor who sold it to him unlocking it for the first time. “Here you are Mr. Hart.” She sang at him when she passed over the keys and left him to his home for good.
It was dusty, creaky, and felt positively ancient. Not at all what a twenty-something young recently rich man might find himself purchasing. He was probably trying way too hard to not be his father.
What had he gotten himself into?
There were still furnishings from the previous owner - an old woman by the last name of Haven had held onto it for as long as she lived. And now it was his.
Owen moved his suitcases filled with clothes and books and personal things into the foyer of the home and left it all there. He wandered each of the rooms, uncovering furniture protected by tarps. In the parlor, that famous parlor, he discovered a grand piano. Still in great shape, though worse for the tuning.
Whatever struck him indeed.
That entire first afternoon and into the evening he spent tuning up the old piano and playing sad songs to an audience of dust. The creaky wood floors liked Moonlight Sonata. The old curtains, he swore preferred Chopin’s Nocturnes. He drank straight from a bottle of whiskey and ate from cartons of Chinese take-out between numbers. His mother's angry voice echoing in his mind when he told her what he had done.
I know I do not have much of a right to call you that. All I have given you so far is my name. Do you know that story? After you were born, I refused to sign your birth certificate until your mother named you ‘Hart’ though I refused to marry her. I also promised to give her hell in custody court if she didn't obey me. Yes, I held her hostage all those years. I doubt she ever told you. I decided where you lived, what school you went to, and on and on. I thought I had the right to dictate from afar while I wrote checks to sustain you.
I don’t know why I was like that, Owen. I was a terrible man and I still am.
I had nothing to do with the person you have become, as you are well aware. It is probably for the best. I would have ruined you. Hart men have a darkness in them. I pray that it skipped over you and that your mother’s loving influence has made you into a better man than I and less a Hart. I spoke to your mother recently. She forbade me to contact you. She told me you were in your finals before graduation and that I had no right to seep into your life again. She said specifically I had no right to try ‘sneaking out from hell to drag you back with me’. She was right. I let it be. I hope you can forgive me.
I hope you did well.
I’m writing you now, and I wanted to speak with you then, because I have a progressive cancer and the doctor tells me I don’t even have six weeks to live. Suddenly, I am confronted with my mortality and regret. I never gave you anything but my name and money. How would you like some more? As you have by now found out, I have passed and I’ve left you my entire estate. Go and enjoy your life, my son. You are a rich man now. I hope that you find yourself long before I did. Before time catches up with you. Take care of your mother.
Love,
Renly
Owen had memorized every line of the letter his father had left him in his will - along with millions upon millions of dollars. A Hart’s inheritance. The letter - and the circumstances - had changed his life's trajectory. He had floated his resume before graduation hoping to land some job. Any job. He planned to move back with his mother while he searched for employment.
But now he found himself with a lot of money and a curiosity to ‘find himself’ as his father had instructed him.
He bought an old - rumored to be haunted, or whatever - home in the town where he was born. A place he had never lived but only heard the worst of things from his mother. It's a black hole there. Sucks in everything good, even light.
The idea upon his returning to home that was never home was to discover his roots. Maybe write a book. Maybe meet a girl. Maybe fix up the old country home. Maybe do whatever struck him.
What an opportunity.
He bought the house sight unseen. And here he was with the realtor who sold it to him unlocking it for the first time. “Here you are Mr. Hart.” She sang at him when she passed over the keys and left him to his home for good.
It was dusty, creaky, and felt positively ancient. Not at all what a twenty-something young recently rich man might find himself purchasing. He was probably trying way too hard to not be his father.
What had he gotten himself into?
There were still furnishings from the previous owner - an old woman by the last name of Haven had held onto it for as long as she lived. And now it was his.
Owen moved his suitcases filled with clothes and books and personal things into the foyer of the home and left it all there. He wandered each of the rooms, uncovering furniture protected by tarps. In the parlor, that famous parlor, he discovered a grand piano. Still in great shape, though worse for the tuning.
Whatever struck him indeed.
That entire first afternoon and into the evening he spent tuning up the old piano and playing sad songs to an audience of dust. The creaky wood floors liked Moonlight Sonata. The old curtains, he swore preferred Chopin’s Nocturnes. He drank straight from a bottle of whiskey and ate from cartons of Chinese take-out between numbers. His mother's angry voice echoing in his mind when he told her what he had done.
Bitch, I'm limited edition.
The following 2 users Like saronym's post: megs, SolitareLee
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The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-01-2017, 08:50 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-01-2017, 11:44 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 03:47 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 04:19 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 04:44 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 05:36 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 05:53 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 06:11 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 06:42 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 07:07 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 07:31 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 07:58 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 08:32 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 08:59 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-02-2017, 09:10 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-02-2017, 11:22 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-11-2017, 05:30 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-11-2017, 05:55 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-12-2017, 10:29 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-14-2017, 10:17 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-15-2017, 12:01 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-22-2017, 04:04 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-22-2017, 08:43 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-24-2017, 04:15 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-24-2017, 06:14 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-25-2017, 08:49 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-27-2017, 10:25 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 06-28-2017, 10:52 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 06-30-2017, 06:38 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 07-22-2017, 01:57 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 07-22-2017, 10:03 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 08-03-2017, 05:43 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 08-11-2017, 10:18 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 08-21-2017, 11:36 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 09-29-2017, 07:23 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by saronym - 12-01-2017, 07:17 PM
RE: The Old Haven House [Closed] - by megs - 12-07-2017, 11:29 AM