A Twist of Fate

My father was an honorable man. He had weaned great power. He was highly respected and loved by his family and friends even neighbors. My father was the glue of my family. He kept this blended family one. He was able to preserve the life that my mother always wanted. And I wanted to walk in my father's footsteps. Like most sons that were my age and it was common to do so. My father was brilliant not just at war but also at peace. And he knew how to resolved conflict so much. That even the king delighted in him and gave him land as well as position and power. I only saw a glimpse of this influence. I only saw a small part. Gus Bellington is my name. My father named me. And when I asked him, he just said that he liked that name for me. That it suited me well. That I was a curious baby and a curious boy. And that he had high hopes for me. My father intrigued me even more than my mother because I was a son who admired his father. And the things that my father had done, I always wanted to do. I wanted to adventure. I wanted to explore. I wanted to be like by my friends and neighbors. And yes I even wanted to have a family with a woman that I loved so dearly. My mother would tell me stories about my father and her. She would tell me how they met. He was this amazing soldier and she was this beloved farm girl. And she told me how they would do things together like work on the farm and go to parties. She told me that she was not my father's first wife but that she did not care because he was always the man of her dreams. And I would asked her if I could be like father. And she would kiss me on the cheek and touch my nose and say you are already like your father. Father was rich and had much wealth. I could literally walk everywhere and father's land would not end. I was born in the midst of his wealth. And father said that I was a happy child and good child. Though I was not father's first child yet I had the responsibilities of the first son. I would monitor father's estate while mother took care of father. Because as I aged father eventually became sicker. And each time he would fight off the disease and be even better. And mother knew how well he could be. Mother specialized in caring for father as my siblings and I grew up. And then eventually mother asked me to help my father as mother was no longer young and strong like she was when we were young. And my father would tell me stories of how he won military battles and stories of what he thought about my siblings and I. I had to adventure and leave the farm of my father because I became a man and the king required that young man serve. And I was planning to come back in time. Mother comforted me by writing letters of my father's health and her wellbeing. Then mother became too busy and started having Susanne write for her. And my officer thought it was my wife. And my officer sought me back home because of the constant letters distracting my service. And when I came home, mother met me with Susanne. Mother told me that father died. And I was heartbroken. I told mother that I would return and leave the military. And mother told me that she loved me and left home with her secretary Susanne. And Uncle Ben found me still crying and hurt in the forest. I believed my mother called him too. Uncle Ben talked to me and fed me over a campfire. He said that my father was a great man. That my father's family were one of the first to settle in this land. That my father will be remembered. But I was heartbroken and angry, and I brushed Uncle Ben off. Uncle Ben is what I always called him. Even though he was a friend of the family, I was angry and I had nowhere else to go so I went home. I was hungry and still somewhat angry. I saw my favorite cherry tree and I thought there was cherries on it but there were none. So I chopped it down, my mother found out and made me plant a field of them. My mother had a long talk with me and she suggested that I think about marriage. I was still angry. And she told me a story about when I was young that I promised to be like my father. As I was planting the cherry trees, Susanne came instead of mother. She wipe my forehead and attended to my need even more so than the other servants. She loved my hair and she liked to gaze upon my eyes. And after sometime, I fell for her. When the cherries blossom, I brought mother and Uncle Ben and took Susanne and bowing a knee, I asked her to be my wife. She was overjoyed even though she was widow with children. However she accepted and mother was proud as well as Uncle Ben.