The New Son

I wanted to try something with some symbolism in it, and somehow this is what I cam up with.

Mrs. Alvah hummed to herself as she prepared the meal for tonight. She was excited. Tonight her husband would be bringing their new son home. Diced meat, sliced tomatoes, and scrambled eggs. What would he be like? Would he be shy? Would he be energetic? She giggled to herself about the exciting memories they could share together in the future. They had prepared his bedroom in the basement, since the house was fairly small and they had few rooms available. Mr. Alvah did his best to put together all the furniture and Mrs. Alvah bought many toys for the boy to play with. Mrs. Alvah had wanted to buy new clothes, but Mr. Alvah had convinced her to let the boy wear some of the old clothes he had worn years ago.

Just then, Mrs. Alvah heard the doorbell rang and she rushed over and unlocked the door to see a young man standing there. He wore a casual business shirt and a pair of neatly pressed slacks.

“Hi there, are you Mrs. Alvah?”

“Why, yes. How may I help you?”

“I’m a colleague of your husband’s. He invited me over today.” Mrs. Alvah clasped her hands together and smiled.

“Why, you must be Jackson! My husband has told me all about you. Come on in, dear!” She guides the young man to the kitchen table and gestures to a chair. “Please, take a seat. I’m terribly sorry, I was in the middle of making dinner. Let me make you some tea, though.” Mrs. Alvah pulled out a small canister of powdered green tea as Jackson looked around the room. It reminded Jackson of a cozy cottage that would belong to a helpful old lady in the forest. Mrs. Alvah placed the cup of tea in front of Jackson.

“Thank you,” he said and takes a sip.

“You’re very welcome. Would you like some biscuits as well?” She took a container from the counter and opened it up. Jackson took one to nibble on. “Will you be joining us for dinner, by the way?”

“If you don’t mind me being here,” Jackson replied.

“Of course not! We’d be more than happy to have you here. My husband doesn’t show it, but he’s grown fond of you. You remind him of himself at times, actually. I’m sure he’ll be happy for you to celebrate with us.” Mrs. Alvah took a glimpse at the clock. It said 5:50. “He should be back by 6.”

“That’s good. What’s the occasion, by the way?”

“Oh, did Jack not say? We’re adopting a son. I can’t give birth myself, so we decided to adopt a child ourselves.”

“Wow, congratulations! I feel a bad for intruding on such an important day, though.”

“Oh, nonsense! My husband invited you over, after all.” Then, Jackson realised something was off. The couple was in their late 40’s. Why would they be adopting a child now? Things weren’t adding up. Why was he invited here? He started to feel light headed.

Mrs. Alvah headed to open the kitchen cupboards, and she heard Jackson collapse to the ground. She pulled out a coil of rope as the front door opened. Jack took off his shoes and headed to the kitchen to greet his wife.

“Jack, dear. Perfect timing,” Mrs. Alvah said. “He just went to sleep.” The couple carried the unconscious young man down to the basement and tied him up to the bed.

“He’ll be nervous at first, but he’ll warm up to us sooner or later,” Mr. Alvah said.

“I know, we’ll have to be patient. I’m just so happy to have a new son,” Mrs. Alvah replied, giggling. “Welcome to the family, Jackson.”