The Intemperate Son

"Would you please just listen to me for once! For once in your life! Look at what life is telling you!" pleaded Philip as he argued with his stubborn, know-it-all, eighteen-year-old son Jon. "It has nothing to do with my opinion or my desire for you to do any particular thing with your life. It's your life now, I am just warning you ahead of time of the possible consequences." Philip urged Jon again. "Really, I'm not trying to stop you son. You are an adult now, and if you want to live by your own rules, you've got to be all-in or all-out! For better or worse, make your choice. There is no in-between with this! But, sometimes in life you can't always lead with your mind! Your heart and spirit will tell you what's right. When we want something so badly it blinds us to the truth and all we see is what we want, not what is right and what we need. If you listen, you'll hear and know what your spirit tells you! I hope you'll be wise enough to listen." added Philip. Jon did not have any ill-will towards his father; on the contrary, he loved him dearly, yet he remained steadfast and spoke out boldly, "I'm doing this dad. I want this for me. I know I am ready for whatever comes my way, and I'll deal with it my way," said Jon confidently. He wanted nothing more than to prove to his father wrong and that he could make it in this world; without his father. 

And so Jon, his small car crammed to the very top and from the back to the front of the vehicle left just enough room for Jon to drive, uncomfortably at that. He opened the door, the moment setting in that this would be the last time Jon would see his father, turned back towards his father, and hugged him, not letting go for quite a long time. In that brief moment, an entire life of memories flew through Jon's mind, being a little boy in the loving arms of his father; the tears had come. "It's OK, my son. It's OK. I love you dearly, my boy," Philips hand cradling the back of Jon's head, "and I'll miss you terribly. Just remember, I'm always here when you need me, always." Philip's eyes uncontrollably began filling with tears now. It was time; they slowly let each other free of their embrace. 

Jon closed the door, looking up at his father; Philip's eyes, still wet with tears, began to smile at his son. The engine started, Jon rolled the window down, put on his seatbelt, and smiling back at this father, said his last goodbye. Philip watching the car pull away down the driveway, stood waving until the very last moment. Jon put his hand out the window and waved as he turned the corner. All had gone silent for Philip now as he sighed and turned to go back into his house. 

It wasn't the first time Jon had left home to pursue his dreams, and each time he had fallen short of making his dreams come true. No matter how hard he tried, he became more broken each time when all his attempts failed to come to fruition. Every time needing the help of his father to make it back home after spending all Jon had, physically, emotionally, and financially, Jon, always resilient and hopeful in any undertaking, remained enthusiastic. But his father knew his track record; it wasn't for trying, but things just never seemed to work out for Jon, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he would call upon him to dig Jon out of the whole he was in.

While these thoughts ran through Philip's mind, Jon was well on his way into the journey and had already crossed into Pennslyvania and that much closer to his final destination, Colorado. Jon decided to drive by night, hoping to make more ground on the journey after the busy day traffic had dissipated. But, what he didn't account for was his personal mental state; he really was feeling up to the drive, at all! What did this mean? Jon wondered. He had several more days and thousands of miles before he would arrive in Denver. Not to mention a limited budget to get him there, and his first stop should have been St. Louis, Missouri! So far, not a great start to his exciting new life in Denver. 

Jon accepted it and chalked it up to him, not feeling rested. So, he found a nice hotel where he could spend a restful evening, rise bright & early, and hit the road even harder. "Your room number is 709. Here are your key- cards, Mr. Morgan." "Thank you,' Jon replied. "The best way to get to your room is very simple. You take the elevator, then take a left out of the elevator, and your room is the last room down the hall on the left." 'Oh, OK! Great! That is simple! Thank you so much!" Jon replied. "Complimentary breakfast is every morning from 6am until 9. Will there be anything else, Mr. Morgan? 

John replied, "No, thank you very much. You've been very helpful!" John spoke as he lifted his one carry-on size luggage and made his way to the elevators. The doors opened, Jon entered, pushed the illuminated button 7. "OK, 7. Goin' up." Jon spoke to himself. The elevator humming its way to the seventh floor and making a distinctive ringing sound with every floor it passed. "Ah, here we are, the seventh floor." "And left, she said," Jon spoke out, recalling what the front desk told him. He walked down the hall, even numbers on his right, odd numbers to his left until he had come to the very last door on his left. With a sigh, "Ah, finally. 709." Jon inserted the key-card, heard the door click, turned the handle down, and entered his room. His shoulders collapsed as he let go of all his baggage and the burden and weight of an unsuccessful first travel day. " Don't fret; you might as well enjoy it," Jon said to himself. "First things first, though! SHOWER!" he bellowed in exhaustion. Digging in his luggage, he pulled out his pajamas, entered the bathroom, stripped himself of that day's travel clothes, and placed himself under the streaming massage of hot water. Even though it was still in the early evening hours, John prepared to stay in his room, order take out, and just relax. And that's just what he did. "It's about that time to call it a day,' Jon spoke to himself. Jon fulfilling the nightly routine of getting ready for bed, sat at the edge of the bed, recited prayers from memory, said, "Amen," as he made the sign of the cross over himself. If Jon was going to make up for all the lost time, he would need to sleep early and get a restful night's sleep. 

Jon pulled the covers up, put his head under the pillow, his preferred method of sleep, and shut his eyes. Having fallen asleep somewhat quickly out of mere exhaustion, Jon hadn't moved since he first lay. BANG! 

Jon, barely conscious, had heard the sound, but it wasn't enough to wake him from his deep slumber. BANG! Damn it... what the hell is that?..." Jon slurred to himself, still sleepy. It was dead quiet as Jon started to fall back to... BANG! Adrenalized from the aggravation, Jon whipped himself out of bed and said, "WHAT the HELL is going on here?!?! What's that banging..." BANG! Before Jon could even finish his thought, there it was again, and this time more frequent! Jon quickly grabbed his key-card, opened up his aggressively opened the door, and was ready to address the people or persons involved in waking him up! Jon swung the door opened. "OK, what is the problem!... out...? here...?" Jon looked left to find no one, and looking right, he saw an elderly man walking his way. "Hi," Jon spoke timidly. "Hello," replied the elderly man with a smile as he continued walking past Jon's room. Where is this guy going? Jon thought to himself. 

The elderly man walked past the last room on the right, but there was no other room on this side of the seventh floor. Huh, I guess he's lost? Jon once again thinking to himself. Jon turned back to his room to enter, "I have no idea what is going on here." Jon inserted his key-card, and with the twist of the door handle-BANG! "Alright, this friggin' annoying already! What the heck is goin' on?!?!" Jon walked in the direction he last saw the elderly man walk, only a few hundred feet to the end of the hall that showed only one more room on the right of the hallway. Jon passed a column in the hallway that constricted his view of the rest of the hall, and just when he had passed the column, it became clearly evident to what was making that...

BANG, just then, a couple had wandered up the stairway and onto the seventh floor. It was the stairway door that had made all that; BANG, and again someone opened the door to use the stairwell again. BANG! "Oh man, you have got to be joking me!" Jon said in total displeasure. That girl at the front desk just so happened to give me, ME, the room right next to the stairwell! Jon thought to himself. Where, for some reason, unclear to Jon, people seemingly preferred using over the elevator! "Unbelievable! This is unreal, just unbelievable... Great! Ugh..."

John sighed as he staggered back to his room. BANG! It was apparent Jon would not be getting any sleep that night. He picked up the room phone and called down to the front desk. BANG! Jon, now seething with anger, "Hello, yes, this is Jon Morgan calling from 709." "Yes, sir," the woman replied. Jon, as calmly but firmly as possible, said, "You have got to get me out of this room! Please!" "Is there a problem with the room, sir?" Jon becoming more frantic now, "Yes! Yes, there is a" BANG! The front desk replied, " I am sorry, Sir, I did not hear what you said. What is the problem, Sir?" BANG! "There!" Jon spoke excitedly. "Did you hear that?!?" "No, I'm sorry, Sir, I'm afraid I did not. "Is there some sort of problem with your room, sir?" asked the front desk again. "Yes, yes! There is a problem! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Jon desperately trying now to get across to the front desk what the problem was. But the front desk said, "Yes, Sir, I understand. What seems to be the..." BANG! "Please tell me you heard that loud bang?!!? Hello? Hello, ma'am!?!" Jon shouting into the phone. "Yes, Sir, I'm sorry I had to put you on a brief hold. Forgive me. I am here now for you. You were saying, Sir?" Jon, as if smoke could have been coming out of his nostrils, his explosive anger reaching and ready to explode. Exhausted and fed-up spoke harshly this time. "Yes, I was SAY-YING, please, I need another room! I haven't gotten any sleep since you checked me in hours ago!" "Oh, I am terribly sorry to hear that, Sir. Let me see what I can do for you." "OK, thank you,' said Jon, "I really appreciate anything you can do to help me." " Certainly, sir, may I please place you on a brief hold?" 'Sure, whatever," Jon spoke disinterestedly. BANG! "Freakin' figures. As soon as she puts me on hold." Jon, unable to get upset anymore from his exhaustion, held and held and held and held. "Ahhh! Come on already! Pick up. PICK! UP!" Jon shouted at the phone. "Hello, Mr. Morgan. I'm so sorry for placing you on that hold." "It's OK," Jon wanted to cut straight to the point. "What other rooms do you... BANG?" "I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't hear you. There was a loud bang that muffled your voice. You said, what other rooms, and then what?" said the front desk. 

Jon nearly breaking into tears now from the ordeal. "What other rooms do you..." BANG! "Oh my GOD! are you kidding me?!? Son-of-a" BANG! The front desk held the phone away from her ear. "Sir, what was that?" But all she heard was Jon sobbing on the other side of the phone. "I never should have left home. I knew it; I felt it. I didn't listen. I didn't think I had another choice." Sighing, Jon continued, "This has been a disaster right from the start. My dad was right. I'm done with this." The woman at the front desk, still listening in, "Sir? Sir?" "Yes," Jon softly spoke. "Sir, are you OK? I'm so sorry. Can I do anything for you?" "No- no thank you, ma'am. You've done more than you could possibly know," Jon said. He said this because he knew; he knew that this whole thing, his plan, the move to Denver, everything, was never meant to be, but still, Jon persisted, and this is where it led him. "Oh, wait! Mrs.!" Jon said, "you could do one more thing for me." "Yes, Sir? Anything." "Could you please prepare my immediate check out for me?" "Of course, Sir," she replied, "but you still have the room until tomorrow?" "Yes, I understand." Jon said, Thank you, but it's time for me to go back home now." 

Jon quickly collected his things, got to the front desk as fast as possible, turned in his key cards, and thanked the front desk. "Oh, I almost forgot! The room you gave me, 709. Well, it's located right next to the stairwell door! And every time someone came up and went down the stairwell from that door, it would slam SO loudly and even shake the room! I didn't sleep a wink all night! It was extremely aggravating, and I suggest that you fix that as soon as possible." "Oh, as a matter of fact, it is getting fixed! Today!" said the woman delightfully. Jon just shook his head in disbelief, wording to himself, "Unbelievable," realizing the irony. But, inside, he knew this is how it was meant to be.

Jon didn't inform his father that he was heading back home; because he wanted to surprise him. This was definitely right. Jon felt happy again. There was not of that nagging feeling that he had when he was driving away from his home. It felt right, and the drive home somehow felt quicker because before Jon knew it, he found himself only one hour away from home! 

He exited off the highway, rolled down the windows, and smelt the fresh air as if it was his first time being there. And maybe it could be? Why not? A brand new start for him! It was all very encouraging and exciting for Jon. It was a beautiful day, and it felt like life would be different from this point on. He found a purpose in life. That ever-elusive intangible object sought throughout the world. Jon had it for himself now, and he was going to use it for good. Here was his street, near the end of that street; his house and father he sorely missed. Jon pulled away's down the road from home, and he walked the rest of the way. Jon wanted to surprise his father. Jon walked down the driveway to the back door, quietly opened the sliding glass door, and started to make his way to the TV room where he knew his father would be. "You were right dad. You were right about everything. I messed up once again dad," Philip got to his feet as quickly as possible as Jon kept speaking, "I know you're not happy with me because I've made a mess out of my life and I've ruined yours too, and I just want... I just..., I'm sor," before Jon could even finish apologizing his father grabbed him and pulled him in close, hugging him like he had never hugged his son in his life! "I love you so much my boy! SO! MUCH!" Jon, weeping, said, "I love you so much too dad! SO! MUCH!" They held each other for some time when his father finally said, "Are you hungry my boy? Have you eaten anything?" They started walking towards the kitchen with their arms over their shoulders, "What have you got to eat around here?" Jon said. They both laughed and sat at the table as Jon began telling Philip everything he had learned from his plight. -The End