The Return of the Prodigal

Miranda Sonter glanced at her laptop notification. She was in the middle of composing an email to her son Andy in Germany where he was presently stationed on rotation with his army unit. This was his first trip to Germany, and he was keeping his parents well informed of his delight in discoveries made there. On his leaves he’d spent time exploring the waterways of Germany and taking in unique architecture. Building styles had always been his fascination and he intended to serve his term with the army to enjoy travel and cultural exposure to other nations and make money before he left army service.

Eventually he wanted to return to school and study architecture so saving for that was his goal and the army was the best paying of all the jobs he’d investigated in the interval between earning and his planned study. With the fragile state of relations between nations he and his parents were crossing their fingers his army experience would be benign, and he’d not be involved in any major conflict. Andy had received a lot of attention from young woman who were drawn to his good looks’ strong physique and pleasing personality over the years but had not settled on anyone to share his life with as his goal was to finish his army service then university and only after that settle down with a family.

But the annoying pop ups that often appear on computers to interrupt her current working train of thought had caught Miranda’s attention this time. Usually, she ignored them. She knew there was a way to turn notifications off but had never bothered to do that. She turned to her husband who was sitting in the lounge surfing cable channels.

“Roger, can you come and look at this and tell me if we need to do anything? So many scams going around the internet these days trying to get you to give your details to sell on the dark web.”

Roger grunted in his disapproval. He’d just settled down to relax after his involvement in some strenuous work doing a refit of the kitchen cupboards this evening. Miranda had been nagging him for some time to do this as the kitchen fittings were beginning to look old and worn. The whole house had served them well over the years but needed a good facelift. He was an expert tradesperson with multiple certifications in trade and worked hard managing construction each working day for their business. So, coming home in an evening to do the same thing in his house was not his most welcome relaxation and particularly now they’d settled for a brief time before taking to their beds for the night, so he was not excited about getting his aching body off the couch. He was not as young as he used to be when he’d have been happy to work through half the night. But not at his age now.

He trudged over to her chair and stood behind her to see what was bothering her on her laptop screen. Miranda glanced up as he approached and saw the weariness on his face and smiled apologetically. He needed to have his ego lifted so her woman’s mind raced for a way to put him in a better frame of mind.

“Sorry Roger, you’re so much smarter than me so I thought you should take a look and advise me.”

Roger grunted again. He knew she was being manipulated to soothe his irritation and he had to smile.

“You’re writing a letter. Why call me over to see that?”

Miranda had been watching her husband approach and now turned her attention back to the screen.

“Oops! It’s gone.”

“What’s gone Miranda?”

“The popup that suddenly appeared on my screen while I was writing.”

Roger reached down and quickly selected notifications and saw a whole page of messages that had not been viewed. He selected the most current one and bought it up on screen to read. He quickly scanned the message. Probably a scam but what he usually did just to make sure under those circumstances was to contact the company directly rather than enter a link provided with the message. This was a notification that there was an undeliverable package because they needed some information first and it had to be signed for. It was the courier company that usually delivered their packages, but scammers were often hiding behind the link supplied which predictably would want personal details. He pulled his pocket notebook out and wrote a note then turned to Miranda.

“Just ignore it Miranda I’ll investigate it tomorrow as I need to go past the parcel delivery depot when I’ll be purchasing materials for our current building project. Probably a scam but it’s better to check it out at the company office anyway.”

Next day Roger arranged with the building materials distributors to ship his long list of requirements to the current worksite where he maintained a mobile office and had a young woman Angela Saxon who cared for receiving and distributing materials as well as keeping track of the clocking in and out of workers on site. Miranda did the accounting from home and ran errands for the firm as required. Miranda had been working in an accounting office when Roger first met her at a dance when they were both in their twenties. That was a long time ago he thought as he sped around to complete purchases before rushing back to the worksite to supervise construction. He almost forgot about the need to check out the courier delivery office and had to turn back after passing the building.

It turns out there was a package, but it had arrived through customs opened and customs resealed with a note, so they wanted him to sign off they were not responsible for the condition it had arrived in. Roger asked them to open the customs seal in his presence before he accepted it as he had no knowledge as to who may have sent the package and what could be inside. It was the beginning of December so they’d soon be shutting down for the Christmas break but while it was not too early to be receiving Christmas presents, he couldn’t think of anyone who’d be sending them presents this early.

His son Andy in Germany only thought of bringing presents home when he was on furlough from duties and his daughter Janet they hadn’t seen or heard from for six years now. It was like a knife in his side thinking about his daughter as they’d had considerable trouble with her during her teen years and early adulthood until one day she just disappeared. Enquiring from some of her friends they’d hinted Janet had left to go to Asia with a man they’d never met.

There was nothing inside the package except a letter and it was obvious that whatever had been inside had been removed in transit. He picked up the letter and requested the counter attendant to throw empty wrappings into their junk bin and signed off that he’d seen the custom seal on the package and the parcel delivery depot was not responsible for the empty package.

Roger went to his pickup truck and opened the letter gasping in disbelief as he scanned the contents. There had been something in the empty package when mailed from Indonesia three months ago and Janet was sending it as a peace offering with the hope, she’d be allowed to visit her parents along with a lengthy apology for the way they’d been treated by her up to the time she’d disappeared from their lives.

She’d been through some traumatic experiences and was returning home within a month of the date the letter was written and would be with a friend in a city eighty miles from her parents and gave a contact number. If her parents would forgive her, she’d like to come and apologize in person but would understand if her parents had been too hurt to want to maintain contact and knew that’s really what she deserved.

Tears flowed down Roger’s face as he remembered the cruel way their daughter had treated them and visits from the police when she’d gotten into mischief. It had been so humiliating and her disappearance without any word and this long silence had hurt them terribly. Miranda would often be found in tears thinking of her wayward daughter and wondering if she was safe and well.

He picked up his cell phone and punched in Angela Saxon’s number at the mobile office site.

“Angie I’m going to be delayed for another hour. Anything happening that needs my immediate attention?”

“All well here boss. Do your thing and get here when you can. I can handle anything that comes up.”

He thanked her and started the pickup heading for home. Miranda would be surprised to see him, but he needed to share this with her as their daughter had probably been in the country for two months without any word from them and concluding her parents wanted nothing further to do with her. But no matter how bad children are parents always have that built in love and forgiveness despite the hurt. He needed to talk with his wife and see what her feelings were about reconnecting.

Miranda wept for several minutes while Roger held her after reading the letter from Janet and eventually began to calm down. She looked pleadingly at her husband, and he nodded so she picked up her phone and punched in the number written in the letter.

A sober young woman answered at the other end of the line and Miranda introduced herself.

Janet wept on the phone and as Miranda had already cleansed her heart with tears before phoning, she waited patiently while her daughter recovered her composure, occasionally expressing her motherly concern. Eventually Janet controlled herself.

“I’m so glad you phoned mom. I thought you and dad had decided to disown me after not hearing from you for so long after my return home. I’m at work and people are looking at me wondering what’s the matter. Can I call you after work?”

Miranda agreed and turned to Roger smiling happily.

“The prodigal has returned Roger. She’ll phone tonight as she’s at work so let’s welcome her home again.”

Roger nodded uncertainly. He was hoping the apologies and tears were genuine this time as he’d seen it so many times in Janet’s growing up years.

That evening before Roger returned home from work Janet called, and mother and daughter had a long chat. Janet constantly apologized for her behavior as she grew up in the home and the hurt this had caused, and rift created between her and her brother who didn’t approve of her chosen lifestyle.

She wanted to come home but would only do so if her parents wanted her to. Miranda promised to talk with Roger when he got home and get back to her after she’d shared the conversation. Janet had suffered greatly from the hands of the man she accompanied to Indonesia being physically and mentally abused by this man. It was such a contrast to the love and support she’d received in her growing up years which she apologized for not appreciating at the time.

Her partner at that time was rich and travelled the world spending the family inheritance and soon tired of Janet leaving her penniless in Indonesia and taking off for China with a new romantic interest in tow.

Fortunately, Janet had befriended the daughter of a rich Chinese Indonesian industrialist, and they graciously took her in paying her to educate their younger children in the English language so they could eventually study abroad. Janet was grateful her father had forced her to finish her education degree with an English major and this had been her salvation when abandoned. But as Janet slowly recovered from her abuse with the kind support of this Indonesian family she began to think of home and the parents who’d been so kind and supportive despite her behavior as she entered adulthood.

She longed to set things right with her parents and as the children she’d been employed to teach reached an age where their parents sent them for boarding school in Singapore, she realized she needed to return home and seek her parents’ forgiveness. The package with some Indonesian handicrafts and the letter had been an attempt to make a reconnection and she’d been disappointed on return when no return attempt had been made to reconnect. She did not realize her package and letter had not reached her parents for months after her arrival back in the country and had decided to get on with her life.

That evening she had an opportunity to speak with her father and repeat her regrets and begged for his forgiveness, which he eagerly granted. As Janet was now working and had obligations at her work it was arranged, she’d fly in to be with her parents when her work closed for the Christmas break and that would mean she’d fly in and be picked up by her parents the evening before Christmas and stay on through the Christmas break.

Two days before Christmas there was a constant pressing of the doorbell and Miranda irritated at the impatience of whoever it was at the door left the office where she was working on accounts for their business to give the one at the door a piece of her mind. She opened the door ready to unload on the caller for their impatience but instead gave a cry of delight. Andy had flown in from Germany to spend his leave with parents. Irritation was replaced with joy as she hugged her son.

That evening happy parents shared what had developed in the sudden recontact with his sister Janet. Andy was not happy to hear his sister had returned as he remembered the unpleasant events of their teenage years and her wild activities with occasional police visits and suspected she’d revert to type and disappoint them all again. Miranda and Roger assured him she’d changed and was sorry for those years, but Andy decided to reserve his judgment having learned his sister was to join them for the Christmas celebration.

Tears were shed by parents and daughter when they met her at the airport and Janet continued to apologize for all the trouble, she’d bought on them in her growing up years. Andy had refused to accompany them to the airport despite Roger’s urging, so rather than having their daughter wonder why her brother had not been there to meet her they agreed not to tell her about Andy’s visit. Instead, they told her they had a big surprise hidden away at home for her.

Janet was overjoyed to see her brother when they arrived home and gave him hugs and kisses and he slowly relaxed as he saw the obvious change in her attitude toward the rest of the family.

On Christmas morning after the happy reunion, they each opened gifts placed under the tree. Janet spoke.

“I’m sorry the package I sent you didn’t reach you with the intended contents. It was meant to be an initial peace offering so I could get back into everyone’s good graces again after my terrible teen years and I’m so glad to be here and feel accepted.

Andy was happy with the gift his sister had somehow conjured up not knowing he was going to be there and spoke.

“Nice to have you home again sis and thanks for the present.”

He didn’t know it was a new shirt Miranda had intended to give Roger that had hastily been reassigned to Andy so Janet would have something to give him at the gift exchange.

Roger in turn commented on Janet’s reference to the empty package.

“Well, the package wasn’t empty it seems because it returned you to us Janet. Happy Christmas everyone.”

Everyone chorused in return.

“Happy Christmas!”

To be continued.