He had been living in Kenya for five years. Alone. His best friend was his job - a workaholic one might say. All these years he was so absorbed in work, in that job opportunity he was offered while working in the headquarters in Prague. He couldn’t let anyone down, neither his boss nor himself. After all, if something went wrong he would never be able
to forgive
himself. would
It turn
out to be a fatal mistake on his behalf as he had chosen to leave his wife and follow his dream. The day he announced his job promotion to his wife Samantha, who was pregnant, the same day his wife wanted to tell him she had an ultrasound and there was something strange going on with the baby.
Also they were supposed to celebrate their first wedding anniversary having dinner at a fancy restaurant by the sea. He had bought a very expensive
set of pearls
Margaret,
for his beloved wife
the
love of his life. It was August 26th,
the
second
full
moon of the month.
The
romantic
night,
however, ended up in the most catastrophic way: a surprise
from
both
sides
that
became
disagreement and turned into a quarrel.
a He
couldn’t handle the arrival of a child in his life at that moment and she wasn’t able to understand his priorities. It was such a tremendous shock for her. They had known each other since Junior High School, yet it proved out that they didn’t know each other at all.
His wife went into labor and they had to go straight to the hospital.
The
baby was born prematurely.
It
was a boy and they called him Ryan Everything was very confusing… he had everything already prepared to live to Kenya to work and he couldn’t go back with his word. He was all the time he could by his son at the hospital but decided to do something strange when his wife was not there, never to forget him. Five years went by… all by himself in Kenya, work absorbed him so much time… he hadn’t never even accepted to go in safaris, hunting rhinoceros, visiting wildlife parks… He had lived to work as always.
Today, there he was in that TV dressing-room, hiding someone
from he
didn’t really know who, thinking on what was about to happen. He flew all the way from Kenya to be in that TV studio that evening. He wasn’t really sure why but something
deep
inside
kept
pushing
him...
especially that box mentioned by the TV reporter almost a month ago: there was a box with something in it which the person looking for him gave to the TV producers to use; he was not allowed to know what. He
was
given a key and he could only open it if he accepted to go to the TV studio. Once there, live, he could use the
key to open the box and have a guess on who could be looking for him. He was so curious that he hadn’t slept almost a week. At some point he forgot all about it as he had huge responsibilities at work (he was vice-president of a branch of a worldwide famous shipping company) but when his secretary reminded him of the flight arrangements his heart started tapping again. A lot of questions were in his mind: ‘‘Who can be looking for me?”, “A friend from primary school?” “Someone
in
my
family I haven’t seen for a long time?”. He wondered. It seemed so long… he was anxious… he was looking forward to know what he will find in that box.
Suddenly a woman appeared and asked him to come into a small space just next to the studio and wait for his turn. Inside the room there were posters and photos on the walls. He was looking at them and felt like a boy: he was with his father and mother! They all were
happy;
his father was keeping
his
small
hand
and
was
speaking
to
him all the time. His mother was walking next to them; she was beautiful and so charming when she wore her big
sunglasses
like Audrey Hepburn.
Suddenly, Margaret appeared in his mind - those sunglasses..., they looked the same. The image of the actress also made him think of Samantha. “Why do I keep thinking of family?� he wondered.
“What am I doing here?” - He thought. Nobody was in the room, so he continued watching the photos. He saw another one with an athlete biting a
medal
gold
and again he
remembered childhood: a little boy with his father going to a school championship, both very excited. Father is giving last advice to his son how to run to win. The boy is listening very carefully, then father hugs the boy and the competition begins. The boy is doing his best, and he wins. He’s so happy! His father is very proud... Suddenly, he hears “Mr., it’s your turn. You’ll go into the studio now, please”. At last he enters the studio. He looks around and he knows nobody. The presenter asked him if he had a clue of whom was looking for him and he answers he hasn’t the slightest idea. Then he shows him the box for
which he has the key and tells him that he could have a clue with what’s inside the box and only after he could meet the person. He wasn’t sure about what to do but he was so anxious to know… Slowly, with trembling hands, he started to fit the key to the keyhole and it didn’t suit; he tried again - a quiet “click” was heard.” Is this what I meant?” He unwrapped beautiful, Christmas decorated paper, then another one and at the bottom of this box he could see a small roll of paper with a glittering red ribbon. He unrolled it impatiently and saw.... a small
baby print.
hand Although he
thought himself as a tough man he couldn’t
stop
his tears flowing; it was his “blood and bone”, his offspring and he didn’t even know how he looked
like and his wife or ex-wife ...How did she feel about him ? The presenter asked him again the same question and he wasn’t able to speak. He undressed his coat and put up his sleeve and showed a tattoo: his baby boy hand print together with a female name… his wife’s name!
He had done it short after arriving in Kenya. He brought his son’s handprints when he was by his side in the hospital and didn’t know what was going to happen. “I made a difficult decision at that time but I never forgot my family!”, he told the presenter.
His wife and son appeared and they got together in a long embrace. There was nothing to say only to feel. The three of them left the TV studio together and went home. The couple had a lot to speak about and chatted through the night. It was Christmas time and his family was together again. His wife had shown him how important he was in their lives in spite of everything.
In Christmas Eve he offered his son a and next day they spent a lot of time looking
at
him driving it
in
garden!
the
cabriolet
This story has been written by: Anabela BrĂgida (Portugal) Anna Szczepaniak (Poland) Georgia Kosma (Greece) Magdalena Goc (Poland)