Forgiven: FFFC #88

The postman had left one of those little notices on Joseph’s door that informed him that he had a package at the post office! He pondered, “A package for me? Who could be sending me a package at this time in my life?” He started to let it remain there, thinking someone must want to sell him something.

But, he couldn’t get the thought of the package out of his head! He finally went to the post office to retrieve it. He was gobsmackeded to see that the package was from his brother, Marcus, who would be 88 years old now, as Joseph was now 86 years old.

Joseph had not seen or spoken to Marcus since that fateful night when he had ran away with the woman Marcus was engaged to marry. With a hardihood fueled by true love, they had left in a hurry to escape their home country before anyone knew what was happening, especially Marcus.

During their years of marital happiness, they had received many angry letters from Marcus stating that he would never forgive them. His anger had turned into bitterness over the years that prevented Joseph and Susie from returning to their home country, particularly as the scuttlebutt from home was that Marcus would kill Joseph if he saw him again.

Riding the subway with the surprisingly light box, Joseph had fought his urges to open it at the post office, believing Susie should be present for the big reveal. When he arrived home, they opened it, and they both were humbled at what they found inside.

It was the quilted coat of many colors that Joseph had bought to keep Susie warm during the cold nights on the train ride to their new life together. They were both saddened when they had realized that it had been left behind. They had assumed that Marcus had found it and destroyed it in his fury at their deceit.

But, no, here it was, and it was in nearly pristine condition, as if someone had kept it secure all of these years. Along with the coat were three other items

The first was a letter expressing Marcus’s recondite forgiveness for the pain and humiliation that they had caused him. He wrote that he’d relinguished his belief that all women were terrible liars, a thought that had kept him single and lonely for years. Subsequently, at age 86, he’d met a lovely lady and was now married and at peace for the first time in 67 years.

The other two items were two first-class, round-trip tickets to their home country. Marcus wrote that he hoped that they would use them to come home before they all died, so that the “circle would be unbroken” once again.

A fictional story written for Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge #88. Fandango prompt is Scuttlebutt. Ragtag prompt is Hardihood. Word of the Day Challenge is Urges.Your Daily Prompt is Recondite. The Daily Spur prompt is Reveal.