Whos this unexpected guest? shouted David Peterson, his voice booming across the kitchen. If thats you, you can leave right now!
Dad, what are you doing? Andrew muttered, bewildered. I havent set foot in this house for twenty years, and now you greet me like this!
If it were up to me, Id meet you with a belt! David grabbed his belt, his face flushing. Never mind, well sort this out.
Take it easy! Andrew stepped back, his hands raised. Im not a childI can speak for myself.
Thats the spirit, David sneered, dropping his belt. You attack the weak, run from the strong, cheat the kind, and serve the wicked!
What are you really angry about? What are you accusing me of? Andrew shrugged. If I ever did anything wrong, its been twenty years. Time has healed it and forgiven it.
Its easy to say that when you think youre innocent, David retorted. Everyone wants forgiveness, but I have none to give you.
What could I possibly have done to you? Andrew asked. I spent my days at the naval academy, after my parents called me a traitor and sent me away, forbidding me to return home. You never answered any of my letters, even though I wrote so many.
Dont you know? David mocked.
Andrews expression showed pure confusion; he tried to clarify, but the bickering was cut short by their mothers sharp voice.
Enough! shouted Mary Mitchell, standing in the doorway. Youve brought nothing but trouble! Send that boy, Tom, away! Bring shame on our family!
Andrew stood as still as a statue, stunned. Mary added, If God gave me strength, Id wrestle you to the ground! Id use every ounce of power. But I see the devil himself has marked you, she said, pointing at a bruise under Andrews eye.
How convenient, David chuckled, Id give that man a handshake.
Parents, whats happening? Andrew shouted. Have you lost your minds? Ive been gone for twenty years! Why this sudden hostility?
Who sent you? David asked. Well throw you out now, and Ill thank the one who helped us.
I dont even know who them are, Andrew snapped. I was on a coach heading home when my neighbour, Pete, recognised me and ran over to greet me!
Just as the coach stopped at the layby, a young lad leapt out, shoved a fist into Andrews face, spat in his direction and fled. When Andrew recovered, the troublemaker was already gone.
An unknown hero! David laughed. Well have to ask Pete who knocked you down.
Dad, is that all you care about? Andrew shouted. Just because I was away for twenty years, you think I can disappear?
What use have we for a traitor like you? Mary snapped.
Why am I a traitor? Andrew demanded.
Because a voice shouted from the kitchens back room.
Whos this brave soul? Andrew growled.
A figure stepped into the light.
This lad Andrew pointed at the boy, hit me with his fist!
Good on you, lad! David beamed. You didnt miss your chance!
Grandson? Andrew retorted, pulling away.
Exactly! Mary covered him with her body. Your son! Abandoned!
I have no son, Andrew said, his voice shaking. I never did, and if I had, Id know.
Remember why you fled the village twenty years ago, David said, his tone raw.
***
Andrew never spoke of his departure as a runaway act; it was a planned move, though he left a little early for several reasons.
He had to travel faralmost the length of the countryto attend a maritime college. He went to study, hoping to earn a modest stipend, though it was barely enough for a decent life. Asking his parents for help across the nation was awkward; they could send money, but what about food? How would they ship provisions?
A second reason lay in the villages unrest. A few weeks before his planned leave, a wave of aggressive suitors descended on the town. Had he lingered a fortnight longer, he might never have left. He chose to escape the pressure.
When asked plainly, Why? he would have answered:
I want my life tied to the sea! I wont stay at home while Im off on a voyage, watching my future dwindle.
The sea entered Andrews life by chance. After school he first served his country in the navy, then realised that land life wasnt for him. When he returned, a placement notice for a marine engineering apprenticeship waited in his pocket.
Before starting his studies he indulged in a wild streak. Young men fresh from service behave in a certain waydrinking, reckless bravery, chasing thrills wherever they find them, whether at a pub table or in a backalley. Andrew, once he began to understand, watched these hardliners and decided he would never become a pawn chained to a wife, children, and a farm.
He kept his composure, even sewing his own belt and tightening his own bootlaces. Some hardships came, but he preferred a short, harsh trial over a lifetime of suffering.
His reputation grew among the villages young women. A handsome, ambitious lad with a clear plan and no scandalous rumours seemed ideal. Yet he was besieged from all sidesinvites, gifts, promises of affectionwhile other families saw him as a bridge for their own alliances.
Andrew realised the defense was futile. Either hed be overrun, or his parents would be persuaded. So he slipped away again, leaving the village a month and a half early.
As the old saying goes, Better safe than sorry, and he was indeed safe.
He arrived at the port, secured a berth, rented a bunk in a sailors hostel, enrolled at the college, and sent a letter home saying hed arrived, found work, and was fine. His parents replied with a furious missive, branding him a traitor, a coward, and a scoundrel, and declaring, You have no more parents! There is no home for you! The sea is where you belong!
Andrew, confused, kept writing, pleading for explanation. They never sent a telegram back. He could have stormed home, but his studies held him.
When he finally earned his diploma, a thin, halfscratched note arrived: May you drown! Traitor! Coward! signed not by his mother and father, but by David Peterson and Mary Mitchell.
The motive remained a mystery, but it was clear the family no longer wanted him.
He signed a naval contract and returned to the sea. Every six months he docked on the mainland, sent another brief note home, and set sail again, no longer expecting a reply.
At forty, he finally decided to uncover why his parents had turned on him after two decades. Their meeting was far from warm; it was full of twists.
—
Why did you run? Andrew mocked. Did you think Id never return? Did you plot to marry me off to anyone else?
I saw the gifts, the promises, Mary hissed. We thought youd study, yet you fled with Nancy, the orphan!
She had come to the village, claiming she was expecting a child with Andrew, seeking advice. Well abandon our own grandson to fate? Mary snarled.
When did she arrive? Andrew asked. I wrote to you a month after I left, and you told me not to come back!
Nancy told us she was pregnant, David replied. We told her to have an abortion and disappear from your life.
How convenient, Andrew said, after you exiled me.
She was an orphan! No one else cared for her. She even bore our grandsons child. Look, we raised Stan!
Call Nancy here, Andrew demanded. We need to sort this out.
Theres nobody to sort with, Stan replied. Mother died ten years ago. Grandma and granddad raised me.
Right, Andrew shook his head. And my father met his son eyetoeye!
You barely killed me, but you threw away my pregnant mother! Stan shouted. At least my grandparents were decent people!
It seems youre all righteous, except me, the traitor, David added.
And a coward too! he continued. You fled responsibility and sent a poor girl to an abortion!
Nancy told us shed had a child, but you called her a liar in your last letter! Mary interjected.
Did you see that letter? Andrew asked.
In contrast to you, we believed the girl, Mary said.
Then lets do a DNA test, Andrew suggested. If Im the father, you can hang me on the doorstep!
The test was negative. Andrew handed the results to his parents.
Everything clear? he asked. Nancy knew I wasnt the father, but she came to you.
The trouble isnt that you believed a strangers lie; its that you accepted my son as a coward and traitor! David cried.
For twenty years you never forgave me, yet now you seek my forgiveness? I dont need it. I feel sorry for you, but thats gone. Farewell!
Andrew left, while Stan stayed, continuing to claim he was the beloved grandson, insisting the test was wrong and that his mother was a saint.
In the end, Andrew sailed on, carrying the weight of his past, and learned that grudges held for decades only chain a man to bitterness. He understood that true peace comes not from demanding apologies, but from letting go and living honestly. The sea taught him that while the tide may pull you back, you must choose whether to fight the current or to flow with it.
