AcmeShorts

“Father!”

“Son!”

“You made it! I always you new you would!”

“Yes father and I have so much to tell you!”

“Yes Son, I look forward to hearing it all. But do you have the antidote!”

“I don’t hate mother anymore, I understand now!”

“That’s great son…”

“And my fear of committing to the world, I know now that it’s all in my own mind!”

“I am so pleased, son, so pleased, but what about the antidote…”

“Oh Father, so many adventures, so many experiences, I’ve learned so much!”

“I can see it your face son, in your very posture, you are a new man! But about that antidote…”

“Oh I know it began as a voyage in search of an antidote for your exotic infection, father, but it turned in to so much more. It became a spiritual journey, with twists of the soul and turns of the heart I never could have imagined!”

“Yes! Indeed! (Cough) And what about the, uh, you know, the antidote part of the quest thing?”

“Father the antidote was a mirage, merely my outward goal. The real journey lied within.”

“I really need that fucking antidote, son.”

“I couldn’t find the antidote, but I return to you with a deeper understanding of the community at large and, more importantly, of my relationship with you, Dad.”

Later that week, as his Father died bleeding out in his quarantined bedroom, screaming for hours in an inarticulate howl of anguish and pain, the Son listened, legs crossed, reflectively in the parlor. He met this tragic obstacle with a stiff resolve he never could have summoned before his harrowing adventures searching high and low for the antidote.

Post-Script: Science would later inadvertently discover a cure for the mysterious infection and distribute it to clinics across the globe with little fanfare.