=== This is a fictional story. ===
Two women were sitting in front of an elegant old cottage under the roof, sipping their Earl Grey and chatting…
“What a nice view!” “Yeah, I told you right? It’s so peaceful here. My aunt used to live here, but now that she’s in a home, we seldom visited. I thought it was such a waste. I love this place, so I asked you to come with me…” “You are right, I could use a break.” They continued to enjoy the view & wind of the valley, hearing the birds, and see some sheeps far away on the cliff. It’s like a painting. The view probably hadn’t changed much since the last century.
“Do you know that old man next door? He’s always sitting there. is he very old?” “Yeah, Mr. Nilsen. He has been my aunt’s neighbour forever. Maybe 70 or so?” “Really? He looks super ancient to me. I thought he’s like 90.” “Ohh… He wasn’t like that before. He was a carpenter, sometimes did hunting too. He was very strong & active. All his sons were… But since all his sons were gone, or dead, he suddenly changed, became so fagile & quiet. My aunt said that his hair turned all white suddenly.”
“What happened?” “Oh… long story.”
“You know? The war…” “Of course, my father went too, before I was born.” “Then your father was lucky to be back.” “Ohh… he only went for a short time, the war ended in a year.”
“Mr. Nilsen had 4 sons. All of them went to the war together. They were very close, all of them, but 2 came back, 2 didn’t make it.” “That’d terrible!” “ Yeah. I heard from my aunt that the 2 died in the war were the eldest & the youngest. The eldest, Albert, was also very strong & capable, just like his father… The youngest, Devin, was more delicate. One time, they were protecting some villagers to escape, Devin was somehow behind, at the enemy line, so Albert went back to look for his baby brother. Then they both died in an explosion.” “Ohh… the war was awful.” “Exactly. What’s worse is, the 2 returned didn’t live for long either.” “What??”
“The 2 returned were called Bryan & Carter. Bryan was very charming & socalized. I think he worked in the town, in a shop or something. He had a lot of friends, sometimes returned to visit with a brunch of friends. Then later he was caught by police. They said that he was a traitor or something… “ “Really??” “I don’t know… My aunt doesn’t believe it. My aunt said that he was such a sweet boy, he trusted people, so maybe he was used by his friend. His brothers died in the war! For Chris’s sake! He wouldn’t have worked for the enemies.” “But anyway, he was executed.” “Oh, no!!” “My aunt said that his father cried his eyes out… he ran to the court & prison so many times…”
“I think maybe his son being branded & executed as a traitor might have broken him more than his sons died in the war…” “Why?” “There are many families whose members died in the war. You kind of expected it, and think it was the price to pay for peace, you can convince yourself that they have served their country… but this is so unexpected!” “Right…” “I guess he probably doesn’t believe his son was a traitor either.”
“Ohh… and Carter!” “The last surviving son?” “Right, the 3rd one” “He always worked with his father & took care of him, talked with him… When Bryan was executed, nobody dared to visit them, just Carter & his father, by themselves. It was only the 2 of them.” “Then, one day police came for Carter too.” “No kidding!” “It’s true. Nobody knew what happened. The police just came suddenly, when they were working in the yard. My aunt was at the porch. She saw it.”
“What happened” “They said he raped Julia. Julia was his ex, but she had already got married, to a socialite, I think. Somebody who has power & money. She said that he raped her.” “Do you believe it?” “I don’t know, but my aunt said that she never liked that woman. She probably just tried to make an excuse to her husband. Maybe it was just an affair…” “Ohh… you know people are. They would do anything to protect their names…” “And then, my aunt heard that, Carter was beaten to death in the prison…” “What!!” “You know, money can do anything…” But one day, I asked Mr. Nilsen, what is he doing. He said he was waiting for Carter. I think he doesn’t believe his son is gone.” “Oh, poor man.”
“Shall we bring some lunch to him later?” “Sure! Good idea.”
=== the end ===