Breaking Enigma || The Imitation Game

◈ THREE- Making Your Own Way ◈

I stared for a moment, tracing over the letters of my name with a glance. There were so many possibilities on what could be the topic of what was contained in the letter and there was only one obvious way to find out. After taking a deep breath, I began to read:

Dear Mr Hughes,

I have personally selected you to come along to Bletchley Radio Factory and join in with the war effort. Your skills will be highly valued and it would be a pleasure for you to join.

You may bring some of your possessions along (clothes, toiletries, stationary .etc) and I expect you to arrive promptly and no later than the 30th of September. Once you have arrived, show this letter to the gatekeepers and they will let you in.

I will see you and your new colleagues very soon.

Yours sincerely,

Commander A. Denniston,
British Royal Navy

The writer of the letter had signed it with his unusual signature underneath his name and occupation. I pondered on why a commander of the Navy would get hold of my details and then ask me to work at a local radio factory? Something didn't quite add up. Surely a man of high power such as Denniston wouldn't ask a nobody like me who barely had any qualifications to do a job of low standards.

After re-reading the letter, I took it with me back into the living room. I could instantly tell, as I stepped foot into the room, that Mother, Louisa and Jack's board game had come to a conclusion as there was a squeal of happiness from Jack.

"My luck has returned! I told you that I'd win."

"Alright show off," Louisa joked. "You only won because you chea-"

"That's enough you two," Mother interfered with a laugh. "Go upstairs and get your pyjamas on."

The twins groaned and reluctantly plodded their way out of the living room and up the stairs.

Sitting down, I traced the edge of the envelope with my finger, feeling the blunt side of the paper.

"What does that letter say then?" My Father asked, folding up his newspaper and taking off his reading glasses. Mother sat down next to him on the two-seater sofa and gazed at me expectantly.

"It's from a commander of the British Royal Navy," I explain, standing up briefly to hand him the letter. "He's offering me work."

Father had to put his glasses back on again to read it. He took it out of the envelope, unfolded it and then my mother leaned over to scan over it at the same time.

At least half a minute had past until someone spoke.

"It sounds more like a demand rather than an offer," Mother says with a hint of anxiety in her voice. "The thirtieth of September? That's only a few weeks away."

"I know, but I haven't had a job since I was twenty-three when I helped Mr Jackson deliver the post around the village. Well, I don't know if you'd count that as a job... But it's about time I did something with my life. There's a war, Mother. Everybody needs to help out and this could be the start of my efforts, even if it's not what I particularly wanted to achieve."

"I understand how you feel," she said softly. "You're old enough to make your own way in the world and-"

"That's exactly what you told Dad the other day when you were saying how happy you were about not taking in an evacuee."

A small expression of shock appeared on her face. "How much of that conversation did you hear?"

"I heard enough to know that I'm not wanted," my voice was frustrated and I tried not to let too much anger out because the one thing I hate most is upsetting my mother and pushing her to the brink of tears.

"Oh, Kester. I'm so sorry," Mother apologised. "I didn't mean it... I want you here with us more than anything because we love you."

I turned to Father who had grasped Mother's hand comfortingly in his own.

"And I- I love you all too," I stutter. "But you were right- I am too old to be living here and I am old enough to have a proper job... I need to make my way in the world and this is my chance."

Mother was silent. I could see her trembling because she was upset.

"Look," Father began. "Why don't you think about it for a few days and then we'll discuss it together?"

I think about it for a long moment and then nod.

"Good," he said as my mother let go of his hand, stood up and came over to sit close beside me. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead wrapped her arms tightly around me, burying her head into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I whisper into her ear as I lean to hug my Mother back. I didn't know what to think; humans are truly the world's most cryptic enigma.

"There's no need to be, Kester," Mother murmured back. "I'm just worried. I want you to be happy in whatever path in life you wish to take. I want you to be safe while doing so. But promise me you won't do anything out of the ordinary or anything diabolical."

I let out a quiet, almost suppressed laugh. "I promise."

"Good," Mother pulled away and a tiny smile appeared on her pale lips. "Now, off to bed and we'll talk about this tomorrow," she extended her arm and took the letter away from my grasp, a gesture of which I gladly excepted. Something silly shouldn't tear a family apart even if that something could determine one's future.

"Okay," I say, returning the discreet smile and standing up to make my exhausted journey upstairs and to my bedroom.

As I retreated to my room, I heard muffled voices, from both Jack and Louisa's room and from downstairs. I decided that it would be best to fall asleep to the sound of my brother and sister talking about school rather than listening to my parents drone on about that stupid letter. Part of me wishes that I'd never should have opened it, but all I can say is that it's fate for something like this to happen. Then again, I couldn't be too sure.

Lying down on my bed, I pulled the sheets up to my chest, staring at the ceiling. I simply lay there, not thinking of anything in particular. The darkness of my room was quite comforting and I enjoyed the silence that it offered. I didn't bother checking what time it was when I finally came to the decision of actually falling asleep, but I knew it was late due to the fact that Jack and Louisa's voices could no longer be heard and that Mother and Father were still downstairs.

My life was pretty messed up- a tangle of problems, relevant and irrelevant things and my family. Surely there was some way to free myself of this web of life...