Message in a Bottle [LGBTQ+] [ONC 2024]

Chapter Sixteen

Silence settled over the house, an almost comforting silence that Eli relaxed into. He sat at the circular table in their main living space with Mr Fredricks' letter spread out in front of him. Eli placed his hands flat out on the table in front of him, lightly scratching his nails along the wood. It was the first time Eli had been home alone since his attack, something his mother had been reluctant about, and he took the opportunity to finally read the letter for himself.

The original letter was long gone, lost to the stream on the night he ran out of the house, but the new one contained much of the same information. Mr Fredricks reiterated that the exam was to take place in just two weeks time in the city and that transportation and lodgings had already been put aside so they wouldn't have to go out of their way for him to take it. If he couldn't go. Grace Lewis would.

Eli read it through several times.

No one had mentioned the letter since its arrival, and Eli knew why, but he wished they would. He wanted to take that exam even if he did fail. He wanted to at least think he could win that scholarship and finally follow through on his dream to go to University.

Eli thought back to his conversation with Samuel and the idea of him finally being in control of his own future. His entire life had been dictated for him by his father and he had had no say in any of it. At sixteen, he longed to be able to make his own decisions in life. Samuel had been right. The opportunity to take control of his life had fallen directly into his lap, and he would be a fool not to take it.

The door to the farmhouse swung open, slamming against the wall. Eli grabbed the letter from the table and placed it on his lap, watching his father come to an abrupt stop in the doorway.

"I thought you would have gone fishing," he said, his voice gruff.

"The light was hurting my eyes, so I thought I'd stay here," Eli lied. The idea of going fishing hadn't crossed his mind, all he could think about was the letter.

His father crossed to the small kitchen behind the table, using the small pump in their kitchen to wash the drying mud from his hands. "We should get you back in the fields, build up your strength."

"I wasn't strong before."

"Maybe not, but things change."

Eli didn't say anything. He crinkled the sheet of paper in his lap, noticing the way he tilted his head a little at the sound. His eyes flicked to the mantle above the stone fireplace where the letter had been kept since its arrival a few days before. If he noticed it was missing, he didn't say anything.

Silence descended on the room once more, but it wasn't the comforting silence Eli had enjoyed before his father entered the room. Eli and his father hadn't been alone since his attack with his father working longer hours on the farm and Eli doing everything he could to not come into contact with him. He knew that his father was disappointed in him for not doing better to defend himself all those weeks ago.

"Your mother and I have been talking," he said, drying his hands on a cloth. "And we've agreed that you can return to school."

Eli frowned, recalling the conversation they first had about the exam. "But I thought—"

"—I'd much rather have you work on the farm, but your mother thinks you should at least get your school certificate." He frowned, a flash of annoyance passing over his face. "After that, you're to help me on the farm."

"Just like that? I don't get a say?"

"We're not going over this again, Eli. Your job has always been here despite you spending most of your life with your head in the clouds. I don't know what got the idea into your head that University was a possibility, but it isn't. This farm will be yours, whether you like it or not."

His father looked at him for a few seconds before throwing the cloth he was holding onto one of the few counter spaces in the small house. He crossed back to the front door and disappeared through it, leaving the door open. Eli sat at the table and watched his father cross the yellowing grass towards the upperfield where he'd been working all day.

Anger was not an emotion Eli tended to entertain if he could help it. He hated seeing the anger rage in his fathers eyes when he'd done something wrong and the thought of turning out just like him terrified him. Eli never wanted anyone to be scared of him. Yet, as he watched his father's figure fade into the distance, the anger swelled in the pit of his stomach.

It started small, like a ripple in the pond when the fish swam to the surface in search of the food he'd thrown in for them. Each small ripple disappeared for a moment, but it always returned. The anger swelled in larger, and larger ripples, as though he were dragging his foot through the water with more and more force.

The ripples grew into small waves, building with each second that passed and with each of his fathers steps across the field. Eli knew that he could never be the son his father wanted. He could never be the farmer that he expected, or the boy who would put up more of a fight when attacked. His father didn't understand that, didn't understand him, and he never would.

The only person who did was Samuel.

Eli snatched the letter up from his lap, beating back the small headache building behind his eyes. He scrambled up the ladder to his small bedroom. His heart thumped against his chest, blood roared in his ears, and through his small window he could just make out his father heading towards the field.

Throwing Mr Fredricks' letter onto his bed, Eli sat down at his writing desk with a new, clean sheet of paper in front of him, grabbed the pen, and began to write.

~~~

First Published - April 22nd, 2024