The Parents

The Parents Part II

The town of Memphil was about 10 myles from the railway station. The Henleys called for a cab. The cab dropped them off about five blocks away. The driver wouldn't go any further. "Too much snow, it'll block the tyres"- the cabbie said. So Mr. and Mrs Henley continued by foot. Henleys had the address of their son, but they could not find it. All letterboxes and address plates were covered with frost. Mr. Henley suggested that they ask around the houses, since there was no one outside. Mrs Henley agreed to the idea. They knocked on the first door and after quite a while a middle aged man opened the door. "Yes?" Mr.Henley informed the old woman of his purpose. "Would you like to come in?" The woman invited the Henleys. Subdued by the cold, the Henleys accepted the hospitality. The woman's name was Margaret, Margaret Collingwood. Mr and Mrs Collingwood had been living in this neighborhood for over 20 years. They moved in after their marriage and have two teenage daughters who attend school. "You're looking for your son you say? Do you have his address?" - said Mr.Collingwood. "Yes, we do. But due to the hazardous weather and lack of guides, we're unable to locate it by ourselves." - said Mr.Henley. "Could you let me see it?" "Oh yes, please." "You say your son's name was Walter and he resided at this address?" - The Collingwoods had a grim look on their faces. "Yes, do you know him?" "Well...we...no, not personally, but we've seen him around I guess." "Could you show us the way to his house please?" "Why don't you wait for an hour or so and let the blizzard pass, then my elder daughter will take you there personally. Have some coffee." "Oh no Mrs. Collingwood. You and you husband have been kind enough to us old folks. I'll be sure to pray to the lord and wish prosperity to you good samaritans." - smiled Mrs. Henley. She added, "but we have not seen or heard from our son for six months. He generally writes to us every week and sends money every month after receiving his wage. So please forgive us for our impatience, we do not mean to be rude. But our restlessness will persevere till we've seen him." "We do not want to bother your daughter or you in the blizzard, if you could only come out on the porch and point directions towards his house, it'll be good enough for us." Mr.Collingwood came out on the porch reluctantly, covered from head to toe and pointed the direction. "Walk this way and make a turn on the first, you'll see a yellow old building, 6 storeys high. There you go." "Thank you so much Mr.Collingwood, if possible please forgive us for our impatience. We haven't heard from our son in quite a while." - said Mr.Henley. Expressing their heartfelt gratitude for the Collingwoods, Mr and Mrs Henley made their way towards the yellow building on the first turn, through the blizzard. The blizzard wasn't too severe, but made worse by the freezing cold weather. Finally they reached the yellow building. Mrs.Henley was quite excited, she imagined how surpised Walter would be to see her. Mr. Henley was a little skeptical. He was expecting the worst, but at the same time see his son alright. The main entrance of the building was inside an alley, a dead end alley. There were many large trash cans lying around and it seemed as if a human being was shivering inside one of them. Mr.Henley knocked on the door. He ringed the bell. There seemed to be no one inside the entire building. After about 15 minutes of knocking, Mr and Mrs Henley were tired and half frozen. They decided to walk to the other side of the building and scream out their son's name. Just as they were about to walk away, a faint voice was heard from inside the building, a faint "who is it?" So they waited for a few moments and finally someone pulled open the rusty old heavy doors. It was an old woman.

The woman invited the Henleys inside and introduced herself. She was Mary Winslow, one of the tenants of the building. She had been living there for several years now. "I can't remember when I moved in here, but it was much before all my hair turned gray." She smiled and so did the Henleys. But where was Walter "Walter Henley you say, he was your son?" "Yes, Mrs. Winslow. We haven't heard from him in six months. He used to write to us every week or fornightly and send us money from his wage every month. He has neither wrote to us nor has sent us any help in the past six months. He gave us this address about 15 months back when he came to visit us for the last time in Aramville." "Ohh he used to live on the 3rd floor along with a roommate but I think he moved out about 6 months ago!" "He has been here for over two years, this is where he moved in when he came to this town. I think he would feel the need to inform us in case he moved!" - said Mr. Henley with a tone of disbelief and rudeness. "I don't think he expected you to give him a visit, because as far as I know he moved out along with his roommate. I think they found a cheaper place to stay." "Well can we atleast see where you say he used to dwell?" - asked Mr.Henley. "You can definitely go upstairs and look but there's no one there. There used to be fourtenants, your son and his roommate who I think was his colleague as well. There was another family in this floor(the second floor) and there's me. I am the only tenant in this building now." - replied Mary Winslow. "Well where do you suppose he went? Where are we to look for him now that we did came to visit?" - inquired Mr. Henley. "Oh dear God, please keep my child safe" - Mrs. Henley murmured a motherly prayer for her son. "I think he's in some kind of economical distress. I did overhear he and his colleague talking about their company downsizing." - said Mary. "Well let's suppose that the worst happened and he lost his job, why would he not come back to us? We never demand anything from him!" - said Mr.Henley. Mary suggested - "Well, I think you should ask around the block a little more after the blizzard seizes. I can give you directions to his workplace if you like?" "That would be wonderful Mrs. Winslow." - Mrs. Henley said with gratitude.