He was a good man, Gene Stephenson. A good scientist too. He was a young inventor who was far ahead of his time. He revolutionized technology and changed the world as we now know it. His death was a tragedy, one of the many examples in history of a brilliant person’s life being cut short.
T
hat day started like every other. Gene Stephenson was in his garage tinkering with yet another one of his so called, “life changing inventions.” His sister, Kennedy Cresto, was very supportive of his work, and, though she visited him very rarely, she often called him to see how the next great invention was coming along. Her son, George, idolized his Uncle Gene, and he would always beg his mom to go to his house or have five short minutes of phone call time with his uncle. His brother Alec, however, was too preoccupied with his toys to care much about what his uncle was working on. That day, Kennedy finally gave in to her sons’ constant pleas to see their uncle, and called her brother to set up a time to visit. So later that day, after lunch at the local deli, the Crestos piled into the car with their dachshund, Sparkplug, who was happily panting from where he sat between the two booster seats in the back seat, wagging his tail joyously.
As they drove the short ten minute drive to Gene’s house, Kennedy realized she all too often ignored and neglected chances given her to see her brother. She knew he would not be around forever, though at the time she did not know how little time he had left. She wanted her kids to have spent enough time with their uncle so they could remember him as a good man that loved his family and not just his inventions.
As their car pulled into the driveway of the brick house with unkempt flowerbeds and an unwatered lawn, the two overjoyed boys in the back took off their seatbelts, opened the door, and jumped out of the car practically in one fluid motion. They sprinted up the sidewalk to the door and started to shove each other out of the way, fighting over who would get to ring the doorbell. When they finally came to an agreement that George would ring the doorbell and Alec would get the first hug from his uncle, George pushed the small button and melodic chimes rang through the quiet neighborhood. When the door opened, Kennedy could see the overjoyed look on her brother’s face when he saw Alec and George as he then gave them each a giant bear hug. Kennedy then hurried over to give her brother a hug, and he patted Sparkplug gently on the head. Afterwards, he let them inside and started making conversation with his family. While he was talking to Kennedy, George and Alec decided to go explore the house they rarely see. They wandered around until they got to the garage door.
