Week 13 Story: Richard Returns

 Week 13 Story: Richard Returns

Once upon a time, there was a gentleman named Richard that left everything and everyone he knew and loved to fight in World War II. As an infantry soldier, he spent most of his time on the front line. Because of this, Richard witnessed many gruesome sights first hand. This took a very heavy toll on his mental health. There were constant explosions, gun shots, and sleepless nights. Worst of all, he was losing friends by the dozens. Despite this horror, he tried his best to stay positive. His two biggest motivators were that he was fight for the freedoms of his country and secondly, when then war was over he was going to get to go home to his wife Barbara and his thirteen year old son, Henry.

After a painfully long four years the war was over. Henry survived but with major mental trauma. Despite this, he remained ecstatic that he was on his way home to see Barbara and Henry. However, he was shocked to see a new family living in the house that he had left. He was never informed that his wife and son moved. How could this be? He had no way of contacting them but he was determined to find them, it was his life mission.

Five years later, Richard had lost. early all hope that he would find Barbara and Henry. In this state of despair, Richard decided that he would go for a hike through the woods. He hoped that the beauty of nature could cheer him up. 

On Richard's hike, he saw a gentleman in the woods shooting arrows at a target. It was the most accurate Richard had ever seen! He decided he would go talk to the man to figure out how he learned to be so skilled with a bow and arrow. As Richard approached the man, he looked increasingly familiar. It was his son! Now twenty two years old, they were so excited to see each other. Richard soon asked Henry "where is your mother"? To which Henry replied, "she passed away about a year after you left. I couldn't afford to pay the mortgage on the house so I had to move. I didn't know which country you were in so I had no way to let you know". Richard and Henry both teared up, but they were both so happy to have each other back.

Soldiers in WWII - Via Defense.Gov

Bibliography: Devavrat Returns, by the Epified YouTube Channel

Author's Note: In the original story, King Shantanu found himself lonely. He missed his wife and son. His sadness was interrupted by the sound of fighting. He took notice that the archer had impeccable skill. He finds out that the archer was his own long lost son, Devavrat. King Shantanu took his son with him back to the village where he was praised by the residents for being their new prince. After some time, King Shantanu fell in love with the daughter of a fisherman. He asked her to marry him, but the fisherman refused because their son would never become king since the throne was promised to Devavrat. King Shantanu was upset and Devavrat took notice. Devavrat set off to reason with the fisherman to see what he could do. End of story. So as you can see, some aspects changed. For example, mine took place in the early to mid 1940's during WWII. I added the details of Richard's experience in the war to further develop the idea that he had mental health problems. Additionally, in my story the mother dies. I kept the underlying premise of father and son becoming reunited. Hopefully you enjoyed!