published: Saturday, September 5th 2020 4:28 am
writing prompt: Write a story that starts with someone writing their will — one they know people won't like.
Penny had been doing a lot of thinking that day and the days that began to pass. The pen never left her hand and her hand stayed on the paper in front of her as she tried to write again. Sixty-eight still felt too young to be writing a will. To announce where she wanted her assets and possessions to go to while still drawing breath was more difficult than she realized. In her heart she knew what she needed to say. She knew the shock that her words would have on everyone once they heard them aloud. But what should she care if they had an issue? She would not be around to see it anyways so it might as well come out. The truth was that those children of hers would not see a penny from her and just thinking about that put her at peace. The money would go to those who actually needed it. Not that her family would have noticed, but she had spent a good amount of her time looking up organizations in need that desperately needed the money in her possession. It put her at peace to be able to do this for them. Her children would be fine.
Only four showed up today, her daughter Dana being out of the country (too busy to say goodbye as she put it) and her other son Carson being in jail for armed robbery. The other four were successful in their own rights and by all means had no need to the fortune that she had.
Ever since getting the money her mother left to her it had changed their household for the worse. Sure it helped with their expenses and made life easier, but they changed. It was clear as day. Attitudes ran wild and turned sour to the point that none of them were recognizable. The house she lived in now was the one she grew up in and so was the money. By some miracle she did not grow up snobby like her parents, but her children weren't so lucky. She supposed one day they would get over her decision and go about their lives. The worst that they could do is not visit her grave or even bury her, but she had a plan for that too. They would be okay without her, that she knew for sure. This money was always hers to do with as she pleased, and it pleased her greatly to withhold it from her ungrateful children.
So she wrote for what felt like hours until everything she needed to say was inside of her will, though the noise coming from the cracked open window fueled her drive. She could hear them now, yelling and arguing none stop as they had been doing the last few days. Every time they did so it was always about the same thing, and she would grow even more agitated about the subject. It was clear from her doctor- well every doctor that she had seen in the last three years, that she was dying and soon. This was something that she had learned to live with and was slowly growing to be okay with, if only her children felt the same.On the contrary, they preferred to argue about it day and night. At first it started with them disagreeing about which doctor she would see and how many opinions they would hear on her condition. Then it was who would stay and watch her (she still had no idea why they were arguing about this as if she was a child) while the rest took care of their own children or went to work.
Now, as she craned her neck to hear outside where they decided was the best place to really go at each other with more nonsense, they heavily discussed her assets and what would happen to them after she was gone. They all wanted the house, her cars, her jewelry, then she smirked when her youngest son suggested to give away all of her clothes when she's gone because they wouldn't be worth much. She would be lying is she said that hearing this from the mouths of her babes did not hurt much, but hearing that comment had made her chuckle. It would not kill them to wait until she was gone and her body was cold before they began divvying out her possessions, but she guessed that was asking too much of her rotten children. They hadn't always been the way that they were, which is why the guilt tended to eat away at her in times like these.
Once upon a time she and her husband happily raised their seven children in their two story home in the countryside. There wasn't much to do there nor were there a lot of people around to converse with. They loved it though, and cherished the times they had to themselves and to work on their family. She would often take photos and bake every chance she got while her husband worked his butt off for promotion after promotion. Raising and affording a family of nine was not cheap but they made it work. That all worked for a while and it seemed their lives would never change. No one complained about that. Then tragedy struck and it changed the courses of their lives forever. Her second youngest, Anne, had drowned before she reached her seventh birthday. It had been no ones fault, but soon everyone began to blame each other for her passing and the trust that they instilled in each other began to break.
Her husband then lost himself in work and barely came around which soured the mood of everyone, mainly in her. Having children to dote on was wonderful especially after losing one too soon, but having her husband would have helped more. She told him too, but he never did seem to hear her. Then she stopped baking and the pictures she took began to get less colorful and more dreary. More than once her children commented on the permanent frown on her face, but she always tried to prove them wrong. I'm just tired is all, she would lie to them. At first they would believe it, and then their own moods soured themselves. That's when the guilt got deeper. By the time her oldest, Xavier, was seventeen he was ready to be off to college. Because of his birthday and his smart mind, he was able to go earlier than most on scholarship and did not look back once when he left. That left five children with her who were growing up before her eyes and it terrified her to see them gone too. Especially Kiana, her eldest and the reason why the home was not falling apart faster than it already was.
More tragedy seemed to find them. Her own mother had sent a letter asking her to return home one day. It came as a surprise seeing as they had not spoken since she disobeyed her parents to marry her husband, James, and they ceased communication. The letter read urgent and she headed that warning. She expected her husband to stay instead of joining her and the kids on the road trip, but he surprised them all by joining the two day long excursion. For once in the last few years it felt like they were a family again, though she wished Anne and Xavier were with them too. When they finally got to the home she grew up in that now only housed her father and mother, she could feel the questions coming before they were finally there. It was by all accounts a mansion and not a simple home as they expected, and with a heavy heart she took the place all in again. Her mother was waiting at the front door for then despite how sickly she looked. Tubes and IVs' were protruding from her skin, and a scarf covered her head where her hair used to be. Her father was not beside her then, and in her heart Penny knew that he was gone. Her father was dead.
It took a full day after she arrived for her mother to tell her what was really happening. She was dying and wanted to make amends before she did. Never did she say she was sorry for how they ended things but she was grateful to see her daughter and grandchildren again. They stayed for weeks until she eventually slipped away from them. Not until her mother was in the ground and the reader of the will spoke did they realize that in her will she had given her everything. Her house, her fortune- everything she possessed she granted her daughter. Though she never apologized for kicking Penny out and refusing to speak with her until weeks before she died, it was "thank you" enough she supposed.
With a heavy heart she ended her will with her love and signature before passing it to her executor. She was sat beside her, silently taking in every word Penny had put on paper with no judgement in her eyes or posture. How could she when she was witnessing firsthand what money and wealth had done to them, what she let it do to them? So she read on silently, her eyes getting more and more glassy as she reached the bottom. When she was done she blew out a breath, then she reached for the glasses perched on her nose and placed them on the table. There was no need for her to talk, Penny understood it all.
Sasha was more like a daughter to her even since they met almost seven years ago now. She had heard the tale of Penny's life from her many times and had met Pennys children and grandchildren in passing from time to time. One thing led to another and Sasha became a close part of her family and a close confidante. She would miss her as much as any of them, and she knew she felt the same.
"Are you sure?" She wondered, her eyes red rimmed and sad and looking right at her. Sasha always had her best interest at heart, and she loved her for it. "They will be expecting more."
Penny shrugged, staring out of the window again at her children. They were arguing still. "That is the reason why they will not get anymore. If they can't be content with the love I leave behind for them, they never loved me to begin with."
With a nod Sasha began to put the will away, promising to do what Penny wished and nothing less. Penny knew she would, knew that the will was in good hands. When she left she stayed in silence, reflecting on the life she had and the life she could have had. In another life where Anne had never drowned and she could hug her baby girl so tightly she could never leave her arms. Another life where he husband had loved his family more than his job and grieved with them instead of pushing his feelings to the side. He was gone now too. They had ended their marriage almost a decade ago now and Penny hadn't a clue where he was now. Maybe he was dead too.
They could have had the best life if they had never left that farm. It was a dream she desperately wanted to come true. Penny had no recollection of how much time had passed since Sasha left, but the sun was beginning to dim. A knock on the door caught her attention. It was Kiana, her oldest daughter at the door with a neutral look about her as she entered.
"Mother." She walked towards her, the red pencil skirt and loose blouse showing that she had been at work earlier. Her eyes lingered on the locked drawer before finding her mother again. "Dinner is ready. Are you up to joining?"
"I am."
"Okay." Clearing her throat, she came forward to help her from the chair to her wheelchair, and then they were off down the hallway to the dining area. "I saw you writing from outside." She said. It almost made Penny laughed at how hesitant she was to actually ask about the will with her and not her siblings.
"My will." She answered truthfully.
For a minute there was no answer, only the click of her heels as she walked down the hall.
"Oh." She paused. "If you ever needed help assessing your assets, I am available. I have an eye for these things."
Penny laughed at her brazenness as they neared the room. "No dear I am fine working it with Sasha. I'm sure you're busy. How are Kenneth and the girls."
"Fine." She curtly resounded, answering Penny's unspoken question about the state of her own family. She could see that her daughter and her husband were having problems even before they had married. She even had the thought that he married her for the money he thought Kiana would get from her. How wrong he was. "The girls are at piano and then off to a friends."
"And Kenneth?"
One could hear a pin drop in that painfully quiet silence.
"He is Kenneth." Was all she said. They then entered the dining room and the conversation stopped for them all to stop and gape at her. She waved off their "concerns" and urged them to stay in their seats. Jeffrey, her youngest was quick to place a kiss on her head. He seemed sincere enough, but he would not see a penny from either.
Once she was settled she cleared her throat to catch everyone's attention, and once again the room went silent. She opted not to stand and tire herself out more. They could hear her just fine from her seat anyway.
"I want to thank you all for coming." She began, and her children began to look around the room at each other in concern. "It has been some time since we were all together like a family, and it's a time I cherish greatly."
"We would do it more often if our jobs and lives permitted." Xavier interrupted with nods of agreement from his siblings, and she fought the urge not to roll her eyes. "But we are here now and that's what matters."
"Yeah mom." Jeffrey said, smirking like he seemed to do his entire life.
"Hmm." She nodded at them in turn, noticing her daughters silently listening to their brothers before she continued. "That is touching, truly. But I have something to ask of you."
Concern lined their faces, mainly Penelope, her quiet and curious child who was known all over for being a famous painter, but Penny saw her as her miracle baby. Penelope was her last child and most difficult birth that almost killed her. It was James idea for name Penelope after her because of the strength and resilience that Penny had while birthing her. She seemed the most intrigued at what she had to say.
"I want to go back to our old home, the farm." That caused even more confusion, some nostalgia, and even disgust to appear on their faces. She continued. "I have not been back in so long. Sasha looked into it and the owners have no qualms of us going there to look around."
"You... want us to go?" Xavier asked in disbelief. He and Kiana shared a look before he scoffed. "I don't know if I have the time..."
"Shouldn't I be saying that?" She chuckled. "After all, I am the one that is dying."
"But why do you want to go back?" Penelope asked quietly and calmly, befitting her personality. "There are so many bad memories there..."
Penny scoffed. "Lies. That was where we were most happy."
"Poor people do tend to be more happy." Jeffry began to laugh, her other children following suit.
She ignored them.
"So is that a yes or a no? I plan to leave tomorrow."
"In your condition?" Kiana's eyes widened in disbelief. "Mother..."
"Being there will help me divvy my assets." She lied to see a reaction, not at all surprised when they began to make the time to go with her. That was when she knew for sure that she had done the right thing with her money and possessions. The wealth would only destroy her more. They had made a plan to leave before the meal was done, and she wen to bed with a heart heavier than she had earlier, if that was possible. Though she stayed up late and thought of her will and what it would do to them. Would they hate her for leaving them nothing? Yes. Was it necessary? Also yes. It mattered not to her, for it was her will. Before she was gone she would teach them one more lesson, this one in controlling greed. Before she succumbed to her slumber, she felt her worries drift away.