A Short Story

The old man doesn't get out much any more. Three or four times a year he is able to travel to a destination as far as 125 miles from home and may stop at places along the way. He was excited to learn that the younger man, whom he hadn't seen for two years, may have been planning a cross-country trip to visit in his sphere of availability. His itinerary was unspecified, but the old man estimated that he might see him mid-week. It was going to be a wonderful moment.

The younger man came to visit his sister, who had recently had major surgery. He arrived earlier than the old man had expected, on Sunday, to learn she was doing well and would be going to work on Tuesday. The young man repaired to a nearby friend's house. Meanwhile, the old man was waiting to hear of the mid-week contact he had been anticipating.

After work on Tuesday, his sister stopped by for another brief moment with the younger man, and learned that he was too busy with his friends to visit with the old man. Mid-week, he apparently boarded a train to return to his distant home, and the old man might have cried if he had allowed himself to.