The rejected son of Alfa

ael's departure

ffle of someone setting wood by the hearth, or the soft hum Kael had developed during work. The house felt large

ometimes just standing there in silence. Once, he said, "He's different, but

Tucked inside a brown envelope with

r Fa

your back completely. That small nod meant more than years of silence.

t the letters he had once refused to let his wife read. He'd kep

d ever

e first time i

-

onths

ghtly from age but still strong in motion. His neighbors noticed something different-he greeted them now. He helped repai

e and his wife had once used. When asked wh

rning, a cart roll

a

was not

of curiosity. And in her arms, a child-barely two years old-reache

straight t

him at

hen Alfa's eyes fell on the chil

l said softly. "My

ened th

alked

-

ter warmed the house like a long-lost flame. Lior, curious and wide-eyed, toddled from

stared at the boy, who stared back at

e this," Alfa muttere

afraid to love what y

ybe. But I want to

-

ons

to build, then to reconnect. Kael taught at the small village school, introducing the chil

em. He carried Lior on his shoulders. The village children g

ers Kael had written all those years, now carefully bound together by a strip o

" Alfa said. "The way I'm f

-

ew

, and before they could rise, Alfa entered the room. He held the boy, whis

fa's face he had never seen before-like a man who had

l asked, "Do you still

walked away first. When you needed love, I gave you fe

d n

back. Slowl

listening. "That's

-

l C

lers. New roads were carved. And at the center of it all, the house of A

is journal and began telling stories-real ones, of loss, of love, of mistak

the sun dipped low, Alf

man meant control. Power. Unbending will. I though

he only reached fo

son now than ever

e thick, "are finally the

and son sat in quiet unity-no longer separated by belief, pain, or f