Henry James Faulkner was a bright 10 years old boy, with curly golden locks that danced when he moved and sparkly unwavering blue eyes. He lived together with his parents in the rich part of the town. His father was always working or tired and his mother was either shopping or with the neighboring ladies at tea parties, so normally he was left to play alone. That day in case, he was sitting in the toy room, with an angry maid looking after him.
- I don’t know how you did this! – said the maid without looking at the boy as she fixed his brand new coat. A wide rip on the shoulder, just above the beginning of the sleeve, left the white lining to be seen.
Henry said nothing. He kept on constructing a colorful tower of blocks and so did the maid with her pouting:
- Luckily your mother didn’t see it, she’d lose it! What a waste, she had just bought this fine coat and it is already ripped!! Your parents bought it especially for you when they went to the eastern country last week.
Yeah, thought the young boy, when they left me here with you and went to the most amazing places. It’s not that Henry didn’t like the maid, it is just that she was too strict and boring to play with and he wanted to see the eastern wonders so much that the time his parents stayed there he would dream every night about it and after they came back nobody would talk about anything else for the whole week, only making him more grumpy.
- Ouch – said the maid, holding her pricked finger, she stopped talking to focus on her sewing.
The boy felt bad about it, he didn’t do it on purpose, that morning he decided to wear the new eastern style coat and go exploring the garden, pretending he was at the eastern humid and exotic jungles, with all its beasts and poisonous plants. He got carried away and while dodging a jumping tiger, he ended up ripping his sleeve on a sharp tree branch.
Henry looked through the toy room’s window and saw the beautiful day outside, with a long sigh he added another piece to the tower, which caused it to crumble down.
He looked at the maid and waited, as she finished her work. She lifted the coat in front of her inspecting proudly her perfectly hidden sewing. She folded the clothing neatly and started stashing the materials back into the sewing kit. The boy sat still staring at her, so the maid turned to him and asked:
- What’s the matter little sir?
- Can I go back outside to play?
He asked with a strong gaze in his bright eyes and a firm voice, the maid was always surprised by Henry’s strong will and stubbornness, she sighed before answering:
- Oh Henry! You know how your parents feel about that… Why don’t you start behaving like every young boy your age and study hard to follow your father’s path? As his only heir, you are to take over his work in the future. You don’t know how lucky you are!
Henry James knew he was lucky, everybody kept repeating that to him, he just couldn’t understand why. Every time he saw his dad working it didn’t seem nice at all, just sitting behind a desk all day, playing with numbers and checking papers. Henry hated numbers. He had a free mind that travelled far. He craved for the unknown, for the different, always looking for something new, something thrilling. He wanted to see the world, he couldn’t simply stay behind a desk all day, he couldn’t and he wouldn’t and that was the day, Henry James Faulkner decided he wasn’t like every young boy.
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