Morning all. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I mostly did chores and tried to stay out of the heat. I read and recharged. Now I am ready to face the week. How about you? Well I suppose ready is irrelevant a it is starting regardless, but as I usually don’t feel ready, it is kind of nice. So let’s jump into the morning prompt.
Okay I may have felt ready, but my brain kinda spun a little bit on the prompt. I like the idea of Steve’s position a a jump off for the story, I just don’t quite know what the story is yet.
Monday, July 8th: He was a generous man.
He was a generous man. No one doubted that. Steve knew well that His grandfather was quite generous. To a point. He had no problem with extravagant gifts, with praise or even loans when it was necessary. As long as you followed his orders.
His grandfather wanted his world ordered a certain way. If you complied then his generosity knew no bounds. If you defied him it was a different story. He took it as a personal slight and Jeffrey Ellison never forgot a personal slight.
Steve looked at the papers before him. His grandfather had plans for him. Steve could flip through the pages and see exactly what those plans were. His university was chosen and the application sent. Steve remembered filling out the required paperwork. He wondered briefly what would happen if the university decided not to accept him. He had good grades, and loads of volunteer work. He wrote a decent essay, but thee wa always the chance that someone else was more appealing.
The thought soon flitted away. The university his grandfather chose knew how generous he was. No doubt they also knew that he would never forgive or forget a slight. ‘I doubted one application was worth the risk,’ he thought. It would have bothered him more if he thought he couldn’t get in on his own merits. However, the other universities he applied to also sent him acceptance letters. Steve knew that as his grandfather had chosen the university, he wanted Steve to attend, he wouldn’t be offering assistance with those acceptance letters.
Steve didn’t mind the course that was plotted for him. In reality, he liked the university chosen and the field his grandfather decided would serve as his course of study was one he was interested in pursuing. His grandfather chose what he would have probably chosen. The problem was that Steve had not been asked.
He could choose to think that his grandfather was helping him along a course that he preferred because he knew this was what Steve wanted. He knew it wasn’t true. His grandfather decided that this was what was best for the company. What Steve wanted was irrelevant.
Steve flipped through the pages. ‘It is what I want,’ he thought. Somehow simply going along with it made him cringe from the course. He wanted this course of study but he had no intentions of staying with the family company. He ha plans of his own, plans his grandfather would not approve of should he hear of them.
Steve snorted. If his grandfather heard of his plans the old man would simply wave a had in the air a though wafting away smoke. There might be a comment about the ridiculous notion but that would be all. There would be no thought that Steve wouldn’t do ahis grandfather wanted.
‘If I accept this is the way things are,’ Steve thought. ‘I would have several years to figure out how to avoid the family company post-graduation.’ If he accepted now, he could rebel later. ‘I’m not accepting this forever.’
Ten til Midnight 