Essay 2 Short Story

[DanielaD]

Daniela Debergue
November 7, 2009
Short Story
English 101, O'Connell

Patrick Wellington was living in a modest house with his mother and
three younger sisters when his father died. Grief-stricken and without
any other source of income, his mother struggled to make ends meet
with what money her husband had left behind from selling the crops
grown on the family farm. However, without a man to tend to the
backbreaking work of the farm, the crop fields slowly died and became
overgrown. Patrick, at sixteen years of age, found himself the man of
the house. Without a job and without the strength and energy to run
the farm on his own, he longed for the means to help his mother and
sisters survive. In this time of hardship, Patrick often took walks
through the forest that surrounded his house in order to gain some
peace from the sadness and loss that had become his home.
            One afternoon as he walked deep through the forest,
farther than he had ever gone, Patrick came upon an old well. He
thought it to be the only beautiful and serene sight he had laid eyes
on since the death of his father, and it filled him with a sense of
tranquility and inner peace. As he approached the well, Patrick became
increasingly anticipative. He walked faster through the green meadowy
grass that carpeted the ground of the forest and engulfed his brown
boots. A soft breeze caressed Patrick's cheeks as he peered over the
side of the well and sheer anticipation filled the very air
surrounding him. His eyes were met with crystal clear water that
reflected the sky and instead of a sun, a well full of golden coins
shone up at him. Patrick jumped back with a sudden gasp and and his
hands clamped down over his mouth. His heart was pounding a mile a
minute and he suddenly had the curious feeling that he was being
watched. He looked around frantically but his eyes were met only with
the serene stillness of the forest. Patrick became completely still as
he fully realized what he had just seen. Had it been real, or merely
his imagination? As he slowly leaned over the side of the well a
second time, he had no doubt that his life would never be the same. He
was a rich man. Patrick quickly checked his surroundings again, and
once he was sure that he was the only soul to be found, a grin broke
over his face and he howled triumph into the air, thrusting his hands
into the water to retrieve his treasure. However, upon touching the
water, Patrick felt an immense burning sensation and he cried out in
pain, immediately withdrawing his hands. He stepped back quickly, but
as soon as they left the water, the burning pain in his hands ceased.
Upon examination, there was no sign of damage. Patrick furrowed his
brow in confusion and curiously touched the tip of his finger to the
water. The same burning sensation shot through his finger and he
quickly pulled it back. Agitated, Patrick scooped up a stick from the
ground and dipped it into the water, but as it entered, the stick
merely disappeared. Patrick then experimented with a few other things
around him. A blade of grass, a rock, even an entire dead tree branch
simply disappeared into the clear water, despite the fact that it
couldn't have been more than a few inches deep. Patrick watched,
amazed, how half of a stick would disappear into the water, only to be
pulled out whole and completely dry. The gold coins could not be
touched.
Patrick took a step back, but his gaze could not be broken from the
huge fortune that appeared just inches from his reach. An immense,
violent longing took over and he slowly lowered himself to the ground.
Seated there so close to the well full of riches was enough to
alleviate the loss and destitution he had felt in the months since his
father's death. The well seemed to call to him. It seemed to radiate
successful and happy life. Patrick sat staring at the well for hours,
but as the sun began to leave the sky, he figured his mother would
worry and stood up to leave. He sighed and turned around, focusing his
gaze back in the direction of his home where he knew he had to find a
way to make things right again. As he walked away from the well,
Patrick's thoughts shifted and he began to think of the distance
between his house and the rest of the world. The sprawling landscape
cut he and his family off from everyone and everything. It was all he
had ever known. Now his father was dead and his mother and sisters
were going hungry. The farther he walked from the well, an
increasingly heavy sense of failure weighed on his heart and the more
he was sure that life had forsaken him. Then, Patrick looked back at
the well and suddenly all he felt was happiness again. His spirits
lifted so quickly he became almost lightheaded. The rush of utter joy
and bliss was like a magnet and he began walking back towards the
well. The closer he got, the happier he became, and as he sat once
more with his back against the well, he closed his eyes and felt as
though he were in a dream....
That night, as Patrick's mother sat up and waited for her son to come
home, she thought of her husband and how she would never see him
again. The house was dark and quiet and her daughters were asleep, so
while she waited, she decided to look through a box of old family
pictures that had been sitting unopened in her bedroom closet for
years. Pulling down on the overhead string in the closet that turned
on the light, she reached up and took down the box of photos. She sat
down on her bed, set the box on her lap, and opened it. The box was
full of money. She gasped and noticed a small piece of paper resting
atop the money. She opened it.
My Darling,
I've been saving up for a long time, but did not want to
burden you with the thought of loneliness. I know the
memories contained in this box will console, but I want them
to really mean everything.When the cancer is too much,
this should be enough.
I love you.

For the next few days, Patrick's mother would search for him, eager to
inform him of the fabulous news. For the next few days, her call would
be muffled by that of the old well full of golden coins and
unattainable riches.
When Patrick opened his eyes again, the morning sun was high in the
sky. He jumped up, disoriented, and looked around. His eyes fixed on
the well again and he looked over the edge expectantly. The gold coins
were still there. He bit his lip and cautiously reached his hand
toward the water, but when he touched it, the burning sensation once
again took over and forced him to pull back. Anxiously, Patrick paced
back and forth by the well and he finally decided that he would return
home to check on his mother and sisters before promptly returning back
to the well to figure out a way to reach his treasure. He turned and
began to walk home, but once again, the farther from the well he
walked, the more a sense of utter failure and sadness overcame him. At
a certain point he could walk no further and his body collapsed to the
ground in complete depression with no will to go on. He could
physically go no further. Patrick looked behind him and the well was
out of site. He crawled weakly back in the direction he had come, and,
as before, once the well was back in view, happiness washed over him
and he felt not a care in the world. He remembered his mother and
sisters at home, probably worried and hungry, and he tried once more
to lurch for home, but once the well was out of site, his body fell to
the ground again, unwilling to move, completely discouraged, and
entirely debilitated.
After days of unsuccessful retreats back to his house with
dehydration and starvation setting in, Patrick finally resorted to
simply sitting by the well and reveling in the well's emulating
happiness. He forgot about his family and slipped into the dreamworld
in which he owned all of the coins at the bottom of the well. Finally,
Patrick became a rich man and joined his treasure at the bottom of the
well, disappearing entirely.