ROYCE- “Listen to me Jack, go back home with your Grams tonight, and Uncle Seth and I will stay there with you, or even come back early in the morning. We will take care of everything. Are you going to be okay?”

JACKSON- “I don’t want to leave mom.”

ROYCE- “Jackson, there is nothing we can do now. We can see her in a couple days. Let us take you to Grams.”

JACKSON- “No... I don’t want to go there. Dad is there. I don’t want to see him. This all his fault.”

SETH- “Jack, this is no ones fault, bud. This was an accident. If you don’t want to go to Grams, that is fine. Do you want to go home, I can stay with you there tonight if you want?”

ROYCE- “I can as well.  Whatever you want, Jack.”

JACKSON- “I want to go stay with Uncle Seth.”

SETH- “Okay. that is fine.  You can stay as long as you want. Stay here right now with Royce and Grams while I go pull the car around.”

Jackson finally sat down, and then he just started sobbing. His heart was broken. If his dad wouldn’t have left, his mom wouldn’t have had to take on the second job. She would be safe at home right now. Uncle Seth is wrong, it was his fault. His thoughts were running all over the place, and he couldn’t hear his grandmother trying to comfort him.

LILA- “I just want to say Franklin that your eulogy was beautiful. Corrine would have loved what you said.”

JACKSON- “Yeah right, ....

LILA- “Jackson Albert Schrieber, just what does that mean?”

JACKSON- “It means she sees right through everyone’s words now.”

LILA- “Jackson, you apologize to your uncle---”

FRANKLIN- “That is quite alright, Miss Lila, Jack is hurting, my nephew went through similar issues when his mother died of cancer.”

ROYCE- “Jackson?  May I please speak to you in private??”

JACKSON- “What?”

ROYCE- “You need to change your attitude, young man. These people here LOVED your mother. They want to be here for you as well, but acting like an ass is not good for them OR YOU!”

JACKSON- “Please, this is all just a big joke to make everyone feel better, because they all feel guilty.  Where were these people when my dad left? Where were the phone calls when mom sat up at night crying because she didn’t know if she could afford to feed me the next week?”

ROYCE- “You have no idea, young man! Franklin sent her all the money to pay the deposit on the condo you and your mother lived in.  Your uncle Seth paid for two years lease.Who do you think paid your tuition to go to Brindleton Academy? That was shared by Franklin and your grandmother! So do not act like a victim in all this. These people have been here for you from the beginning and for your mother before that!”

JACKSON- “I had no idea.”

ROYCE- “Because your mother was too proud, and didn’t want you to feel like she wasn’t able to take care of you, properly. Now, you need to apologize to your uncle Franklin. And you are right, your mother CAN see right through everyone, including you!  She did not raise you to be this type of person, Jack. She would be greatly disappointed.”

JACKSON- “I am so sorry, Uncle Royce.”

ROYCE- “Now, go apologize to Franklin and your grandmother.”

generation one ~ episode three

New Beginnings

It’s been a few weeks and all the electrical and plumbing has been done and inspected and Seth and Mark have been doing some cleaning up.  Mostly landscaping, getting all the old brush, bushes and dead trees out of the yard. They have pained the foundation and put in new steps and today they are waiting to put in the new doors.

Royce stopped by for a visit, and to bring them some good news....

MARK- “Royce, so good to see you. If you come to help you may want to change out of that suit.”

ROYCE- “Can’t help in that way today, but I do have some good news, is Seth around?”

MARK- “Yeah he is in the kitchen, come on in...”

SETH- “Mark said you had some good news?  What’s up?”

ROYCE- “It is better than good news. I talked to the Brindleton Community Counsel last night and they voted unanimously to set this home and property as a historical landmark.”

SETH- “Okay, so what does that mean to us?”

ROYCE- “First of all, being named as a historical landmark insures that the home can never be demolished, and it sets aside 50,000 simoleons towards it’s current restoration. They will write a check to you and Mark this week. But you have to put it into a trust for the house to help with restoration and upkeep.”

MARK- “Wow, that is great!”

ROYCE- “And that is not all.  as long as you or your heirs live in this home, and continue to keep it up, all property tax will be paid by the Brindleton Historical Society!”

SETH- “WOW!!!  That is awesome. Thanks for putting all of that into motion, Royce.  Once we are finished, you and Franklin have to come out for a celebration dinner.”

ROYCE- “Definitely. I told Franklin what you guys are doing and he would love to see it.  He even mentioned he may look into buy that old place out on the Lighthouse Island and turn it into a bed and breakfast.”

MARK- “Cool, then you would be like our neighbors!!”

SETH- “That old place is nice, but it needs work too. If he decides to do that, let us know, we’d be glad to help!”

ROYCE- “I will certainly let him know. Well, I have to go show another house today, so I have to go, but I wanted to stop by and tell you the exciting news.”

LILA- “Jackson, listen to me, you don’t need to get upset, okay...”

JACKSON- “Why would I? What is wrong Grams!?”

LILA- “Honey, that was Sheriff Smythe, apparently your mother had a car accident on her way to work out on Old Mill Highway, she---”

JACKSON- “WHAT!?  Is she Okay!? Grams!?”

LILA- “He didn’t say the extent of her injuries, but they care flighted her to Windenburg Medical. He said the accident was pretty bad. We need to get to the hospital.  I will call Seth, he can take us.”

JACKSON- “Grams???”

LILA- “What baby?”

JACKSON- “Is Mom going to be okay?  Please tell me she is going to be okay.”

LILA- “Sweetheart, I don’t---- We will know more once we get to the hospital. Please let me call Seth so he can take us.  It’s almost two hours to Windenburg Medical. We need to hurry.”

Jackson broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. Lila tried to comfort him, but nothing calmed him down. Enoch tried and Jackson screamed at him to get out of his face. It seemed like forever before Seth got there to take them to the hospital.

They finally arrived at the hospital. Seth called Royce, Corrine’s brother and he met them there as well. As they had just sat down, a doctor came out and asked for Jackson.

JACKSON- “I am Jackson Schrieber, how is my mom?”

DR. BANKS- “Jackson, I had no idea you were so young, but I am Dr. Saul Banks, I was the surgeon on your mother.”

JACKSON- “Surgeon?  She had to have surgery?!”

DR. BANKS- “Unfortunately, yes. She had extensive damage to her legs, but the major concern was there were internal injuries that was causing her to loose a lot of blood.  So we had to do emergency surgery to find out where she was bleeding and get it stopped before--- Well.”

JACKSON- “Did you fix it. Did She stop bleeding?  When can I see her!?”

DR. BANKS- “This is your family I assume?”

MARK- “Wow, this area is huge, and the original floors! It is beautiful in here.”

SETH- “How can you see anything with those sunglasses on?  All I see is a lot of work to even be able to move in.”

ROYCE- “But you can make it your own. It would make a beautiful family home.”

MARK- “He is right, Seth.  And it is away from town, it has it’s own private drive and gate...”

ROYCE- “Come on out back, and look at the view and the property.”

MARK- “So with the renovation loan, are there specifics that you need to follow in regards to what you can use it for?”

ROYCE- “Not really, just restoration.  Of course you couldn’t tear it down and build a new home but----”

SETH- “Mark.... do you see that?.... Mark??”

MARK- “What?”

Both Mark and Ian have moved into the Schrieber home. Mark loves it. Ian not so much. Seth’s mother has put her home on the market and decided to move in with Corrine and help with Jackson. Seth’s job at the clinic is going well, and will soon be taking over the running of it. Mark has six more weeks before graduation and is eager to start looking for a job in his field of psychology. He and Seth have been looking for houses in Brindeton Bay with very little success, which Ian is pleased with. He knows once they buy their own home, he will put out on the street...

ROYCE- “This one just came on the market, so you two will be the first to see it. I know it’s in town and you guys wanted something a little more in the coutry, but I think you will like it.”

SETH- “It’s right across the street from where I grew up Royce.”

ROYCE- “Come on, just look at it. Give it a chance.”

MARK- “It’s nice from the outside, Seth. We should look. I know you wanted to go out of town, but this has plenty of room and---

SETH- “Okay, we will look.”

10 minutes later, they were back in front of the house...

MARK- “It’s move in ready, Seth.”

SETH- “Yeah, with the average run of the mill renovations, cheaply put in place to sell quickly. They removed all the character from the house. If I wanted to stay in town I would just buy mother’s home.”

MARK- “There is honestly not much to choose from here. We have seen almost every available home for sale in the area.”

ROYCE- “Well, there is one... I haven’t shown it to you because it has been empty for quite a while. A lot of work is needed to even make it habitable. But it is further out.  I just didn’t know if it was something you would want to invest in.”

DR. BANKS- “Like I was saying, your mother had a lot of internal injuries and she was losing a lot of blood. The medic on the helicopter did all they could until she got here, and we were prepared for her when she arrived and we rushed her into surgery. When we opened her up, the injuries were even more than we first thought. Bottom line, we got the blood stopped, but as we were closing her she coded on us. We did all we could, son, but it was just too much.  I am sorry but your mother passed.”

Jackson heard the words, and as the doctor continued to talk, his voice faded from Jackson's consciousness and all he heard was “your mother passed”. The pain and the hurt was so much that Jackson, couldn’t even speak. He just stood there in a daze.  In shock. He couldn’t say anything.  Both Seth and Royce ran to him.

As they drove up to the gate, Seth knew this house. It was the old Hawthorne place. Isaac Hawthorne built this house when he moved to Brindleton back around 1920. His family lived here for two or three generations, the last being Daniel Hawthorn who was only twenty-nine when he went out to the bay for a morning fishing expedition and was never seen again. He was a bachelor and had no heirs or family left and the house remained vacant. In High School Seth and his friends would climb the gate and hang out. Getting drunk and smoking some weed. He was never in the house itself though.

MARK- “Wow, this place is old, how long has it been empty??”

ROYCE- “Sometime back in the early 1970′s, the county got the property when Daniel Hawthorne, the owner at the time died. They were going to renovate it into a hotel and resort, but never could get votes for the funding. They turned it over to sell about eight years ago.”

SETH- “We used to hang out up here in High School.”

ROYCE- “It needs a lot of work, but you can get a Renovation Loan, and save some taxes on it. Plus the county wants it out of their hands. So they are asking very little for it.  Mainly the land worth. So, interested in seeing inside?”

SETH / MARK - “SURE!”

MARK- “So structurally, is this place safe?”

ROYCE- “Yes the foundation is good, as well and the main structure. Now some of the flooring upstairs needs repair and a lot of paint and a good cleaning. You would probably want to put in new bathroom fixtures and maybe have the plumbing and electrical looked at, but yes, structurally sound.”

SETH- “So just what are they asking for it?”

ROYCE- “$150, that is what the land is worth, or that is it’s appraised value. But like I said you could get a renovation loan up to double that amount to restore it.”

MARK- “That is cheap, so why hasn’t it sold??”

ROYCE- “Just old stories, Seth has probably heard them. They say that Daniel Hawthorne haunts this place.”

SETH- “I spent a lot of time here back in High School, we never heard or saw anything. I don’t believe in that shit anyway.”