A selfish son locked his mother at home for a month. When he returned, he was shocked by the sight that awaited him.
Olive was a single mother who had one child with her husband Jack before he passed away due to an accident. She raised their son John on her own and, because she didn’t want him to feel the absence of a father, tried her best to satisfy him with all his desires.
She doted on him too much and he grew up to become a spoiled and selfish man who could not survive without his mother’s help. At 30, John still lived with her even though he had his own business and could afford to get his own place.
Olive did not have much going for her. She was 60 and had retired from her work as a teacher, after which she picked up a hobby to keep herself busy. She loved to cook, and to her, the kitchen was a fantastic place where she could whip up anything she set her mind to.
Her favorite things to make were apple pies, and her son loved them immensely. Sometimes he would refuse to leave the house for work unless she packed him some slices of apple pie.
Olive would invite her old friends over for tea and pie on Sundays, but they never stayed long, and she would often feel lonely after their departure. An introvert, her social life was virtually non–existent which meant she hardly ever left her house.
Her son acted like her window to the world, bringing her fresh news and gossip of what was happening around their country and the world. Of course, she could turn on the TV; however, watching it was not encouraging at her age.
To any outsider, it seemed Olive only lived for her child. She made him breakfast before he left for work as well as dinner after he returned. He enjoyed the dishes and saw them as his birthright over time, which made him bristle whenever he saw her cook for other people.
Sometimes he would even try to convince her to abolish her Sunday ritual of inviting friends over and serving them her delicacies. One day it led to a mild argument.
Mom, you’re always so tired after you host your friends,” he said disapprovingly. “You know you still have to make me dinner when they leave but you tire yourself out attending to them and I do not fancy it.”
“Son, you know how lonely it gets around here,” she told him. “Without their occasional company, I would be totally alone.”
“No you won’t, Mom, you have me, after all,” he shot back. “Or do I not count as worthy company?”
“You shouldn’t say things like that John. You know how much I cherish spending time with you.”
Then stop the mini tea parties!” he said, raising his voice. “I’m sorry son, but it’s not up to you to decide what I can or can’t do.”
The statement infuriated John, so he left her, but that was not the end of it. One day, a 65-year-old man named Clint moved into the house next to Olive’s. He was a handsome man who noticed Olive when she baked him cookies to welcome him to the neighborhood.
They gradually got to talking, and as time passed, the two started to fall in love. Clint loved Olive for her big heart, while she couldn’t help but notice how witty he was. They spent all their time together, which made John jealous.
He got even more envious when his mother started making dishes for Clint, who always praised her for it. One evening, John returned from work to find the house empty
A foray into the kitchen revealed a note taped to the fridge. “Hey sweetie, I stepped out for a date with Clint and will not be returning until later tonight. There are leftovers in the fridge you can warm up, xoxo.”
John was consumed with rage. He could not recall when last he had to have leftovers. Clint was crossing his boundaries, and John decided to do something about it.
When Olive returned, John warned her to stay away from Clint and forbade her from leaving the house again. He was to leave for a conference the next day, so he got custom locks and locked his mother in to prevent her from meeting Clint.
The conference ran for two weeks but John was gone for a month to catch up on meetings, and Olive felt very lonely during those days. She missed her son and Clint. The man was relentless, and even though they could not meet up, he visited her every day, and they spoke through the window.
But one day, they were in the middle of a conversation when Olive collapsed and lost consciousness. Clint was worried, so he quickly called 911. They burst into the locked house and saved her life.
When John returned, the sight he met drove fear into his immature heart. The gate was ajar; he was sure he had locked it. As he hurried towards the front door, he noticed it had been broken off its hinges, and he started to think about worst-case scenarios.
Mom?” he called out with a trembling voice as unwanted images flitted across his mind rapidly.
“Mom stop playing and come out,” he said even though he knew she was not there.
A search of the house yielded nothing, but he noticed many bootprints, which made him panic. He had been dialing 911 when he thought of Clint. With tears in his eyes, he ran over to the man’s house and started banging at his door, hoping the man had news of what had happened to his mom.
Just when he was about to give up, Clint’s other neighbor, Craig, came out to see who was making such noise. When he saw it was John, he frowned. Everyone knew what he had done to his mother, and they disapproved.
Craig eventually told John what had happened and gave him an earful that made him realize how selfish he had been. He was told Clint saved his mother’s life and was given the hospital address.
When he got there, he broke down in tears when he saw his mom hooked to an IV with Clint watching over her. He begged for forgiveness from the both of them, and they all lived happily ever after.
What did we learn from this story?
- Selfishness can ruin everything. John was a selfish man who did not want to lose his mother to Clint, making him take drastic steps that almost cost her life. His life would have been full of regret had she passed away in the state he left her, but thankfully, the man he despised saved her.
- Don’t spoil that child. Olive indulged every whim her child had right from birth, and he got so accustomed to having his way, he resorted to extreme measures when she stopped doting on him as much. They could have avoided all that happened if she had not pampered him too much.