The Legacy of Seán-A Father's Journey-3
The Legacy of Seán
A Father's Journey
Original Story by Sayantani Banerjee
Genre:- Fiction Story for Young Adults | Suitable for Age group: 18-25
Part 3
Chapter 1:- The Allens of Castlecove
When Seán entered the grand hall he found all the guests and members of the family had gone outside the house for a grand photo session. He peeped through the window of the hall and saw them standing in rows on the lawn. A few of his younger cousins merrily frolicked around the elders until they were scolded to hold the line. He could only see their backs, but he could still recognize each person from their distinctive silhouettes.
There was James Finnegan, the tallest among the lot, standing on the extreme left of the last row. He was Seán’s maternal uncle and Caitlin’s only brother from the great Finnegans of Killarney. His wife Fionna stood beside him and their only son Brian was probably standing in the front row for he was only seven. On their right there were two other brothers of Patrick Allen with their spouses: Connor Allen and Oscar Allen and their wives Erin and Bridget. Three-year-old Eilís, Conner and Erin’s daughter and five-year-old Liam, Oscar and Bridget’s son stood in the front row. Seán’s paternal aunts Rosaleen and her husband George Murray proudly stood with their two grown-up sons David and Brady on either of their sides.
There were two more families present there. They were the distant cousins of the Allen family. Hugh and Nora Brennan had come all the way from the States with their three little kids, ten-year-old Finn, seven-year-old Sarah, and three-year-old Norah to grace the party.
While the Brennans were more close to the main family, the other one, from England, was more distant. The Cunningham family had always kept themselves away from Allenteagh. Archibald and Sarah Cunningham seldom graced any party with their daughter Jane Margaret after a feud over the distribution of family wealth compelled them to sever ties with their ancestors. The Allens particularly avoided any confrontation with the Cunninghams, considering Archibald and his father’s proven shrewdness that caused a substantial drainage in the family fortune. But then the Allens were the most generous lot, that was what they always tried to prove, and the most welcoming one too, provided you abide by their family rules while present at the ancestral home.
And now that they were all there for the photo session, eighteen of them stood in a tightly knit group, all smiling at the camera in front of them. The photographer adjusted the settings of his memory catcher and asked everyone to stand still. As all stood like a bunch of grinning statues, their reflections poised to be captured by the silver halide crystals on the plastic-coated film, Patrick Allen’s loud booming voice cut through the air.
"Hold on a second. Where's Seán?" he asked. He had noticed his second son missing from the group.
By that time, Seán had left the grand hall and was heading straight for the barn again, convinced he had cleverly avoided the confrontation by simply not being present. But just as he was about to disappear into the safety of the shadows of his chosen recluse, a firm hand gripped his neck, halting his escape. Seán froze in place, his heart pounding in his chest, as he turned to face his elder brother Shane, a stern look in his eyes.
"Where do you think you're going, little brother?" Shane's voice rumbled like distant thunder. Under his father’s order he had left his usual spot amongst the family members in the gathering and was searching for his brother. Like Shaw, he too knew where to find Seán whenever he was absent from any social gathering.
Caught red-handed, Seán felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he stammered out a feeble excuse. Shane paid no heed to his futile protests. With a firm grip, he tucked his brother under his arm and dragged him towards the lawn where the family members were impatiently waiting. It was quite a sight to behold: Shane trying to make Seán stand among the gathering, while Seán desperately struggled to escape his clutches, throwing his hands and legs in every precarious manner he could find, resulting in a hilarious scuffle between the two.
The elders shook their heads in disappointment, their traditional values clashing with the antics of the defiant youth. Meanwhile, the youngsters, doubled over with mirth as they witnessed the comical spectacle unfolding before them. Unable to contain their amusement, they held their stomachs and their laughter echoed across the lawn like a chorus of mocking taunts.
With one final jostle Shane made his brother stand beside him. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Seán resigned himself to his fate as the camera flashed, capturing the moment for eternity.
As soon as the photo session was over Seán was nowhere to be seen. The stinging insult to Seán's already wounded pride needed no further reminder, driving him to seek solace in solitude, this time away from Allenteagh. He went to the barn, took his pony and sneaked out of the house.
He rode to the beach and sat there in a secluded part for contemplation. As he gazed out at the horizon, Seán couldn't shake the feeling of being suffocated by his family's expectations. From a young age, he had always felt the weight of their gaze upon him, their hopes and dreams for his future looming large and seemingly unattainable. Seán couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't just be left alone to carve out his own path in life. Did he really have to conform to their ideals and expectations, to fit into the mould they had crafted for him? It felt like an unfair burden, a pressure he struggled to bear.
And then there were his brothers and cousins, with their relentless teasing and mocking of his quirks and eccentricities. They couldn't seem to comprehend his unique perspective on the world, his penchant for solitude and contemplation. Instead, they saw him as strange, an outsider in their tight-knit clan, destined to be the butt of their jokes and the object of their ridicule.
All these thoughts and more swirled through Seán's mind as he sat alone on the beach, the gentle lull of the waves offering little solace to his troubled soul. In that moment, he longed for nothing more than the freedom to be himself, to break free from the chains of expectation and forge his own path, wherever it may lead.
The riddled boy sat on the sandy beach for about three hours. It was already noon and his stomach grumbled in protest against the ache of hunger. Meanwhile, his family members indulged in a hearty meal at Allenteagh. The family ignored Seán, assuming he was in his room or the barn, avoiding confrontation as he often did. They thought that when hunger eventually struck, he would find his own way to the kitchen. Nobody bothered to check on him; to them, he was just an eccentric fool who would reappear when he needed something.
As time passed, the pangs of hunger intensified, gnawing at Seán's stomach with increasing urgency. He felt inside his pocket and found nothing.
"Great! Now I have no quid to buy even a lolly," he muttered to himself.
It was true. Seán hardly had any cash in his pocket. He had a habit of stashing his pocket money under his bed pillow or in easily accessible places, making it easy for his brother Shaw to help himself to it. As a result, Seán was often left with nothing but worthless pennies.
Let us leave Seán to his contemplation and shift our focus to the Allenteagh household. The feast had drawn to a close, and once again, all the elders of the family had reconvened in the great hall for another round of discussions on familial matters. They delved into topics ranging from old-tales of their gallantry to business affairs and expenditures to the future endeavours of their children.
As the older members of the family boasted about their own accomplishments and intricacies of their discussions, the younger generation gathered in the boy’s room belonging to Shaw and Seán. There, away from the weighty deliberations of their elders, they engaged in more lighthearted and gleeful conversations mostly revolving around the comedic spectacle of Seán's accidental nudity earlier that day.
"Did you see Seán's face when his towel got pulled off?" Shaw exclaimed, unable to contain his laughter.
"You should have seen him standing like a dolt in front of Uncle Patrick with his love rod bobbing with enthusiasm!" Finn snorted.
Others joined in, clutching their stomachs tightly to contain the waves of laughter threatening to erupt. While Shaw and Finn were the culprits behind the mischief that caused trouble for Seán in the morning, the younger ones were those peeking through the door, eager spectators to the comedic chaos unfolding before them.
"I nearly burst with laughter when I saw him scrambling to cover himself with his bare hands!" Brian chimed in.
The room again erupted with laughter, each of them recalling the scene with vivid detail and relishing in the shared hilarity of the moment.
"I wonder how he managed to get himself into such a predicament every time," mused Finn, wiping away tears of laughter.
Twelve-year-old Jane Margaret silently observed the mirthful group from the corner of her eyes. She typically refrained from commenting on anything involving Seán. When the others had exhausted their amusement at Seán's expense, she quietly slipped out of the room, unnoticed by the raucous crowd.
She first went to Hannah, inquiring about Seán's whereabouts, and learned that he had gone out with his pony. Jane quickly understood the sentimental boy must have felt hurt when her younger siblings and cousins played that dirty trick on him. She at once devised a plan to bring the boy back home.
Seán was fast asleep lying on the sandy lair when Jane Margaret found him and his pony on the beach. She gave a soft nudge on his shoulder. The boy woke up with a start and turned around to see Jane sitting beside him.
"What's up? Still angry with us?" asked Jane.
"And why should I be?" replied Seán in a mocking tone, rubbing his eyes.
"Then why are you here instead of being at home?" Jane asked again. "You missed lunch." she added.
Seán groaned. Yes, he missed it and he was hungry. Yet he was unwilling to go back.
"I don't wanna go back home," Seán said.
"Where are you gonna stay then? Here, on the beach?"
"Yes."
"And what are you gonna eat? Sea shells and starfishes?"
Seán did not reply. He sat there with reddened cheeks and pouty lips.
Jane placed her hands on Seán’s shoulder. "You're hungry," she said.
"I'm not," Seán denied her claim.
"I can see that," Jane said again.
"No, you cannot,"
"Then why are you rubbing your belly?" Seán was gingerly patting his tummy to pacify his growling stomach. Jane noticed that. She knew Seán had a habit of abstaining himself from food if he was upset. And that caused a lot of trouble in the past. He fell sick and had to be hospitalised twice.
"Seán if you go on revolting every time you face something that you don’t like, you’ll never survive in this world," Jane tried to reason with him.
"What’s the point?"
"What do you mean? Whenever we have a family get-together I see you behave like this. You get angry with the little ones and throw tantrums and then go out of house or lock yourself up in your room and go for a hunger strike," Jane got exasperated.
"I can’t help!" Seán cried in desperation. He started reasoning with his cousin about the matters he didn’t like.
"I know what happened to you in the morning. They were talking about it."
Seán felt embarrassed.
"Look brother, if you want them to stop whatever they are doing to you, you have to face them boldly and tactfully…not just flee from the scene and hide to maintain your dignity."
"You sound like my mother, always giving advice," Seán groaned again.
Jane sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "You can't reason with a rock," she thought, feeling the weight of her brother's stubborn pessimism. Seán's mind was a fortress of negativity, walls built high with past hurts and misunderstandings. Despite her empathy, Jane knew that trying to change his outlook was like trying to move a mountain. She felt a pang of sadness, wishing he could see the world with a bit more light, but understanding that his defences were not easily breached.
But Jane was not one to give up easily. She believed in the power of small gestures, of moments of connection that could bridge even the widest chasms. So, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a large chocolate bar, knowing Seán's weakness for sweets.
With a mischievous grin, she swerved in front of Seán's nose, the chocolate bar dangling tantalisingly in front of him. "Still not hungry?" she asked, her voice tinged with playful innocence.
Seán's gaze flickered from the chocolate to his sister's eyes, a hint of suspicion clouding his expression. But then, as if unable to resist the temptation any longer, he snatched the bar from her hand, tore open the wrapper with eager fingers and started to devour it like a hungry lion.
Jane smiled, her heart warming at the sight of her brother indulging in the simple pleasure of chocolate. In that moment, she knew that she had reached him, if only for a brief respite from his own thoughts.
As dusk settled over the countryside of Castlecove, casting a warm golden glow over the landscape, Jane and Seán mounted their ponies and began the leisurely ride back home. Jane had successfully managed to convince Seán that it was safe to return to Allenteagh. Despite Seán's initial reluctance, Jane's reassurances had eventually won him over. She had reminded him that by dusk, the other kids would have likely forgotten all about the morning's towel incident, their attention drawn to other, more fleeting matters.
Name: Sayantani Banerjee
Sayantani Banerjee is by profession a digital marketer and guest blogger and loves to write on various subjects like fashion, lifestyle, digital marketing, psychology, personal development, etc. She writes in Bengali and English language.
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