A hard working business man loses everything, including his sanity, when his wife leaves him, taking off and giving up on him completely only for him to have a unexpected surprise when he goes back home.

A short story about a man who is blinded by financial prosperity.

“Yes I'm fine.”

“How are you?”

“No, you first.”

“Soon why? “

“What do you mean you can't do this?”

“Hello?”

The phone hung up...The eerie sound of the dial done echoed though the speaker. Sat, in an deserted waiting room. Blank: white walls; white, cold chairs, and a white, blank expression on his face. The business man didn't move a muscle, not even the sounds of the odd airplane, or two, departing was enough to phase him. Planes took off, with families on-board, whom where destined towards home...To an affectionate place.

The airport announcements were less frequent as the night soon rose into a never ending, pitch-dark abyss. Activity lessened and only made the man feel more and more abandoned. Enormous glass windows presented the empty runways: lights turned off; nothing arriving on them, nor departing, and behind them, a void of nothingness lay there. The business man was simply withdrawn.. Dimly lit lights scattered the sleepy airport whilst the man, was attentive. Shutters on kiosks: bolted down. The airport floors: bare. The business man's heart...empty.

“I'll be home soon. I'm on the last flight. No no no I'll be home. Please don't do this. I love you. I do, I swear! Come back...”

Auditory hallucinations of that dial tone possessed the man's mind. His location emulated exactly how he felt: solitary, desolate, isolated. Dressed, in the most presentable uniform on the planet, his work often required him to look slick and be away from home for very long periods. This, had dire consequences on the one he adored... The one that he still does adore. He sprouted from scrounging on very little money to throwing an obscene amount of money towards: cars, private jets and luxury houses/apartments; money was of no trouble to him...However, none of this mattered now. “They can have it all” he thought. “All of it”

A single scream, shrill enough to shatter every shard of glass in the airport, rattle in the panes in their frames, as a fair haired women appeared to pounce on another happy, and yet smarty dressed man. He looked successful; the type of people you expect to see on TV (the millionaires more often or not) Behind the brittle, metallic gate, the security guards who are meant to be the most strict of all the staff in the airport, managed to beam at this truly heart warming moment. The woman's arms didn't move an inch as they were enveloped around the head of someone who was most likely her lover. The man looked at the other man, and the apparent lover whom clung onto him. “That should be me “ he thought. “What's so different between him and I?”

“You can't leave”

“I'll be home please don't go”

“You can't do that. I love her just as much as you”

“Please don't do this”

“Well she's mine”

“You can't do that”

“Please, don't do this”

The dial tone still bellowed through his head. That was the sound of the end; not just an end of a call, but the end of something, that was meaningful, something that was loving. That tone, still buzzed through his head although it seemed to real now. What was it that kept doing this to him? Who was performing this mental torture?

As it turned out: the announcement system.

“Flight AL23 is now ready to be boarded and will depart in thirty minutes” followed by a smaller tone that was less horrifying than the first. The business man clutched his brief case and his blazer, and prepared for the short flight ahead.

Staring out the taxi window into the dark night, every street light seemed to illuminate the car, but not the man as a never ending cloud of darkness was cast over him. Every house he went past seemed to upset him more and more. Snow littered front gardens, large windows exposed living rooms with Christmas trees, candles, fancy lights, and excited children, running around, excited, waiting for the big day. Families sat around the open amber fire that lit the room. Warm and secure, not just from the fire, but in each other's company.

The business man scrambled to get out the taxi, rapidly handing the driver fifty pounds and ran for the the door. “Merry Christmas” the taxi driver shouted as he screeched off into the darkness of the night. The business man glanced up, all the lights were off apart from one glowing patch on the back of the heavy, closed curtains in the living room. “She didn't go, they're still here” he whispered with a slight whimper as his solid gloves managed to insert the key into the lock and turn it.

She had gone. Moved. Quit. Passed. Given up. No coats, no bags, nothing of hers. The business man's eyes started to fill with tears of despair and heart break. From being with her from the start; from the time he was poor and had nothing to the whole family now living in prosperity, the burning question still remained in his head: how could she just go?

Giving up all hope of ever getting her back, his body went cold and started to sink. Unaware of what was causing the mysterious light behind the living room curtains. The door, blinded the man from the truth, the truth that would confirm the worst of his fears, but would also stop one of his feats. The door creaked open slowly, letting light leak through the rifts that were being created. He, the business man, almost fell through it...He was taken aback, swallowed in a world of joy and disbelief to find not his wife, but his 4 year old daughter instead. Relaxed, right in front of the open fire.

Fire, so caring and protective. It used its rays to keep her safe and warm. Gold light branched out to every angle of her body, only confirming how innocent and helpless she was in a situation that was mostly, the business man's fault. Looking around, bewildered and confused, he noticed that everything of hers was gone. His wife, the one he adored, stuck to her word when she hung up: she couldn't take it.

The business man fell to the floor and wrapped his arms around his princess, and simply whispered “Everything's going to be okay” He hugged his daughter like never before; the reality of it all started to hit him. Money, work, possessions; all got to his head, as if they were drugs, that had intoxicated and completely changed his mindset. The tears fell off his face like stones, and only hit the ground harder. Nothing mattered any more apart from this.

His daughter not having a clue how much this hug mattered to him, push him away from the hug and presented him with a crayon drawing. On the left was the business man: not in a suit; not working; not spending all his money and time on meaningless things; not arguing with his wife; not having to explain to his daughter why he could come home to tuck her into bed. This business man: he was in shorts, on the beach holding hands with his daughter on the right. The drawing was hard to decipher at first but once all the weird shapes and circles had been figured out, it all made sense. They both looked happy. They both looked relaxed. They both looked, loved.

The business man gently pulled the drawing off his princess and examined it closely, trying to not let the tears fall off onto the precious drawing that revealed the truth in front of his eyes. The little girl...His daughter, pointed to the drawing of the father (not the business man any more) and simply said,

“Daddy, look”

Of course, this isn't 2,500 words as expected, but it's a short story that means a lot.