Forgiveness

As John glanced at the vase in the dusty corner of his mother’s room, a wave of nostalgia swept over him, reminding him of the time he asked for forgiveness...

Before leaving, Mother reminded them to stay safe while she ran errands. Mother hollered across the house at John and his brother, Jim. The television flickered with “Peppa Pig”, the same nondescript show John and Jim had been watching for weeks. Restless, Jim suggested a game of passing the football. John thought his idea was outrageous, but, after seeing how enthusiastic his brother was, he gave in. Unbeknownst to John, this decision was about to change his life for the better...

Soon, they began, but passing the ball soon seemed mundane. They edged the chairs aside, turning the narrow living room into a tiny pitch. At first, John laughed when Jim pretended to be a famous striker, yet their friendly game quickly became a fierce one-against-one contest. John lunged for the rolling blue ball, kicked wildly, and watched it fly towards the cabinet. Then came the crash.

“Bang!” Mother’s favourite glass vase shattered into a million pieces.

John was snapped out of his reverie. He did not expect to miskick the ball. A thousand worst-case scenarios sprinted through John’s mind. The vase had been Mother’s pride, and he remembered her polishing it carefully every Sunday. With his hands trembling, John took a broom and meticulously swept the sparkling glass into a corner before disposing of it. Jim hovered nearby, white-faced and silent, while John stared at the empty space on the cabinet.

At that precise moment, “Ding! Dong!” the doorbell rang. Mother was back home. Apprehension grappled John’s heart as beads of anxiousness trickled down John’s forehead like bullets. Mother, with her sharp eyes, immediately noticed the missing vase. “Where is my vase?” she said with a rasping voice.

Both John and Jim kept quiet, knowing that they had done wrong by playing football indoors and not wanting to suffer the wrath of Mother’s fury. Then Mother’s eyes turned towards the pristine blue ball. Her voice became assertive as she demanded an explanation, obviously exasperated.

“I’m sorry,” John whispered, lowering his eyes and twisting the hem of his shirt. “I was the one who broke the vase when I was playing football indoors.” He admitted the truth, knowing he had to face the music one way or another.

Jim could not bear to see his brother suffer the consequences when he had suggested the game. With a knotted feeling in his stomach, he stepped forward and asked Mother to forgive him too. Mother’s face remained cold, although she could see that her two boys were ashamed. She told them that they would have to earn her forgiveness before she turned away and walked into her room.

Over subsequent days, Mother scarcely spoke to the two boys, and the silence at home felt heavier than any scolding. John and Jim avoided Mother’s gaze at meals and pushed their food around their plates, unable to enjoy a bite. Regret coursed through them whenever they passed the bare cabinet.

One evening, they sat on the bedroom floor and brainstormed ways to make peace with Mother. Jim first suggested doing extra chores, but John shook his head. They emptied their coin tins onto the floor, counted their savings, and discovered that they had just enough for a simple vase. John glanced at the money he had saved for two months to buy a game, but Mother’s hurt face returned to him. Making things right mattered more than a game, so both boys resolved to buy a new vase.

The next afternoon, they sacrificed their pocket money and chose a vase with delicate blue patterns. They placed the new vase on the table with an envelope holding a note that simply said, “I’m sorry.”

That day, when Mother came back from work and saw what the two boys had done, she ran her hand over the intricate designs of the vase, and it was smooth as silk! Her stern face softened into a small smile as she drew John and Jim into her arms. Their honesty, effort and willingness had begun to melt her anger.

“John, come help your Mum out and stop staring at the vase. You don’t want to break it again, do you?” Mother said with a hint of humour. Beaming, John bounded over to help Mother. He silently reflected that experience taught him that to err is human. The most important thing is to ask for forgiveness.