Return of the Prodigal Son
Once upon a distant time, in the tranquil countryside of Corinth, there lived a prosperous father with two sons. The father had painstakingly built his farm from scratch, and maintained it diligently, leading it to burgeoning prosperity. The farm was the father's third child, his love and his life.
The older son, Domingo, was a carbon copy of his father, preserving the same tenacity, diligence, and discipline. He willingly toiled on the farm, promising to carry forward his father's legacy. On the other hand, the younger son, Rafael, was a free spirit. He held a contagious laugh, twinkling eyes full of dreams, and an insatiable lust for adventure.
One sultry afternoon, Rafael, carrying the air of the impetuous youth, approached his father and asked for his share of the property ahead of time. Although heartbroken, the father granted his wishes, and Rafael set off to the city, filled with giddy anticipation, leaving a cloud of dust and a shattered family behind. On the farm, the father and Domingo soldiered on, tending to the fields that once echoed with Rafael's laugh.
In the city, Rafael savored the lavish life, reveling in his new-found freedom, spending his inheritance flamboyantly. He partied and gambled, ruling in the giddy whirl of the city, until he awoke one day to find himself out of funds. Abandoned and ignored by his so-called friends, he took up a menial job feeding pigs, struggling to survive, often going to bed on an empty stomach.
Meanwhile, back on the farm, the weather played its own game. A severe drought hit Corinth, wiping out crops and drying up water bodies. The father and Domingo labored relentlessly day and night, but to no avail. Yet, they never complained, they both had faith in the farm and in each other.
Back in the city, destitute and hungry, Rafael began to reflect on his actions. Understanding how he had squandered his good fortune, he decided to return home, hoping that his father would at least give him a job as a servant on the farm.
Upon Rafael's return, the father, instead of punishing him, embraced him with open arms, his eyes welling up with tears of joy. He ordered the fattest calf to be killed and prepared a feast to celebrate Rafael's return. Seeing this, Domingo felt a pang of jealousy and confronted his father. The father, with the wisdom of years, said, 'Don't you see, my son? You have always been with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate today because your brother was lost and is now found.'
The story ends with a wealthy feast, a united family, and a changed Rafael, who, humbled and fed up with the city's charms, decides to stay back and help his family with the farm. It is a tale of remorse, a tale of coming home, but most importantly, a tale of undying love that a father harbors for his children, irrespective of their wrongdoings.