Son Brings Buyers to Home of Lonely Old Mother and Hears Unfamiliar Man Coughing in the Bedroom — Story of the Day

A greedy son decides to force his elderly mother to sell her beloved house, but when he brings in the buyers, they all run away and vow never to return.

Gary Bolton made a decision. He was putting his mother's pretty, three-floor, five-bedroom Victorian house for sale. The house was worth a pretty penny, he realized, and it was a waste having his mother living in it.

After all, she was now 68 and a widow. It was time his mother Amelia faced the truth. It was time she moved into an old age home and hand Gary his inheritance. His dad had been dead for six years. It was time!

Amelia was stunned when her son informed her of his decision. "Gary!" she gasped. "You can't do that! It's MY house, not yours!"

"Look, mom," her son responded coldly, "The house is too big for you, and expensive to maintain, and the house next door has just sold for close to $3 million."

"Must I remind you that even if I sold the house those would be MY $3 million?"

"Nonsense!" Gary snapped. "I'm your only child, so everything that's yours is mine!"

Amelia's mouth hung open. She was stunned by Gary's arrogance and hurt by his indifference to her feelings. "It's not happening, Gary!" she said.

"Well, mom," Gary said in a harsh voice, "You either play along, or I'll have you declared incompetent."

"You wouldn't!" gasped Amelia.

"I would," Gary said coldly. "And from next week on, the agents will be showing the house so you'd better have everything ship-shape!"

Amelia watched her son walk away with tears in her eyes. What could she do when her only son was out to exploit her? Did she want to end up in a home labeled as senile?

Just then her phone rang. "Hey, hey Gran!" cried a cheerful voice. "How you hangin'?"

Despite her distress, a smile transformed Amelia's face. "Josh!" she cried to her only grandson. "Must you use that funny language! You sound like a rap video!"

"That's the idea, Grandma!" Josh said. "And speaking of rap... Frank and I are putting together this group, and we were wondering if we could practice in your garage..."

"For as long as I have one," Amelia said bitterly. "It's all yours!"

"What do you mean?" asked her grandson. "What's going on?" And Amelia poured it all out, her son's threats, his 'decision', and her helplessness.

"Gran," Josh said firmly. "We're gonna fix this, you and I. I have a plan..."

Greed and malice are not good counselors.

The next Monday, Gary brought the agent and his clients, a wealthy couple who were looking for a fashionably antique home to put all their fashionable antiques in.

Amelia was sitting on the front verandah on a rocking chair, looking rather odd, with her usually stylish hair swept up into an old-fashioned bun. "Welcome, you-all!" she cried, and smiled and rocked her chair - squeak-squeak-squeak.

Gary threw his mother a disdainful look and said, "This is my mother, Mrs.Bolton. Please make yourselves at home and come to my office when you are through." He turned his back and walked away.

"Hello, Mrs. Bolton," the agent said politely. "I hope you don't mind if I take this delightful couple up to see your lovely home?"

"Not at all," Amelia said, rocking faster. "Mind you don't disturb Horace is all!"

"Horace?" asked the lady politely. "Who's that?"

"That's my late husband," Amelia said. "He was mighty attached to this house and he swore he'd never leave and he hasn't. He was a man of his word, Horace was!"

The lady looked startled and glanced at the real estate guy but he ushered them into the hall and whispered, "The poor lady is suffering from dementia, which is why the son is selling the house. Now, if you will look at these molded ceilings and the chandelier..."

The real estate agent led the couple through the house, pointing out the relevant features. They were on the second floor when they heard a strange hollow cough.

"Goodness," the woman gasped. "What is that?"

The agent smiled. "Oh, those are probably the pipes. Old houses always have odd noises -- but the good thing is, those pipes are pure copper, they'll last another hundred years with no trouble!"

Now it was the man's turn to frown. "It smells like smoke, tobacco smoke! You told us the house was 100% smoke-free!"

The real estate agent started to get flustered. "It is! I don't understand..."

Then a whispering voice echoed all around them: "Get out...Get out...Get out while you still can..." and they heard the sound of dragging footsteps coming up the creaking stairs. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

The agent, who was younger and thinner, was running down the stairs so fast his feet didn't even touch the ground, but the woman who was the slowest of the trio caught a glimpse of a tall thin figure in an old scarlet dressing gown.

Amelia, who was still sitting on the rocking chair, burst out laughing when she saw the couple and the real estate guy run for their cars and vanish in a squeak of speeding tires.

Not even half an hour later Gary was back, fuming. "What did you do?" he screamed. "That man represents the most prestigious agency in the state... "

It was at that moment that Josh walked out to join his grandmother on the porch. He was wearing his grandfather's old dressing gown and clutching a smelly pipe. "Dad," he said. "I'm 15, and even I know that what you are doing is wrong. You are not selling gran's house out from under her, nor are you declaring her incompetent, because if you do, I'll do it to YOU one day!"

"Gary," Amelia said. "I have a lawyer's appointment today, and I'm putting this house in Josh's name with the provision that I live in it for the rest of my life."

Gary screamed, "You can't do that! It's MY inheritance!"

"No it isn't," Amelia said. "It's MY property and I decide who gets it, and you can GET OUT!"

Gary did, and Josh and his friends started practicing their music in Amelia's garage, and though her neighbors complained about the noise, to Amelia it was heavenly.

What can we learn from this story?

• Greed and malice are not good counselors. Gary thought he could grab everything his mother owned, but he ended up losing it all.
• We can always count on love and support from good hearts. Josh was nothing like his father and he adored his grandmother so he came up with a plan to stop the sale.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who is shocked to see her dead husband blink when she kisses him goodbye in his coffin.

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