The old mother was over seventy years old. She was orphaned early when her husband died, and she raised her three children alone. Now, they all have big houses and good jobs. But as they got older, they rarely came home to visit her. Once when she got sick and called, the eldest daughter simply replied: — “Mom, just take a taxi to the hospital, I’m in a meeting.” The middle daughter said: “I’m busy taking care of the grandchildren, I don’t have time.” And the youngest son always made excuses that he was on a “business trip.” The old woman was left in her small and quiet house, where every day was filled only with the ticking of the clock and the wind blowing through the cracks in the door. One night, he sat in front of his wife’s altar, with tears in his eyes: — “My dear, I am old, I have little time left. Our children, they only think about money. No one is worried about their old mother.” He suddenly came up with a plan. He wanted to see how his children would treat him if he lost his mind. So from the next day, he began to pretend to be confused: sometimes he called his children by the wrong names, got confused between breakfast and dinner, and sometimes he just stood in the middle of the road on his way to the market. The news spread quickly that he was “going crazy.” The three children immediately arrived, but not to take care of him but to… chat. The eldest was the first to say: — “Mother is confused, it would be best to take her to a home for the aged. My house is small, it is not comfortable.” The middle child immediately agreed: — “Me too, busy with my little children, I have no time.” The youngest laughed: — “Let’s just divide Mom’s pension, then add a little more to put her in the best place.” The old man’s heart seemed to be squeezed by what he heard. He just nodded, speechless. Since then, he has lived in a home for the aged, looking at the door every day, hoping for a familiar face to come. Every now and then, the middle daughter would visit for a while, but the two men had almost disappeared. He cried many nights, regretting that he had even tried to test his children—because what he had seen was even more painful than being alone. Five years passed. The hospital announced that he had terminal cancer and that he only had a short time left. The news immediately reached his three children. They rushed to the home for the aged, not to visit their mother, but to… find out about the inheritance. The eldest asked the staff:— “Did Mom leave behind any land titles, gold, or silver?” Tears welled up in the middle child’s eyes, but she couldn’t hide her calculating gaze: — “Did Mom ever make a will?” The youngest was silent, bowed, but it was obvious to everyone what she was thinking. The staff shook their heads: — “The old man left nothing but his small pension. But he left an envelope, which he asked you to give to him when you all arrive together.” They opened the envelope, and found a piece of paper, short, written in shaky handwriting…
