The Springfield Family: A Short Story

It all began when the oldest member of the Springfield family, Charles Springfield sent an invitation to his broken family to reunite. Charles lived with his lonesome for many years in the Louisiana swamps. His family had long since broken up and lost contact. His family consisted of his ex-wife Maud, his son Billy, and his daughter Mary Jo. All received a letter from Charles inviting them to his home to pay their last respects to him due to his bad health.
Upon receiving the letter the family was hesitant to accept because the four hadn't seen each other in nearly twenty years. This was because Charles had a drinking problem and was abusive to the family. Child services had split up the family and Billy and Mary Jo had gone to different homes.
The home was tarnished and the yard was overgrown with weeds. He noted that the others had already arrived and we're waiting on the front porch. He couldn't believe how frail his father had looked after all these years. It looked as if he had merely days left to live. Mary Jo looked weathered and tired. His mother however aged still looked vibrant.
The Springfields all looked at one another in disbelief after 20 years of not seeing each other. They had conversation of tea and spoke about their lives. All had been going well despite the families unsavory past. They were to have a family dinner after they got settled in and cleaned up. Mary Jo went up to her old bedroom to freshen up and get ready before they were to eat. She took notice that hardly anything had changed. She changed her clothes and went down to the dining room for dinner.
Maud was the first down for dinner it was the first time she had been alone with her husband Charles since she left him. She saw in Charles that he wasn't the same man that he was years ago. He looked more calm as if he was at peace. Just as she was getting ready to call and Mary Jo down they arrived in the dining
Each member of the family went to their own rooms and fell quickly asleep. In the morning they woke early. Sometime in the air seemed amiss. Maud, Billy, and Charles were all downstairs eating breakfast. Mary Jo had not come down to eat. Billy went to check on her but she wasn't in her room. He quickly went outside where he found her near the swamp.
Billy neared His sister asking “when are you laying by the swamp so early?” It was then he realized she was drowned. Charles and Maud quickly went out to check on what the problem was. They cried over the death of their daughter and called the local Police Officer. Jeb the Police Officer came out and determined she must had fallen in at night on a walk. Billy knew they had grown up on the swamps and Mary Jo would not have just fallen