TOTA - Part Six - His Future (ARC 1: The Present)

'There once lived a father, who was so strict, that he prohibited his children from many things.' We've heard of that story before, many times over. But how did he end up this way?

His children, three boys and one girl, are unhappy with his style of parenting so badly, they even feared returning home from school. They are now fed up with his constant dictating of almost every decision, however small, of their lives; his over-emphasis on education; and and his 'seizure' of their entertainment (from banning television to donating all of their toys to charity upon reaching their respective ninth birthdays). They are upset that the only people they are allowed to interact with outside their family are usually the more cultured, well-educated 'snobs' (who, nonetheless, understand them more caringly than their parents do). Worst of all, they are absolutely barred from even drawing or writing their own stories (unless if it is a school assignment), which instead starts to motivate them to wonder why (aside from turning them into workplace robots like him), and how, did their dad become the sad, tormenting (and tormented) father he is today.

They kept on calling for their mother, but she vehemently refused to even ask her husband to change the situation, believing that 'everything he does is for their own good'. Their teachers are more willing to help, and sometimes tried to hold talks with their father, but are still unsuccessful, as he refuses to change. And they tried breaking the rules so repeatedly, that he instead became harsher and fiercer with each passing week, that he fell ill. But when he recovered, he still continued his heavy-handed methods.

At least, their desire to understand their father more still keeps them going, even though he will keep on saying to them that he's 'busy'. One of them, the second son, asked this to his mother. She replied, 'Daddy is troubled, let him be.'