The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree This writing prompt response is from the early days of my original "The Eighth Shot of Espresso" writing blog on Wordpress. I've reposted it here in the new prose blog. _____ Yes, he was a coward, but he wouldn't have put it that way. He always called it 'self preservation'. When he was young, his father flew into rages at the slightest thing. There was no ice in the freezer when he wanted iced tea. Bureaucracy never moved along at the speed he expected it. His father ranted and raved loudly. He and his mother ducked their heads and waited for the storm to pass. Don't rock the boat. Don't say anything to him; it would make it much worse. Don't make him turn his wrath on you. As an only child, he bore the brunt of it. As the only son, it fell to him to make his own destiny. He would never take out such selfish rage on those around him. So he put up with it in silence and fumed about it in private. Yet...