by M C Rooney
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s not your fault,” his aunt replied calmly, but Tom could tell how upset she was and hugged her.
She hugged him back and murmured how pleased she was to see him home safely, but as soon as Tom stepped away, her sharp eyes glued onto the elderly professor.
The professor looked curiously back at her.
“The Professor built the tower,” Tom said quietly to his aunt. “I think he wants to make amends for what he did in the past. I’m not sure what it was, but I think we can convince him to build us a new tower.”
Lily turned to look at her nephew again. “Tom, you have provided us with such a great gift,” she said in awe. “You make me so proud.”
Tom blushed and looked at the ground.
Turning back to the professor, Lily asked, “Are you here to help us, Professor?”
“Yes, Mayor; why, yes, I am,” the professor replied as he surveyed his new home and hefted his travel bag. “Jeremy, young lad, we have much work to do.”
It was time to build, not destroy.