Short Story: I Tried!
Shaking and choking his tears, he takes a step back. He had never seen so much blood before. He tries to add two plus two. However, his mind is bewildered and his memory has left him alone wondering.
He wants to go to pick up the dialler but he doesn’t. What would he say? What is there to explain? How, on earth, can he explain? Words do not seem enough, and compared to what he just saw, his words lose their meanings.
He takes a step back from all the chaos and destruction. He lifts up his body and throws himself on the chair beside the window.
He tries to calm down his stiffening jaws, exhales the suffocating air from his throat to relax his nostrils, and puts his head on his arms to let it channel what happened. How did it happen, and why is he the culprit in all of the procession?
He did not do anything, nor did he want it. He hated him, he despised him so much that he could not stand to be with him in one room. He has wanted to deprive him of life. He was sure that he would be happy when he died. But, little did he know that he would be his death angel!
He lets out a sigh! The sigh reflects his fear, prophesizes a dark future, and informs him of a cataclysm coming into his already dark life.
But, what about her?? She will be devastated for sure. “What … what .. what have I done”, he murmurms. What have I given to her already and now this??? She will ……Beyond that, Issac could not make himself think about her!
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“Hey, Issac, it’s me, Rain. I will be late as I have to cover Stacy’s shift as well. And yes, I will be bringing a pizza, do not cook anything! Love you, bye!”
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“Get out of this damn room! You are making me worried again, Caleb!”
“Caleb! Caleb! CALEB!!!!!”
“For God’s sake, Have a look at me. Can’t you see how worried and afraid I am! Show me some respect.” Getting up from his sofa, Caleb walks towards her, and says, “Stop being a headache, and why do you keep poking your nose into my life? You have got what you wanted. You have everything now, LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Now, stop being such a fuss, instead of yelling and creating unnecessary drama.”
He tries to cover his mouth with one hand and with the other hand tries to close the door. But, she stops him and whispers, “Am I creating drama? Seriously! I know you are worried, I know it’s eating you alive, and I know what you did today. And I hate to see that It’s.. it is engulfing you and you are letting it. Why? Please…” he goes and throws himself on the chair beside the broad window. She follows.
“I have told you millions of times before and listen to me again,” says she holding his hand. What happened happened!!! Move on! You apologized to everyone… And see it was their mistake that they let you take care of it. It was their punishment for negligence. You didn’t take any money or any property, in fact, you just took what was given to you! If you did not have forged the signature, anyone else could have! And God knows what else would have happened, at least, you did not kill anybody!”
“But I did, I killed him, and I left her devastated too…” he blurted out, grinding his teeth.
“Stop acting like a moron! Get yourself together and get dressed, we are going to your doctor right now!”
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Sitting on his chair, he recalled the time when Rain asked him to forgive him, not because he asked but for himself, his peace, and for them.
He cried, “No, I am not forgiving him. I am going to kill him…. for he took what was ours, we built it, we dreamed of it, it was ours, Rain. He took it, he deceived me when he knew it was all we had!”
He was right and she knew it. So, she rubbed his arms quietly and he let his head fall on her shoulder while his tears drenched her neck.
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“Hey, I am backkk!” her excitement fills the seemingly haunted room.
“You know whom I ran into across the street, you would not believe how much has she changed! She has become…. Isaac ?? Issac??? ISSAC??? “
That night, the whole street heard her scream. The police came, the ambulance came and took her Issac on a stretcher. The living room showed signs of little but hard panic attacks, ruins of a broken man, clean floors, and the crime scene was the bedroom where Issac had hung himself….
Laying on the bedside table was a letter addressed to his love, Rain!
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My Dear Rain,
I do not know where to start …. I tried to make sense of …. Nothing made sense… I saw Caleb today… He came to meet me apologized to me by handing me a blank check. Of course, I did not take it, ……I threw it out in the dustbin, maybe… I was so angry that I punched him in the face. I punched him so much that his lip started to bleed. Rain, Oh Rain, it felt good. But he had no right to come and buy forgiveness after taking our design. I was angry but what I did not know at that time was that I was drowned in sorrow more than anger. You had told me like my wife, instructed me like a guide, and advised me like a true friend: to move on. But, I failed time and again.
It was not my fault though, Rain. These past 03 months have been very good, you also noticed the good and positive changes, right? I was making progress! But, then he came and started haunting me …I started feeling the pain again…. He, Caleb, came to work too … he came here and I was beyond myself after seeing him here. After punching or I assume before that, I asked him to leave. He would not leave.
He came inside and we started fighting. I do not know what happened next, when I woke up, my hand was hurting, my back was cold and I was shaking…
there was blood … I did not know how I did. When I hit him? But I killed him, Rain, even though I did not want to!
I tried, I looked for ways to make it up for you but I could not. I do not know what to say! I know nothing will make it up for us but I am sorry! I am sorry my love! I am sorry !!!
I wish we could have the life we always wanted.
I am sorry!
Yours,
Issac
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Next day, the newspaper read, that Issac, aged 25, committed suicide after thinking that he had killed his friend, Caleb. Caleb and Issac met the day tragedy saw Rain’s door and after a fight, Caleb left Issac’s home. The medical history shows that Issac was showing symptoms of paranoia and delusions.
Her partner, Rian is devastated by the tragedy and has been unable to get hold of herself since then.
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