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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Death / Heartbreak / Loss
- Published: 01/05/2022
North California is glowing with the crowd of all indistinguishable people as their heads get surmounted by similar Christmas caps. I watch them as I wander down the street dressed in slacks and a crisp dress shirt beneath a loosely fitted overcoat. My tousled hair covering my forehead is getting brushed away by the bleak wind. As I tuck my hand inside my pocket to feel the warmth of my dearie's napkin, the familiar piercing wind reminds me of last winter. As I hurried my steps, I unconsciously reached the familiar chalet surrounded by redwoods. This place, this house has been withstanding all the abysmal circumstances with me for the last twenty years, ever since I was born.
The heinous and miserable phase of my life began from the time my parents didn't survive after meeting with an accident, leaving my 8 year old self and my 5 year old sister, Eunice. They left only this house for us, our only shelter. My mother's sister came to stay with us. From then on began the epoch of repentance of my life. I was tortured relentlessly, being beaten up as I failed to unstain the clothes the way it pleased my aunt. She flung a damaged grinder plate and it hit my temple and I shrieked as its sharp edge pierced my skin. As blood oozed out slowly and reached the collar of my t-shirt and quickly spread, my sister caught in a frenzy of fear squealed. I ran and took her in my arms before aunt could possibly hurt her. We were given meal only twice a day and my sister remained hungry so I mostly received the crumbles my sister couldn't finish eating.
Aunt suffered a lung infection and died when I was 14. From them on I started working in a nearby cafe to support our personal and school expenses. Life wasn't easy but I tried my best to comfort my sister. I loved Eunice with all my heart. I was Eunice's everything, she would straddle my lap and rest her head on my shoulder and cry her heart out when she missed mom-dad. Then she would say, "Ben, I'll never leave you alone." She would look into my green-brown eyes and would enunciate while saying, "I love you so much Ben." I would smile back and say," I love you and live my life around you." My life seemed so complete with my dearest Eunice.
As the manifolds of life unfurled, things that appeared so cloying were at denial. As Eunice turned 16, I found a drastic change in her conduct. She seemed so wrapped up with her phone and often went out to party with her friends. She glowed with cheerfulness and I was happy seeing that. This soon turned into a matter of severe concern as she returned home heavily drunk for consecutive 3 days. I grabbed her by her shoulder and firmly said, "This has to stop." She slipped a casual smirk and said, "Don't you get sick of being so quaint?" and then she passed out.
As I washed her clothes I found a powdery substance wrapped in loose paper. I sniffed and it felt so familiar. Soon after I realised it was none other than Cannabis. My friends tried pursuing me to take it long back, fortunately I could hold back. As we sat for breakfast, I enquired about the powder I recovered last night as I held it right in my palm. Eunice casually said, "That's none of your business Ben." I yelled, "Now I mean it Eunice, stop this at once. Don't you realise how much I worry about you?" She bawled, "You're a total failure Ben, you do nothing but keep showing your silly concern." She paused and continued, "I can no longer live in this misery. Just let go of me." She pulled her shrug and slammed the door as she made her away out of the house. I called out, "Eunice!", she ignored and hurried her steps.
She avoided me after that. If I tried talking to her she would simply slam the door of her room right on my face. Anguish hovered over my life as my dear Eunice distanced herself from me.
It was mid-December last year, I had returned earlier from my university. I found Eunice grabbing a towel and then she headed towards the bathroom. Even then things between us didn't go normal. She seemed to hate me so much that she wouldn't even look at me. Feeling devastated, I headed to the lawn to clean the place before it got dark. About an hour and half later as I got into the house, I found the lamp in the bathroom switched on and the door was shut. Without a hesitation I knocked the door and I got no reply. Sweat dripped from my jawline as I was caught in a delirium of fear and agitation. With no second thought I broke open the door to find that my Eunice was lying on the floor unconscious. I didn't want to fall into the black abyss of deep driven melancholy but I assume it already caught me off guard. I dialed the ambulance while I held her in my arms convulsively.
The next hours were the grimmest phase of my life. As Eunice was rushed to the city hospital, the doctors called code blue in their typical way. As the hospital staffs pulled her onto the stretcher, I got smothered by unexplainable trepidation inside out. Eunice suffered a severe cardiac arrest due to drug overdose. A while later a doctor appeared and looking into my miserable eyes he remarked, "I wish I had the right words to express our failure to...." then he paused. Patting my shoulders he concluded, "We couldn't save your sister, I pray for your comfort." I understood that all the nightmares that I feared came into being. I was left black and blue when I realised that my brightest spot, my dearest is gone forever. I found her lying still in the bed. I pulled her to my arms to feel her possibly for the last time. I felt her for a while before she was pulled away from me forever. They laid her in the grave and she disappeared from my vision forever.
All the dreams that I had in the day got rinsed off as nightfall set in. Those dark days which I thought were gone evaded my life and muffled my mouth with its gloomy hands. It ripped off all the happiness and left me all empty. The stubble of agony the pricked me even when I kept my distance, took my sister away and threw me to the timeless road of despair.
As I slowly move around the house and carefully carress the picture of my Eunice, the one wish that creeps in my mind is the one chance to hold her tight in my embrace and never let her go. The moment I realise that what I dream is impossible my filmy eyes look at Eunice's bed where she laid in the afternoon. I laugh away my tears as I recall how she crept into my bed in the middle of the night fearing ghosts. In no time my happiness gets sweeped away as I realise that the reason of every happiness is long gone. The tintinnabulation of the church bells doesn't make me merry, it makes me recall that chilly December evening that wiped away my every reason to live. As I rocked my sister in the hospital bed, pretending that she was only asleep, I heard the same sound and the laughters of joy when my world fell apart. This Christmas, this hustle of excitement in the air compels me to shriek my heart out. When the world seems so complete, my life remains empty hopelessly awaiting my Eunice.
Dimming of the Bright Spot(Nihira)
North California is glowing with the crowd of all indistinguishable people as their heads get surmounted by similar Christmas caps. I watch them as I wander down the street dressed in slacks and a crisp dress shirt beneath a loosely fitted overcoat. My tousled hair covering my forehead is getting brushed away by the bleak wind. As I tuck my hand inside my pocket to feel the warmth of my dearie's napkin, the familiar piercing wind reminds me of last winter. As I hurried my steps, I unconsciously reached the familiar chalet surrounded by redwoods. This place, this house has been withstanding all the abysmal circumstances with me for the last twenty years, ever since I was born.
The heinous and miserable phase of my life began from the time my parents didn't survive after meeting with an accident, leaving my 8 year old self and my 5 year old sister, Eunice. They left only this house for us, our only shelter. My mother's sister came to stay with us. From then on began the epoch of repentance of my life. I was tortured relentlessly, being beaten up as I failed to unstain the clothes the way it pleased my aunt. She flung a damaged grinder plate and it hit my temple and I shrieked as its sharp edge pierced my skin. As blood oozed out slowly and reached the collar of my t-shirt and quickly spread, my sister caught in a frenzy of fear squealed. I ran and took her in my arms before aunt could possibly hurt her. We were given meal only twice a day and my sister remained hungry so I mostly received the crumbles my sister couldn't finish eating.
Aunt suffered a lung infection and died when I was 14. From them on I started working in a nearby cafe to support our personal and school expenses. Life wasn't easy but I tried my best to comfort my sister. I loved Eunice with all my heart. I was Eunice's everything, she would straddle my lap and rest her head on my shoulder and cry her heart out when she missed mom-dad. Then she would say, "Ben, I'll never leave you alone." She would look into my green-brown eyes and would enunciate while saying, "I love you so much Ben." I would smile back and say," I love you and live my life around you." My life seemed so complete with my dearest Eunice.
As the manifolds of life unfurled, things that appeared so cloying were at denial. As Eunice turned 16, I found a drastic change in her conduct. She seemed so wrapped up with her phone and often went out to party with her friends. She glowed with cheerfulness and I was happy seeing that. This soon turned into a matter of severe concern as she returned home heavily drunk for consecutive 3 days. I grabbed her by her shoulder and firmly said, "This has to stop." She slipped a casual smirk and said, "Don't you get sick of being so quaint?" and then she passed out.
As I washed her clothes I found a powdery substance wrapped in loose paper. I sniffed and it felt so familiar. Soon after I realised it was none other than Cannabis. My friends tried pursuing me to take it long back, fortunately I could hold back. As we sat for breakfast, I enquired about the powder I recovered last night as I held it right in my palm. Eunice casually said, "That's none of your business Ben." I yelled, "Now I mean it Eunice, stop this at once. Don't you realise how much I worry about you?" She bawled, "You're a total failure Ben, you do nothing but keep showing your silly concern." She paused and continued, "I can no longer live in this misery. Just let go of me." She pulled her shrug and slammed the door as she made her away out of the house. I called out, "Eunice!", she ignored and hurried her steps.
She avoided me after that. If I tried talking to her she would simply slam the door of her room right on my face. Anguish hovered over my life as my dear Eunice distanced herself from me.
It was mid-December last year, I had returned earlier from my university. I found Eunice grabbing a towel and then she headed towards the bathroom. Even then things between us didn't go normal. She seemed to hate me so much that she wouldn't even look at me. Feeling devastated, I headed to the lawn to clean the place before it got dark. About an hour and half later as I got into the house, I found the lamp in the bathroom switched on and the door was shut. Without a hesitation I knocked the door and I got no reply. Sweat dripped from my jawline as I was caught in a delirium of fear and agitation. With no second thought I broke open the door to find that my Eunice was lying on the floor unconscious. I didn't want to fall into the black abyss of deep driven melancholy but I assume it already caught me off guard. I dialed the ambulance while I held her in my arms convulsively.
The next hours were the grimmest phase of my life. As Eunice was rushed to the city hospital, the doctors called code blue in their typical way. As the hospital staffs pulled her onto the stretcher, I got smothered by unexplainable trepidation inside out. Eunice suffered a severe cardiac arrest due to drug overdose. A while later a doctor appeared and looking into my miserable eyes he remarked, "I wish I had the right words to express our failure to...." then he paused. Patting my shoulders he concluded, "We couldn't save your sister, I pray for your comfort." I understood that all the nightmares that I feared came into being. I was left black and blue when I realised that my brightest spot, my dearest is gone forever. I found her lying still in the bed. I pulled her to my arms to feel her possibly for the last time. I felt her for a while before she was pulled away from me forever. They laid her in the grave and she disappeared from my vision forever.
All the dreams that I had in the day got rinsed off as nightfall set in. Those dark days which I thought were gone evaded my life and muffled my mouth with its gloomy hands. It ripped off all the happiness and left me all empty. The stubble of agony the pricked me even when I kept my distance, took my sister away and threw me to the timeless road of despair.
As I slowly move around the house and carefully carress the picture of my Eunice, the one wish that creeps in my mind is the one chance to hold her tight in my embrace and never let her go. The moment I realise that what I dream is impossible my filmy eyes look at Eunice's bed where she laid in the afternoon. I laugh away my tears as I recall how she crept into my bed in the middle of the night fearing ghosts. In no time my happiness gets sweeped away as I realise that the reason of every happiness is long gone. The tintinnabulation of the church bells doesn't make me merry, it makes me recall that chilly December evening that wiped away my every reason to live. As I rocked my sister in the hospital bed, pretending that she was only asleep, I heard the same sound and the laughters of joy when my world fell apart. This Christmas, this hustle of excitement in the air compels me to shriek my heart out. When the world seems so complete, my life remains empty hopelessly awaiting my Eunice.
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