Retaliate

Part 1

             " ..50...56....59.... One minute. " I whispered.

Time, the antagonist in most stories. Time that waits for no man. In our lives, we try to beat time but time seems to always get the better of us. That is because the race against time is inevitable.

"Time heals." They say. But does it really?

I was only 10 when my father, became the monster I feared he would be. I remember the day it started, so clearly, so vividly. No blur, whatsoever. I remember the pain I felt. The pain that was so unbearable I fell weak at the knees. Which includes getting me to get thrown across the hall. "You weak weak little boy! You're nothing but a waste of money and time!" I wake up panting and drenched in my own perspiration like how I do most nights.

Word began to spread like wildfire, from the screams they hear fortnightly to the sounds of glass bottles smashing against the concrete walls, to the bruises on our faces and bodies. The police came knocking on our door one day. They took him away, my father. No one had heard from him in a long while. By long I mean five years. I am Nathan Foster, I am 18 and afraid of my father. I grew up afraid of the world. Afraid to try new things. Afraid of the outside, which is probably everything outside of the house. No, it's not home. Not to me anyways.

"1...5...7...10 seconds." I whisper.

The sound of heavy raindrops hitting the window awoke me from my deep slumber. I went back to sleep with no nightmares that day. The rain somehow soothes me. I don't know if it's the way it falls to the ground, the smell, or if it is the peaceful rhythm of the raindrops hitting on my window. I like the rain. The rain gives me strength and that is because I know, the sun will still shine after the rain. And I know that I will be okay.