"Sometimes we have to go against our own heart to make the right decision, no matter how much it hurts..."
An anthology of short stories of different genres full of twists, surprises and lessons - this book is the perfect material to spend your leis...
Dedicated to all the victims of the Orlando Massacre (June 12th, 2016)
Song : Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United Please do listen to it during/before/after reading this story.
All Lucas wanted was to have a nice time with his boyfriend Greg. College had wearied them down for weeks and finally, they had decided to go on a date because they felt like they deserved a nice, happy, romantic time together after such a long time. They had gone for an early dinner at a restaurant and then they had headed towards a gay nightclub to dance the night away in each other's arms.
He didn't know when the first gunshot exactly rang, or when the first body fell into the floor - all Lucas knew was that one second he was dancing in the arms of his beloved, and in the next second a man began shooting, people began to scream, and he lost Greg among the panicked crowd.
Bullet after bullet was being fired by the gunman and people began to drop like flies around Lucas. He screamed in fear as he frantically searched around for Greg, but bodies kept blocking his vision - both dead and alive - their clothes stained red with blood. How had their romantic night turned into a grave of dead bodies?
Lucas still couldn't comprehend all that was happening around him - it all felt like a sick nightmare to him, not reality. He was still young, how could he die now? He had yet to get a job, get married and have a family. There were hundreds of people around him who, like him, had yet to discover the wonders of the world, yet to create memories for they had only a few, yet to rise in life. And Greg? Of course he couldn't die because he was his boyfriend, his lover, his life . . . his everything.
"Greg!" He screamed but the cries of the people around him drowned his voice. A moment later, he felt a harsh sting in his arm. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees as he realized that he had been shot in his left arm. Blood began to pour out of the wound while tears began to pour out of his eyes. And through the blurred vision, he saw Greg lying on the floor before him - still breathing heavily.
"Greg!" Lucas cried in relief but his joy was short-lived. Greg had a large hole in his chest - he had been shot - and a puddle of blood had already been formed around him. "No. . . No", whispered Lucas as he dragged himself towards his boyfriend, "Please don't die!" He put Greg's head on his lap and began to stroke his face. "Just . . . Just hold on for a minute, ok? You'll be alright. You'll be fine!"
Tears streaming down his cheeks, Lucas looked around and screamed, "Please stop! Please stop shooting!" A sob choked his voice and he whispered, "Please stop. . ." He looked down at the precious life in his arms.
Greg looked up at him with unshed tears in his eyes, his gaze so intense yet so loving. Lucas could see the struggle in those eyes, the struggle to remain alive, the struggle against the pain, but he was losing the fight. And like a candle flame being blown away, Lucas saw the life in Greg's eyes die out and the body of his lover became still. Silent.
Lucas couldn't utter any sound - he had no words to say anyway. He just let the tears drop down his cheeks, unable to wipe them away. Bodies lay all around him - some dead like Greg, some injured like him. He hadn't noticed when the shooting had ended, but it had. The screams had ceased too, except for the muted voices and cries that felt like a mile away. A voice kept screaming in his head - WHY? WHY? WHY?
He wanted to ask this simple question to the killer. Why? Why did you kill my Greg? Why did you kill all the other people? Why did you shoot us? But what good would the answer do? Greg would still be dead. So would the other people.
Who gave you the right to take their lives? Who gave you the right to decide who lives and who dies? What did we ever do to you? Why did you destroy our lives when nobody destroyed yours? Why?
With these questions ringing loud in his head, Lucas sat on the floor with Greg in his arms, tears in his eyes and an agony so heavy in his heart, it destroyed his faith in humanity forever. . .
Love is not a sin - hatred is.
Love is not wrong - hatred is.
Two men happen to love each other. Two women happen to love each other. And one man happen to hate all of them. Who is in the wrong here? Life was given to each of us to live, and no one has the right to take it away. Some religions may not approve, some laws may not approve, some people may not approve - Does that give any of us the right to kill? No.
There are millions of people who hate, who kill, who rape, who abuse - but people choose to condemn and kill those who simply love another of the same gender. If love is a sin, all of us are sinners. If love is a crime, then all of us are criminals. Why does it matter if the person we love are of the same gender?
Hate may have been victorious in this tragedy of the Orlando Massacre, but we all know that ultimately, Love will always prevail.
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