With a crack in the air, lighting illuminated the sky and at that moment I yelled.
"I freaking hate you!"
Who was I yelling at? It wasn't a living thing nor was it tangible. I was angry with time.
The sound of rough, constant rain hammered my wooden roof panels. It was as if a flowing river was above my place of dwelling, and stones and driftwood were been mercilessly beaten by gushing water. It was minutes past three in the morning. It was dark and hot and the ‘cricket choir’ sang throughout the night without allowing any moment to pass in silence. And though the combination of cricket’s chirping and rainfall would normally assist someone in sleeping, I just could not fall asleep.
In fact, these same noises tormented me. These were the same sounds I heard when I came to a sad conclusion last week; as a result they forced me to once again, go through the same pain and misery I went through.
Without any chance of falling back to sleep, my mind was stuck in multiple irritating and heart-breaking passages and paths. I felt like a lost rat that was searching for cheese in a maze. At one point, I even threw my hands in the air with defeat and cursed the very existence of time.
Oh, how I hated that four letter word! It took hours of sleep from me, it ruined my life for good and it annihilated the one thing I cherished in life.
Last week, I caught Abella red handed. She forgot her handbag along with her cell phone at my house and my curiosity lead me to discover a huge wave of messages that revealed what was really behind her irresistible smile. Ever since, I haven’t been my normal self.
I never thought that Abella could do this to me. Even now when I think of her and picture her light coloured skin and voluptuous lips, I see someone who could do no wrong. She wasn’t the bad one – it was time!
Lighting dominated the sky once more and again I yelled.
"I freaking hate you!"
I forgot that what I was yelling at couldn’t even hear me and during my anger it did not once occur to me that time wasn’t a person. I simply didn't care. At that point in time, I didn't want to live another second. I only pictured life with her. She was the only thing that could make me content. The thought of going one more day without Abella made me afraid to continue. Like a dog whose master died.
I unapologetically blamed everything on time.
"Congratulations you bitch!"
Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc. Those blasted sounds managed to change the love of my life into a completely different person, they succeeded at destroying our love.
I saw no purpose for my life if I couldn't be with her anymore.
Then the phone rang.
“What!” I yelled in the phone, giving no concern to who was on the other end or even why they would be calling so late.
“Josiah?”
I instantly froze. It was as if my body was sprayed with nitrogen gas.
“…Ab…Abe…Abella? What the hell do you want?”
“You ignored me for the entire week honey! I couldn’t sleep.” You could have heard pain in her words, “Is everything alright? Why haven’t you spoken to me?”
“You’re so full of…”
Abella didn’t even give me a chance to finish, “Why are you behaving like this?”
“The bag you came back for Saturday morning…I went through it.” I paused to find something in from my drawer, then I continued, “I found your phone and went through you’re text messages. I can’t believe you Abella! I thought you loved me.”
“That wasn’t my phone Jo! It was Nancy’s. They look the same hence us accidently switching them.”
Abella’s words were spoken in vain, as I didn’t bother to listen.
"I FREAKING hate you!" those were my last words before my final action on earth was done.
"PLUP!" the echo of the ear splitting noise ended my miserable life.
“Josiah! Josiah! Noo, baby!” Abella cried.
