Sunset - Afterglow

5

The to do list started off pretty good and easy as it listed the "ingredients" for success in his plans.

Rather soon, the list went off topic by listing "purpose" and "reason". With these two things, Marc meant to follow up on his thoughts he had on the couch. Why did he survive and weather his survival meant something or had some higher purpose was consistently in his head.

Marc decided to go by the procedure of exclusion. So if he really considered the possibility of a god, he should find an expert on it.

Marc stood up a bit quicker than he maybe should have, but managed to stay on his feet. He slowly dressed himself and was on the way to a church. Since the catholic church was closer and not on a hill, Marc decided to go there. Hard enough to move on the level ground, Marc was happy to not have chosen the other church.

When he arrived at the church, Marc entered hesitantly. He seemed to be alone in this big church as the lights danced of the golden decorations. Out of nowhere, a deep, smoky voice greeted him. Mark turned around and saw an old man dressed in church clothes behind him.

The pastor sat down next to Marc and the two of them started talking. First it was only small talk, then it was a bit more serious about politics or something. After about a half an hour, the priest glanced at mark with seriousness in his look that Marc hasn't seen before.

"I have not seen you here before, my son. What is it that brought you here?" the priest asked Marc.

After some hesitation, Marc told him the whole story. He started at the point where sadness and pain was only known from movies and where he was happy. He went on to tell the story until he reached the point of his suicide attempt and hesitated to go on. The priest, listening to the story silently, looked at Marc. Without words, Marc understood, that the priest wanted him to continue, so he continued.

He told him about the suicide attempt, about the waking up, about the pain and the cramps, about the cleaning and even about the damn yoghurt. All this time the priest just sat there silently. When Marc finished his story, the priest just sat there for a while and said nothing. It seemed like an eternity of silence, but the priest finally looked up at Marc and shook his head. "Boy, you are lost", he said. "You need help and you won't be getting your help here because in the eyes of the catholic church, you damned yourself with your actions. Since you are not catholic, you should visit your church." He finished his speech, stood up and walked away. He stopped for a second, looked back and said with a gentle smile "may god protect you". And just like that he was gone.