jia en's short stories

Him

The past consumes like a plague. A dark expression which only engulfs you if no one pulls you out of it.

It is your fault. You killed them. You deserved to die. These lines often rang in my head after my parents died. I was taking them on a drive to celebrate my mother's birthday at her most favourite spot in the whole world - what she called it.

But...you guessed it. A car accident. The accident stole everything i had left from me. My parents...my sanity. My mental health flopped. Living was a torture. My sisters blame me for their deaths. If only this, if only that. If only i didn't exist.

I thought, maybe if i was never born, i was never there to drive them, none of this would have happened. I tried commiting suicide. But never managed to. Why? Because of him.

Every time i was about to get on the noose, he carried me away and treated me ice cream. Initially, i would throw the food in his face and walk away. But because of his undying efforts to pull my soul back from the dead, i gave in.

"Why are you stopping me from giving my parents the justice they deserve? I KILLED THEM." I screamed at him who looked at me with a firm look. He kept quiet and said nothing. Tears rolled down my face uncontrollably as i groaned in pain.

Ever since my parent's death, i tried not to shed a tear but this time, it felt like every tear i had kept from falling just rolled out. One tear turned to a million tears. Tears filled with sorrow.

Sorrow. I never knew i could feel that. Nunbness was all i felt then. Feelings felt foreign to me. He taught me to embrace them, feelings. "Your tears have meaning, feel it, and let go." He always said.

I would have pushed him away, if i could. But i couldn't. He kept coming. Like an annoying fly. Why did he bother? I often wondered. I don't deserve this.

Months passed and he just keep coming to check on me. I shouted and screamed, in hopes that he would leave me alone, but he didn't.

Finally, i accepted myself. I felt human again. Although the numbness still filled my body, it never gets to me no more.

"You have become human again, after i become succesful, i will find you again, wait for me." He said and never came back. I have already let go of the past. I lived my life with no regrets from then on.

A few years later, a neatly dressed familiar man came up to me. "Will you marry me, Flora?" He said. I embraced him and agreed.

This man, who was he? He was the little boy on the streets i sneaked food to many years ago. Little did i know he would be there for me through my darkest times and even be the man i am with for all eternity.