The Gift Of Time Read online

yourself. It does not matter if they were true or not, they are just a memory now and you must move on in life. Find a way to live for yourself and then he left.

  I drank myself to sleep holding on to Abby’s sock and what my father had told me. Next morning the house phone rang and when I answered the voice from the other side said that your father has had a heart attack you need to come down soon. I dropped the phone and left for the hospital. When I reached there, the doctor told me that he was sorry, I was too late and my dad did not make it. The next day we had his funeral, my neighbor Jeff was there so was Cathy. After the funeral, I tried to talk to Cathy but she did not let me speak and left. A few more days past I could not recall the last time I ate, slept or had a bath. I knew it had been a while I had spoken to another human. Jeff did come to try and talk to me a few times but he would leave after ringing the doorbell a couple of times. All I did was drink and tried to forget everything that had happened. The more I tried to forget the more I remembered Abby and Carol. I had lost everything, I saw my father die twice, I lost my child, my wife, and even my identity was lost. John Brooks was just a fragmentation of my imagination, in the real world he did not exist, Abby did not exist and neither did Carol. I did not know how to go on any longer; I did not want to go on. I could only see one end to this depression. So I went to the kitchen and turned the gas on. Then I went and poured out a glass of wine for myself and went to the bedroom. As I lay drinking the glass of wine I could smell the gas fill the entire house, but I was not scared maybe for the first time in months I was not scared of what was happening. I turned over to the table next to the bed. Near the table clock, there was a lighter. This was my dad’s lighter he forgot it the last time he came. I picked it up in one hand and in the other I had Abby’s sock. I held on to the sock with all my life while I struck a light. In a flash there was a loud blast and wherever I could see there was only fire, but I felt no pain all I felt was freedom, freedom from this lie I was living.

  Everything was dark and in the darkness I could hear Carol’s voice saying; wake up, you have a client call, wake up. I opened my eyes and saw the clock kept on the table. It was almost 9 am. I could hear Carol’s voice coming from Abby’s room. I got up slowly; on the floor I saw my blue jacket. I picked it up and Abby’s sock was in the pocket. I threw the jacket on the bed and ran towards Abby’s room. There I saw Carol changing Abby’s clothes. I ran towards Abby and picked her up in my arms and kissed her on her cheeks and on her nose. She smiled at me, and then I hugged and kissed Carol. She said seems like your birthday changed you. 1 year older and now you love your family more than your work, are you not getting late for your client call. She smiled at me as she took Abby from my arms and said get dressed, you don’t want to miss the call. As she moved away she said, but remember to come back soon today we have to go to your father’s place for lunch. And please don’t cancel it you know how much he loves Abby and likes having us over. Come back soon, I looked at her with a smile on my face.

  -----The End-----