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by Tesse Wilson
09/26/17
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He raced into the house, thankful he was not far from home when he realized he had forgotten the report. As he approached his bedroom he heard sobbing. It was his wife again. He entered the room, “honey you're okay”, he asked. She did not respond, but glared at him, her eyes red and swollen. Pressed for time he rubbed her shoulders tersely saying “come on honey, you know I did not mean anything", then he hurried out to be on time for his meeting at nine.

After the meeting, he moseyed along to his desk and slumped into his chair which squeaked under the pressure of his weight. He thought of calling her, with one hand under his chin he replayed in his mind the events earlier that morning. He only mentioned to her that his new white shirt got soiled, and suggested that she separate the colors when doing laundry. He could not understand why she got so offended over things that seem trivial to him. When he met her five years ago his first impression was that she is quite an exciting, and confident person. They dated for four years. Many people said they were good together, so they decided to get married. But nine months into the marriage his opinion of her changed. Now he thinks she is a clumsy and insecure woman with delicate emotions. Only last week he politely told her to cut back on the salt as his doctor had warned him about his high blood pressure. She burst into tears, accusing him of always criticizing her.

He was at pains to make her happy because she came into the marriage with a broken heart from a previous relationship. He wanted their marriage to be perfect. He needed to prove that he was a good guy. But it seemed to him that in spite of the many compliments he gave her, the roses, hugs, and many gifts. She still complained that he was not romantic and insensitive to the emotional turmoil she was going through trying to get pregnant. He encouraged her to attend the free counseling sessions the church in the area offered. His friend Tim invited them to attend. He was not into what he called the church thing and never said a prayer in his life. However, problems at home were multiplying daily, so he seriously considered it; hoping God will help. Tim had said Jesus loves him unconditionally.

"Oh, Sarah what are you hiding from me!" he sighed, as he took out their wedding photo from his wallet and stared. He hoped she pulled herself together as she had a doctor's appointment. She only agreed to it after he coaxed her. He observed the dark circles around her eyes had gotten darker and she looked pale.

Suddenly he realized that someone had left a stack of files on his desk. He had drifted away. Frustrated both at work and home, he attributed it as the cause of the very painful headaches he was having. The eight hours seemed like two hours as he drowned himself in his work.

Later that evening, he strolled into the house present in hand to cheer her up. He glanced at the kitchen table and was pleased that she purchased the fittings for Tim, his trusted friend and plumber, who was expected in a matter of minutes. “Sarah, come see what I got you”, he said as he walked towards their bedroom. Strange she was not there, but there was a letter on the bed.

Tears streamed down, his hands trembling as he read. He flung himself onto the bed, now he was sobbing hysterically. In the letter; she said the doctor told her she could not have children, she wanted a divorce because she realized she is not in love with him. She was going back to her former lover.

Kent was shattered, not again he shrieked. His mother abandoned him, two of his former girlfriends cheated on him, now his wife left him. When he got married he thought he would be happy, no more nervous breakdowns and medication for anxiety attacks and depression. He hid so well his very fragile emotions. He sprung from the bed, his breathing was heavy, his blood boiling as he opened the shaky closet door. Where is it he screamed. The veins in his temple now bulging, pulsating, his heart pounding as he placed the gun to his head. He pulled the trigger but it was empty. He staggered around the room, his vision blurred, a blood vessel in his head which was swollen burst. He fell to the floor unconscious, blood trickling from one of his nostrils. Kent suffered an aneurysm.

Tim rang the doorbell a few times then realized the door was open, so he entered the house. He had called the prayer group at his church earlier in the day requesting prayer for his stressed-out former schoolmate Kent and a nurse he met recently.

Six months later as the nurse helped her discharged patient pack one his bags, she wondered how could a man in such a fragile state survive. She was now so fond of him, she thought to herself he is the same age as her son. The baby she tried to abort and then abandoned when he was born. This young man in many ways touched the broken pieces of her heart. Silently she prayed, "God I know you gave Kent Saunders a second chance. Please give me one too. Help me find my son".

Tim entered the hospital humming a song. He was thanking God for answering his prayer.

Before the nurse could end her silent prayer, her phone rang. It was her brother. He had good news. " I believe I've found your son," he said. "He lives in this town and his name is Kent Saunders."

By Tesse Wilson

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Jeff Drinnan

27 Sep 2017

You interest the reader, Tess, by telling the story of a troubled man and his relationships. I was in suspense; it held my interest.

There's a twist at the end, very O'Henry like, when the woman who had abandoned her son after a failed abortion and abandoned him is her son!

The story tacitly teaches the moral that God can make things right - there is restoration. And here I thought it was about Tim saving his friend.

Great! Just a couple sentence structure issues.

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