The Teacher [Watty Awards 2013] - COMPLETE

IV - Love and Lost

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, 1993

The living room of the house was filled with smoke and foul smells. Isaac had just woken up with a heavy head and hazy sights. It was already noon. Suddenly, there were knocks on the door and he heard the sound of a female voice. "Isaac, are you in there?" It was Bianca, Abigail's sister. Abigail was Isaac's wife. Even though she was gone for quite some time now, Isaac couldn't seem to erase his memory of her. He thought about her every seconds of every day. He regretted all his ignorance and the stupid things he said. He missed her smells, her warm touch and the way she would always smile at him after a rough day at work. There were things he wished he did and things he wished he never did. He was lost without her. "Isaac??" Bianca called from outside. Isaac stood up and took some time to set himself straight. He walked towards the door slowly, ignoring the sounds of Bianca calling from the other side of the door. Then, he opened the door slowly. The bright sunlight hurt his eyes and annoyed the hell out of him.

"There you are! I thought you were dead!" Bianca said sarcastically.

"Please come in." Isaac said, ignoring her sarcasm.

Bianca went into the house and straight to the kitchen. She sighed after seeing the mess around her then she started to clean up the kitchen. Mean while, Isaac went back to the couch and lay down. "This place smells like shit!" Bianca complained. Isaac couldn’t care less. He closed his eyes, trying to find peace. She wouldn’t understand. He whispered deep down in his heart. No one will understand.

When Bianca was finished with all the cleaning and arranging groceries in the fridge, she walked to the living room. Isaac was still on the couch with his eyes closed. Then, she said, “How long are you going to live with the dead and forget the livings?”

As usual, Isaac ignored her. “Your kids could really use a father, you know. Do you even have any idea what they went through?” She asked, as she always did. Isaac was still ignoring her. Bianca sighed and walked towards the front door. She stopped half way and said, in sadness, “You’re not the only one who lost her. Ethan and Carla lost their mother. I lost my sister. You’re not the only one…”

Then, she left, with small drop of tears from her eyes. Isaac heard her every words but he was more than sure that it was different. He was sure that the lost he felt was the most compared to Ethan or Carla or Bianca. All he had was Abigail. Without her, he had nothing now. The world didn’t make any sense and nothing matter to him anymore. She was the only person that can deal with Ethan’s weird requests and Carla’s bad decisions. Parenting was always her job. He was only supporting her in doing that. He wasn’t good at it at all. He didn’t know what to do now. I just want her back… He thought.