Wasted Ink

The Forest of Death

There was a time I gave up on this life.

Ten years dedicated to a job that cast me out without any hesitation

My teenage daughter dancing with death.

Drowning in bills.

Poverty closing in.

Wasting my efforts praying for blessings that would never to come.

Being the man, I had no other choice but to ask the devil for help

I became acquainted with darkness.

Fed up playing games with God.

Regretting negotiating with the devil.

I ventured off into the woods to find the life I tried to throw away.

Walking back to the very spot where I once decided to end it all.

Going back to the place where the cold metal kissed my temple.

Where gunpowder filled my nostrils.

Back to where I felt alive.

Back to where I needed to be reborn for the New Year.

The sadness from the past called me back to the forest.

On my way to the forest I followed a familiar path.

But along my way I saw two sets of prints marked in the snow.

Intrigued I decided to follow them

I remembered what brought me to the forest in the first place.

After darkness and I became friends,

I came to this forest.

The pathetic bullet wasn't enough to pierce my skull.

The doctors said I was a miracle.

They watched me for months on end.

My family could no longer stand to be with me.

The days went on

Depression faded away

Emptiness came to replace it.

I became an empty shell.

In present day I continued to follow this familiar path

This time it had unfamiliar footprints in the snow.

I saw a woman stood in the woods weeping out

Draped in black with raven hair,

Blood staining the snow

Blade in hand

The woman loomed over the body of some stranger I couldn't make out yet.

A red smile painted over her face as she cried out.

Tears running down

Mixing with the red smears of regret upon her face.

This woman continued to cry out.

Going back to the past

I was finally liberated from the hospital

I was on a mission to find myself

To find my family.

To regain the hope I once had.

To become the man I once was.

My search was long

But...

At last

I had found my family.

Watching this woman drenched in the man's crimson essence

Watching this stranger, who now became more recognizable lay lifeless on the icy floor.

I felt no fear

I felt-

Alive

Because I knew murderer was my wife Stella

And I knew the man lying dead on the floor.

This revelation brought me joy.

For the first time in a very long time.

More joy I felt when beating the woman I loved, Stella.

More joy than I have ever felt than creating hell for the family that left me behind.

Stella was the love of my life.

We met when I was in a much happier place.

One day Stella asked me to go for a walk.

I took her up on her offer.

It was the first time in a while Stella made eye contact when speaking to me.

I followed Stella into the forest of death.

The forest where I tried to take my life.

Only this time...

She did it for me.