Trust

The Barrel

I walked in the door of my house. My loving wife was in the living room watching TV. She looked up, smiled, and greeted me.

"Hey, baby."

"H-Hey..." I replied with a dead tone of voice.

"Long day at work?"

"You could... say that..." I replied again with the same tone in my voice.

She turned the TV down to a quiet murmur. "Is everything okay?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Can we talk? I asked as I turned into the kitchen.

She turned the TV off and got up from the couch. I sat down at the dining table in one of the chairs. She walked over and sat down to my left at the four-seater table.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

I tried to find the right words to say, but nothing could surface.

"Daniel, baby, you're starting to scare me."

"..."

"Did something happen at work? You know you can tell me anything, right?" She grabbed my hand at this point. Her face wore a combination of the emotions Fear and Worry.

"I can... tell you anything?" I struggled to get the question out.

"Of course. That's why I married you. I love you, baby. I trust you with the entirety of my being. If something's bothering you, don't feel like you shouldn't tell me."

"There is something that's bothering me..."

"What's that?" She gripped my hand a little tighter.

"If you had to..." I trailed into a silence.

" 'If I had to' what?"

"What if you had someone's life in your own hands, what would you do with it?"

"What... do you mean?" She looked at me, confused and worried.

"Can I ask something of you?" I looked at her, knowing my eyes are probably filled with something similar to Death.

"Of course, baby. You can ask me anything."

"Can you close your eyes before I do?"

"Uh, sure." She said, taken aback a little, before closing her eyes.

I stood up from the table, walked over to her and kneeled infront of her. She turned to stay facing me. I took her hands in mine and held them gently.

"I love you, Danelle. From the moment I saw you, I couldn't get you outta my mind. I'm so happy I can spend the rest of my life with you." I reached into my right pants pocket and pulled out a small, shiny, silver object and placed it in her hands. "You can open your eyes now."

She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands to find the metal revolver I had placed into her hands. Her skin went pale as she used one of her hands to cover her mouth in shock.

"Babe... What is..."

"Listen, baby. I love you. That's why I giving you a chance to start over. Have you ever heard of Russian Roulette?" She nodded slowly at this. "I want you to play one round with me. Point the gun right here," I pointed to the center of my forehead, "and pull the trigger."

"Babe... Please... This isn't funny..." She was shaking with tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry to put this burden on you. I promise you, if I survive this, I won't ever do a single thing that's even remotely like this."

"But... But I..." She stammered a bit.

"Please, baby. Only you can do this to me."

She grabbed the gun with her unsteady hands. She lifted it up to my face. I looked down the barrel and saw what I thought to be the bullet. She raised it a little more to my forehead like I asked earlier. I looked at her. Tears were streaming down her face. There is one thing didn't tell her, though. This is more like reverse Russian Roulette; six slots in the chamber, five of them are filled. That means I have a one in six chance of keeping my life. I don't mind it, though. She deserves someone better than me. I looked at her and smiled.

"Thank you, baby. I love you so much. See ya later."

I heard the insides of the gun grind as she pulled the trigger slowly.

*click*

Wait a sec... 'Click'? She dropped the gun onto the floor and hugged me tightly, crying and wailing loudly. I sat there, dazed and confused. I grabbed the gun and opened up the chamber. There were still five bullets that filled up the six slots of the revolver's chamber.

"No... No way..."

I snapped to reality with my terrified, sobbing, and shaking wife hugging me so tightly it was starting to hurt. I didn't know what to say. I pushed gently to get her infront of me so I could look at her. Tears were streaming from her red and puffy eyes.

"Please... don't ever... do something like this again... Please..." She hugged me again and started to cry onto my shoulder.

"I won't. I promise." I said as I held her close and held her tight on the cool, yet welcoming floor.