"Sir, its about your daughter, Diamond."
Those words brought Sammy's world to a standstill.
"Well, sir... a man came to the school looking for one of the teachers. There was an altercation and he shot the teacher as well as five students... Diamond was killed."
There was a long pause. Sammy's mind went blank; he couldn't process it. Suddenly a wave of nausea swept over him.
"Sir, are you still there?"
"Yeah," Sammy replied weakly.
"Do you think you could come down to the hospital to identify the body?"
He didn't feel his stomach heave or even taste the bile; he found himself looking at his breakfast from earlier. Everyone was staring at him.
"I'll be there in thirty minutes." It didn't seem real.
Walking into the cold hospital was a cold welcome for Sammy. The walls were a frigid white. A nurse hurried past; her heels clacked against the floor. Sammy's boots made no sound, but his breathing did. Every breath was deep, slow, and controlled; he had reverted to his stress training. He had to focus on breathing and keep on walking.
The nurse with kind eyes at the reception desk told Sammy that, "The morgue is in the base floor, room zero two zero. Can I get someone to take you down there, hun?
"I'll find it."
After a long walk of controlled breathing and mindless steps he did find it. A man in black scrubs met Sammy at the door to that room that was even more icy than the rest of this building of death.
"Are you ready?"
Sammy looked into the man's eyes and saw that they were as the rest of that god-forsaken structure, unfeeling... almost dead.
Sammy merely nodded his head. Walking in he saw a short and familiar figure on a table under a white sheet. As the man in the black scrubs lifted the top of the sheet Sammy felt the bile rise up in his throat again, but this time he managed to stop himself. For a split second the face on the girl before him was not his daughter's. However, the notion that he could dictate reality simple thought force of will left almost as quickly as it came.
"Sir?"
"It's her... That is my daughter."
The man in the black scrubs began to cover Diamond's face.
"Wait!"
So Sammy stood there looking at his daughter's face.
Memories of Collete's death came rushing back with the force of a freight train. After an agonizing eight hours of labor the screaming ceased. Collete's eyes were bloodshot, her hair matted, and her face had developed a film of sweat. Her head fell back as the machines started beeping even louder. Alarms went off and people rushed in. The doctors were shouting and everything was chaos.
Was a nurse ran in he asked, "What's going on?"
She didn't say anything, she simply continued into the room.
After what seemed to be an eternity of panicked nurses and doctors there was another calm. At last a doctor started walking towards Sammy. The doctor was fidgeting.
"Uh... sir, your wife. She was bleeding internally and we couldn't stop it. However, your daughter is just fine.
For the briefest of moments Sammy wouldn't accept it, but his mind quickly turned to God.
We were supposed to be parents together. They were supposed to raise their daughter together. This wasn't supposed to happen! God, how could you let this happen?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Devil's Pact pt. 1
The following is a story that has been developing in my head for some time, I just didn't know it until a few days ago. The general development and conclusion has already been decided. My reason for posting this forward will be seen at the conclusion. The story will be posted in separate segments.
†
Sammy could barely sort through the keys to unlock his door. His job at the mine was wearing him thin. It had been a sensible choice for him after the military. He didn't know much else but hard work and he was good at it. God had given him the job and he should be grateful, but he was wearing thin. The jolt of the lock opening woke Sammy from his walking stupor. He was home. Diamond should be arriving home soon. Tomorrow was a school day. He threw his shoes in his room and started his evening routine of getting dinner ready.
Laying down on his bed later that night he looked over to his Bible on the nightstand.
I should open that up.
He was soon distracted by the heaviness of is eyelids and the softness of his pillow. Black
The shriek of the alarm always annoyed him. Over the years he replaced more than his fair share of alarm clocks. His hand always hit the clock with an alarming impact because of his training. His training also made it impossible for him to sleep more than five hours. The clock wasn't beeping six o'clock anymore. The cold water from the shower always served to get him moving in the morning.
"Dia', hun, its time to get up."
His ten year old daughter rolled over to face him. Her eyes opened slowly.
"Five more minutes?"
Sammy smiled. "You know better than that, sweety. Come on, head up, feet down, and to the shower with you." He pulled out a dress from the closet and handed it to her as she stepped out of bed.
Since the death of his wife Diamond had become the center of his life. For ten years he thought of little else except his daughter. He had cleaned up for his late wife Collete, but he sacrificed for Diamond. He had put her through private school and made sure that she never needed anything. He taught her what hard work was and did the best he knew how. He was a loving father.
He stopped in front of the church building that the school also used. It wasn't big, but he wanted it that way. There were good teachers there. The principal was a godly lady and he wanted Diamond to see what a godly lady was. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he wasn't willing to grow close to God since Collete's death so he settled for the principal instead.
"I'm not angry at God," he would say, "we just aren't on speaking terms."
He watched the door close behind Diamond as she entered the building. He drove back to the mine.
"Hey Mike, you have any extra shifts this week?"
Mike was known as the "Keeper of the Gate" or just Keeper for short. Sammy never called him that. He had too much respect for the elderly man.
"Yeah, why are asking?"
"Oh, you know how it is. College isn't cheap."
"You're not thinking of going back to school, are you?"
"Mike, do I look like the type to go to a college? This is for when Diamond is ready to go to a good university."
"Sammy, you coddle that girl too much."
"Yeah, yeah." Sammy waived him off as he grabbed his paper work for that week. He stuffed it in his locker as he grabbed his hard hat. His thoughts turned to Collete and how he missed her. It had been ten years, but he still couldn't bring himself to even think about seeing other women. To Sammy, Collete should not have died in that operating room. The doctors said that it was a freak accident. Sammy knew better. God let it happen and Sammy would not forget that, ever.
When the lunch bell sounded Sammy's face was covered in dirt, soot and dust. He went to his truck to retrieve the lunch pail in the seat. Sitting at the bench he heard his name called.
"Sammy, someone is on the phone for you!"
He picked up the phone.
"Mr. Samson Williams?"
"Yeah, what'cha need?"
"Sir, its about your daughter, Diamond."
†
†
Sammy could barely sort through the keys to unlock his door. His job at the mine was wearing him thin. It had been a sensible choice for him after the military. He didn't know much else but hard work and he was good at it. God had given him the job and he should be grateful, but he was wearing thin. The jolt of the lock opening woke Sammy from his walking stupor. He was home. Diamond should be arriving home soon. Tomorrow was a school day. He threw his shoes in his room and started his evening routine of getting dinner ready.
Laying down on his bed later that night he looked over to his Bible on the nightstand.
I should open that up.
He was soon distracted by the heaviness of is eyelids and the softness of his pillow. Black
The shriek of the alarm always annoyed him. Over the years he replaced more than his fair share of alarm clocks. His hand always hit the clock with an alarming impact because of his training. His training also made it impossible for him to sleep more than five hours. The clock wasn't beeping six o'clock anymore. The cold water from the shower always served to get him moving in the morning.
"Dia', hun, its time to get up."
His ten year old daughter rolled over to face him. Her eyes opened slowly.
"Five more minutes?"
Sammy smiled. "You know better than that, sweety. Come on, head up, feet down, and to the shower with you." He pulled out a dress from the closet and handed it to her as she stepped out of bed.
Since the death of his wife Diamond had become the center of his life. For ten years he thought of little else except his daughter. He had cleaned up for his late wife Collete, but he sacrificed for Diamond. He had put her through private school and made sure that she never needed anything. He taught her what hard work was and did the best he knew how. He was a loving father.
He stopped in front of the church building that the school also used. It wasn't big, but he wanted it that way. There were good teachers there. The principal was a godly lady and he wanted Diamond to see what a godly lady was. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he wasn't willing to grow close to God since Collete's death so he settled for the principal instead.
"I'm not angry at God," he would say, "we just aren't on speaking terms."
He watched the door close behind Diamond as she entered the building. He drove back to the mine.
"Hey Mike, you have any extra shifts this week?"
Mike was known as the "Keeper of the Gate" or just Keeper for short. Sammy never called him that. He had too much respect for the elderly man.
"Yeah, why are asking?"
"Oh, you know how it is. College isn't cheap."
"You're not thinking of going back to school, are you?"
"Mike, do I look like the type to go to a college? This is for when Diamond is ready to go to a good university."
"Sammy, you coddle that girl too much."
"Yeah, yeah." Sammy waived him off as he grabbed his paper work for that week. He stuffed it in his locker as he grabbed his hard hat. His thoughts turned to Collete and how he missed her. It had been ten years, but he still couldn't bring himself to even think about seeing other women. To Sammy, Collete should not have died in that operating room. The doctors said that it was a freak accident. Sammy knew better. God let it happen and Sammy would not forget that, ever.
When the lunch bell sounded Sammy's face was covered in dirt, soot and dust. He went to his truck to retrieve the lunch pail in the seat. Sitting at the bench he heard his name called.
"Sammy, someone is on the phone for you!"
He picked up the phone.
"Mr. Samson Williams?"
"Yeah, what'cha need?"
"Sir, its about your daughter, Diamond."
†
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