An elderly man knelt praying in the meager confines of his dusty apartment building. He had done so three times daily ever since he had retired from the priesthood almost a decade ago.
A thunderous knocking at the door intruded upon his solitude. Opening it, he peered eyes of a rather haggard-looking man. His face was disguised by a long ragged beard and tangled hair. He was a very unkempt looking individual, adorned in tattered clothing which obviously hadn't been washed recently. He held in his hands a large, double-barreled shotgun. He appeared dazed. almost delirious.
- "Stay where you are!" he shouted. The vvoice sounded vaguely familiar.
- "What do you want?" the priest respondeed, startled. "Jewelry? Money? I don't have much but you can have it all."
- "What's the matter. You don't remember your little brother?"
In that horrifying moment, all of the painful memories came like assassins, stabbing him in the back. He remembered how he and his brother had once run a business together. He was so zealous, so tall/full of life back then. He remembered how he had run into financial problems and embezzled a large amount of money to pay off his debts. The business had gone bankrupt and collapsed.
- "Peter?! What happened to you?"
- "I didn't mean for things to turn out tthe way that they did. If I could go back and change things I would."
- "You are lying!"
- The priest thought 'Why do you think I entered the priesthood? It was to repent, to search for absolution. I couldn't live with myself after what I had done. Please forgive me. I am old and will probably die soon. It would mean so much to me to know that you have forgiven me. Even if yon don't I understand, but killing me won't make things any better. Now that we have found each other I want to try and fix what I have done wrong, I want to help you. You've got to believe me. "I'm sorry."
- "It's too late! You can't bring back myy wife! You can't bring back my kids! You ruined my life! You can't change that! You deserve to die!" In a furious rage he fired a deafening shot. The bullet grazed the priest's leg.
Simultaneously, two police officers , alerted by a neighbour who had heard the noise, seen the shadowy figure enter the apartment burst through the door. Peter quickly spun around, firing a shot into the shoulder of one of the officers. The other fired countless rounds into his chest. Peter's lifeless body dropped to the ground.
The priest had imagined over and over again in his head how he and his brother would be reunited. However, due to the circumstances he did not feel the same elation which he had felt, in his dreams. He liked to think that his brother had only grazed his leg because he did not really want to kill him. This must be true, he thought. How else could he have missed at such a close range? Although his brother had not forgiven him, he decided that he could only try to forgive himself and continue living.
Whenever he sat alone in his apartment the tragic events which had unfolded that day recreated themselves in his mind repeatedly. They remained with him eternally; shadows of pain from which he could never escape.
1997