He dubbed the sweat from his palms on to his pants. He was sweating a lot this night, as he knew what the had to do. Looking across the street, looking at the house that was waiting in the shadows of the trees. He wanted to turn away and leave… but no, he had to do this. It had never been so dark, as it was, this night. He waited in the shadows of the shop, that had closed an hour earlier, so now he was alone and waited as he observed the house.
He threw the cigarette to the ground, only this night he could feel it, it all, and he was determined to enjoy one last cigarette before he had to leave the shelter of the shop. The time had come and he headed over the street without looking for traffic as he knew that no one would be there at this hour.
He had not, and would never, have chosen to do what he was about to do but it was his to do. He walked slowly towards the house, he was not in a hurry, knowing that nothing could prevent what was about to happen and that he had a command he had to obey. This job was not meant for anyone, only a few chosen once did this job but he was given this task as a punishment and he knew very well, why that was.
He stood for a few minutes in front of his childhood home, a long time had passed since he was last there but he knew nothing had changed, he knew his parents. He went through the front door and directly into his parents bedroom, there they were, half a sleep, his mother was more awake than asleep and next to their bed was his little sister in her crib. She was only ten months of age. He got tears in his eyes, he did not want to do this but he knew he could not avoid it, he had to carry his punishment to the end and this was it.
His little sister looked at him and smiled, she had been ill for some time now and there was not much that could be done, he just wanted to get this over with! Ha gently laid his right hand on her forehead and the palm of his left hand over her heart, she started to cry, this hurt, hurt a lot, he knew this as he had gone through it not that long ago.
His mother woke up with a start and hurried over to her daughters bed, but it was too late. He watched the steady stream of tears bursting from his mothers eyes as she picked up the lifeless body of her daughter.
– “NO!!! NO!!! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!!” Her scream cut through his soul. He wished that the feelings of the soul would be shut off during this task.
– “Mother, I am so sorry!” He whisper to her, he knew she could not hear him.
His father had call for assistance and the ambulance was on it’s way. His father tried to hide the pain he felt but his eyes filled up with tears. His father embraced his wife and tried to take the lifeless body of their daughter from her but she did not want to let go as she cried with great pain and sorrow.
– “Why is this happening to us, what have I done wrong… what … have I…” She could not finish as her painful crying took over.
– “Mother, this is not your fault, it is mine, I am so very sorry, forgive me…”
The ambulance had arrived and the paramedics tried to revive his sister but he knew they would not succeed.
There she was, his sister had appeared in her bed, he went over and picked her up, she smiled at him and he hugged her close. He looked to his mother, that did not want to believe that the paramedics could not do anything for her child. He watched with growing sadness as his mother picked up her daughters lifeless body and started to rock back and forth as the tears fell from her face down to the body she held on to.
He spread his wings and departed with his sister in his arms. The last thing he heard and would carry with him was the painful crying of his mother, that would follow him for eternity.
19August2018