Don't Give Up

His legs wobbled as he walked tentatively into the woods. Sure, he'd been thinking about doing this for a month now but now that he was making the move, he wasn't so sure it was the right thing to do. He paused shortly, looked around then sighed and resumed walking. His entire life journey had taken a nosedive three months ago. It had all started when the firm he worked at had had a merger. The change in management and firm administration had resulted in a mass lay-off of workers and unfortunately, he had been one. He'd immediately set out on the streets and everywhere looking for a job or ways to earn but he didn't find any and things started fall apart quickly around him. The steady ship he'd been sailing all his life had begun sinking.

_pixabay

His wife's salary was hardly enough to foot the bills and with time she started complaining about how his joblessness was affecting them. They were slowly drifting apart and started arguing a lot. She started keeping late nights and avoiding him and eventually the house. She looked for excuses not to be home with him. She was going on more office trips and working extra hours mostly to spite him than to earn more money. His home was quickly crashing and there was nothing he could do about it.

But things quickly went from bad to worse when his daughter fell ill. It was a rather serious case of malaria which had started as something so small that he thought he could treat her at home by himself instead of taking her to hospital. He did this in order to save money but little did he know that he was only making her worse through his medication. It wasn't until he saw she was almost at the point of death that he rushed her to the hospital. The doctors had then told him a lot of money was needed for her treatment. Being short on cash, he had begged everyone around; his friends and family, but in the end he was unable to raise the money needed for her treatment. His daughter had eventually died in his arms at the hospital yesterday.

He'd called his wife who was on an official trip and broken the news to her on the phone. She screamed and cried but didn't utter a single word before hanging up. This morning he'd forced himself to get up from bed when he heard the doorbell ring. He literally dragged himself to the door. It was the postman with a delivery for him. He signed and he was handed two envelopes. Still too sad and tired, he headed back to bed, cried and then he slept. After an hour, he woke up and made coffee before sitting on the sofa to check the mail.

He opened the first envelope and received the shock of his life. It was a divorce letter. His wife was leaving him. Along with the papers for him to sign on came a note from her saying she had moved on and was now with someone else. All she needed from him was a divorce so she could marry the other guy. She added that she didn't need any alimony since he was wretched and that there would be no need for child custody struggles because he had killed their child. He had cried for hours after reading it and now, here he was, walking in the woods, confused.

His mind was searching about looking for answers. How had this happened to him of all people? Who had he offended and why did he deserve this brutal punishment? Unable to find any answers, he slumped his shoulders and stopped walking then he looked around. The spot seemed great, he stuck his hand in his pocket and brought out a gun. He cocked it. The boom that followed left birds flying away in fear and his body cold dead on the ground.

Hours later, his suicide note was found next to the second envelope he hadn't opened. The envelope informing him of the million-dollar contract he'd just won.

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_{Where there is darkness, I'll shine the light.}