Tolu and Riley took the chance of plunging off the cliff, trusting that it would get them into the portal and out of the mad world they had been trapped in.
Frank, the old man, still remains contemplating what has occurred.
Those two kids had been the first people Frank Aldrin had seen here in years. He had initially feared for them, hoping they would not risk the pain of having their hopes dashed, but the boy had sold them his pitch. Watching them take the plunge off the cliff was a twist he had not foreseen.
Frank Aldrin blinked as Justin approached with that annoying smile of his. “Will they make it over there?”
Justin settled beside him. “From this point, there’s really no way for you to tell. Why don’t you take the plunge as well?”
“I already know what’s waiting on the other side. But it’s not for me.”
“How can you even say that? You don’t know that for a fact.”
“What? Platitudes and promises of a better tomorrow are for mindless weaklings, victims of a ruthless world. It’s all meaningless. There is no hope. And you should be ashamed of yourself for even insinuating otherwise.”
Justin fiddled with his fingers on the bench. “Do you ever wonder why I rhyme all the time?”
“I don’t care.”
“You’re not bothered? You’ve never wondered?”
Frank stared him down. “My guess is you’re going to tell me, anyway.”
“It’s because there is an order to my existence. I’m not left up to chance. God made me for His purposes. Time goes according to His plans.”
Frank wagged his head. “Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before. So if there is purpose, why is there pain and suffering in the world? Why are men prone to so much evil? Why do good people, great people, die in the worst ways while criminals get rich? Why do millions die in tsunamis, when ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands?’ To think that there should be some purpose to all of this is to shut my eyes to the reality.”
“No, Frank. It’s a broken world, we know this. But God doesn’t leave you in the abyss. He adds His light into your stories. Your existence is anything but ordinary. Even when it doesn’t make sense, He asks that you trust Him. He’s promised to work something glorious out, and He’ll start in you, from within.”
Frank shrugged. “I don’t need this.”
“You know, I had hoped that seeing those two find their exit would help you see, even just a little bit.”
“And what exactly would it help me see?”
“That there is help! That there is grace. That there is a way to move on from this place.”
Frank chuckled. “I’m not like them. They’re not like me.”
“Why do you think so? It’s been 37 years, Frank. I really want to know.”
Frank looked on at the cottage across from him. “I deserve to be here. I choose to be here.” He folded his arms to end the conversation. “I want to be here.”
“For your pain—“
“Stop it, kid! I’m not a gullible victim looking for healing.” Something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. It was from the cottage.
Justin followed his gaze.
“I’m not the victim here,” Frank said. “I’m the monster in this story.”
For the first time in a long time, a window of the cottage lit up. As they watched they saw a man through the window. It was Frank, a much younger version of himself. He still had a head full of hair, and his clothes fit him too.
“What … is … happening?”
Justin looked up at him. “It means that you must be remembering.”
“Whatever it is you’re trying to do, stop. This is in vain.”
“I’m sorry, but somehow you’re the one thinking about it again.”
“I think about it all the time,” Frank snarled. “It’s why I stay here watching this cottage. What, you think being face-to-face with this moment will change my opinion? Like those kids did before?”
Justin squinted. “I think you’re seeing something more.”
As they watched, the Frank in the house was in an argument with someone. It was his daughter, Darlene. Watching it now he could not remember what she had done, but whatever it was, he had been angry.
He covered his mouth. Was it worth his anger?
“Take this away,” he whispered.
He watched as the man grabbed the bottle from the table. It had been in a fit of rage, a momentary burst of anger. It was not supposed to have happened.
He shut his eyes, but the scenes played on in his mind as clear as day. He stumbled off the bench, scampering away, but he could not escape it. He could not escape the memory.
He watched as he smashed the bottle in his daughter’s face. The glass shattered in slow motion, every detail imprinted on his mind in high definition.
It was not supposed to happen. Maybe if the bottle had not been there…
But he knew it was not the bottle’s fault. It was his. It was him that had damaged Darlene’s face for life. It was him that had doomed her to months of suturing and plastic surgery.
It was the last straw that had broken his marriage.
It was the brick that brought his family toppling down.
And it had been his doing.
Frank fought to keep all of this from getting to him, but he felt the emotions washing over him as raw as they’d ever been. He tightened his grip on the back of the bench.
“Don’t you see, Frank?” Justin said.
“Stop it…”
“This was 37 years ago. You haven’t moved on from this moment. You’re hurting more than you know—“
“I’m not the one that’s hurting. She’s the one that’s hurting. Darlene? My marriage? My life? They’re the ones that are hurting because of what I did.”
“So it’s Guilt,” Justin summed it up. “It’s driven a sword into your soul, to the very hilt.”
“And it’s well deserved.” He was heaving now. “I did this to my daughter. Whatever I am going through, I earned it.”
“Guilt has held you down. It just masks the pain inside. It doesn’t matter how you try to cover, there’s no way you can hide it.”
Frank shook his head, still staring at the cottage and the crying girl within. “I’m the scum of the earth, Justin. How could I do that to someone? And how can you even imply that this can be wiped away?”
Justin didn’t respond as Frank let of steam. He held his head in his hands and cried. It was too much. He didn’t know this reservoir had been stuck in there, but it was too much.
Perhaps Justin was right. Watching those kids believe they could trust something, or Someone, and how it took them away from this place got to him. It brought back that hope, but also a feeling of unworthiness. His guilt stared him in the face.
He dropped to his knees. “GOOOOOOD!!!!”
He wasn’t calling on God. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t want to. He was just letting out the exhaustion built up in his chest. But that was what his heart cried. God.
“I don’t know why I’m doing this,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. But, God … I can’t do this anymore. Just … help me.”
Perhaps it was too much to hope for. He didn’t even really believe those words, did he? He didn’t know why he said it. It came up from within him. Why did he expect something more to—
But suddenly, the ground underneath him cracked. He was startled. When he turned to Justin, the boy was smiling.
“It’s like I said, the hardest knocks are with your knees. The portal has been everywhere all this time. Just beneath what your eye sees.”
“What’s going on?”
“You called,” Justin said. “He answered. Your sojourn may be at its end.”
Light shot out of the ground underneath him. Enveloping him. Frank was scared.
“Justin!”
“Goodbye, old friend.”
And he was gone.
>> THE JOURNEY COMES TO AN END HERE.
Emmanuel Onimisi 