It can be difficult to navigate life’s road. The darkness can be overwhelming.
Then when all seems lost, you reach an unexpected . . .
Climax
A bitter wind whistled through the bare branches of
the oak trees.
A young man looked out his window into the dark
night
and quivered at the thought of what life held for
him.
At twenty-two, he stood alone in a world that
rejected him
and sent him spiraling into despair.
The young man turned away from the window.
His eyes fell on the room that mirrored his
existence—a pathetic setting
furnished with rummage sale rejects.
He walked toward the mirror that hung askew on the
wall
and stared at the creature reflecting back at him.
What he saw frightened him.
“What am I here for?” he murmured. “I have no
purpose.”
As his world grew dimmer, there was a knock on the
door.
”Go away!” he screamed. “My life is over. My time
has come. Just let me go.”
Another rap on the door jarred him back to the
reality of the moment.
He dragged his tired, aching body to the door and
reluctantly turned the knob.
He pulled it toward him and looked into the
pleading eyes of a young boy—
a boy who looked much like he did at age
twelve—lost and alone.
He extended his hand and the boy grasped it in a
way that sent chills
through his body.
“Please help me,” the child whimpered. "I am your younger brother."
He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and
wiped the tears
from the lad’s eyes.
He ushered him in and sat him down on a rickety
chair and knelt before him.
A bright light illuminated the room, for now he
knew what his purpose was.
He couldn’t let this
child—his brother—lose his way, as he’d
done ten years earlier.
He’d been given a second chance to avoid the
mistakes of his past.
He’d reached the peak of a mountain he’d never
thought he could climb—
the climax of his long journey.
Copyright © 2023 Alan Lowe. All rights reserved.
