The hands of time have really had their toll on
Him, He was standing
with decreptitude visible on His skin, with
gray hair and that stern face. The Devils'
prodigy, the one that had ruined Martha's life,
It was "The monster" standing there; in front
of her
He raised his arms in a gesture for her to
come down, as if They were those that could
provide comfort, but from their end, Martha
knew no love. From the end of those hands
Martha knew only pain,, torture, humiliation
and the worst abuse there was to impose!
The blood began its mad rush inside Martha,
her knees were becoming week, her
consciousness was fading. After two years of
being out in the bitter cold, surfing rubbish
bins for food with no proper form of
sanitation, her only place of bathing was the
river on the other side of town, her
appearance had worsened so much that the
soles of her feet had developed cracks that
were identical to those earthquake-like splits
on the surface of her lips, her body odour
was a remarkable stench. Life had not ruined
her..
This man had.
He took a step close towards her direction
and hesitated as he saw her jerk, almost
falling over... A stifled cry-like mumble erupted
from his mouth.
'Please just listen to me' he said
with evident tears that seemed to be carving
fractures in his aged cheeks he started his
oration.
In life I have done the unthinkable , I reserved
to doing diabolical deeds that demoralized
you from within. I took away your chance of
ever having a proper life, stripped you of your
dignity and destroyed your pride. The things i
did were due to my alcohol addiction, I
choose to believe.
It took me quite some time to come to my
senses maybe it's because I got diagnosed
with this PROSTATE CANCER, this evil
consuming me from within, yes Martha, I have
less than a year in existence.
A tear dropped from his eye as he continued,
' As a man who is about to seize existing, I
have made peace with my maker, with that
burden lifted, my shoulders remained with
this heavy load. This hindrance...
You Martha!...
I owe you your living, I have wronged you
from the beginning I cannot find the words
to express my sincere apologies for nothing I
say now can turn back time, so we may start
over again. I AM SORRY. If ever you find it in
your heart to forgive me only then shall my
soul rest in piece' he concluded!
Martha stood there, aghast with flies
revolving around her whitewashed face, she
could not believe what she was hearing, her
solitude had taught her well and if He was
thinking of going back with her he could
forget it she thought!
As if he had read her mind he interrupted her
thoughts... No Martha I am not here to ask you to come with me. I came here today, to be the better man and repent for my wrongs and as for my son his mom came and took
him last year.. I couldn't raise a child on my
own.

Dusk had taken its toll on daylight and the
shadow of night was slowly creeping upon
earth. He took an envelope from the back pocket of
his trousers and reached out to hand it to
Martha who still stood at the edge wide-
eyed,"take " he repeated. Martha slowly took
the envelope. He turned and said "goodbye
Martha" as he walked back in the direction of
the broken sunset.

It took awhile for Martha to regain her
composure, with her filthy fingers she
opened the envelope and produced
documents. With the little reading she knew
she understood that the envelope contained a
will with her name as the legitimate heir to
HIS 2 MILLION dollar fortune and a deed with
a house that was registered to her name too,
the last item was what really caught her eye.
Her mothers' favourite silver vintage bracelet
she held it close as tears trickled from her
eyes. Martha moved away from the edge and
forced a smile.
God never forgets the forsaken she said out
loud. As Martha walks away from what was
supposed to be her death, she starts the WAIT
for the monsters' death and her ultimate
victory....
A BETTER LIFE
#THE END