Today started out as a day full of misfortune, much like every other day in my life. I woke up this morning, hungry and alone. Not like, physically alone; my wife was there, of course, fixing breakfast for her mother and our three children. But alas, no eggs for me. My wife claims it's because of my high cholesterol, but I know the truth. My family doesn't respect me at all, for I am, as my mother in law calls me "a good-for-nothing waste of space who would be more useful as an ergonomically-designed footrest." Or at least, that's what I imagine she calls me behind my back. I have no real skills, or education, or redeeming personality traits. But you already knew all of that, Diary.
I got out of bed, and got ready for the day. That consisted of me staring into the mirror for nearly an hour, sinking deeper and deeper into the soulless void I saw in my own eyes. After feeling thoroughly refreshed, I made my way out of our small hut and into the woods. My wife kissed me on the cheek as left. "Have a good day, my darling!" she commands. My children wave and smile as I leave, very clearly beaming because of my departure. Even my mother-in-law taunts me, giving me a small lunch to carry with me. How my family wounds me!
I thought I might try to fight off my overwhelming existential angst by trying to find some food in the forest surrounding our meager dwelling. There's not much fertile ground nearby, because my wife has taken up all of it with her bountiful gardens. Most animals tend to avoid our house as well. I think they can sense the crushing despair emanating from my being. This day, however, I made my way to the crystal-clear river that runs near our house. I saw near the water, the most beautiful swan. I knew this was my one chance at redeeming myself, so grabbed my bow and readied an arrow. Crouching down, I took aim and released.
It was sometime between releasing the arrow and the impact that I realized what I took to be an elegant waterbird was actually a human foot. I ran over to this poor fellow, another victim of life, and found that he was gravely wounded. I knew then that it was too late, and that I had slain this unfortunate soul.
 |
| the hunter taking aim at Krishna's foot; source: wikimedia |
Hi Jacob, It was such a depressing story. I felt so sad after reading it. It seemed like everything was going wrong in this poor guy’s life. Even his own wife is not supporting him. I liked the theme of the story though. I liked how you decided to use diary as way of telling the story to the readers.
ReplyDeleteJacob!
ReplyDeleteI liked that you did a diary entry, it added a different aspect to the story. I would have to agree with Anu and say that the story was a tad bit sad to me in the beginning. I felt really bad for the man, because he had to deal with the disappointment from his family. And to make matters worse, his mother-in-law didnt respect him as a man. That in turn could affect the relationship between him and his wife because of the opinions of his mother-in-law. But overall good job this week!