Xizor
01-11-2006, 07:19 PM
This is a sad short story that I wrote randomly one day. I hope you like it!
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As Jack Burnette lay in his bed, eighty-seven years old, he thought to himself about all the mistakes he'd made in life. Being so old, he had quite enough time to make mistakes, and he was no angel by any means.
In fact, at the age of 11 he made his first big mistake. While at school in the year 2003, he was playing tether ball with one of his best friends, who considered himself a champion at tether ball, and nobody really expected to win. There was the rare win by this other boy, but he was the only one who anyone even considered able to beat Jack's friend Gabe. However, one day Jack decided to play Gabe in tether ball, and miraculously one. Gabe tried not to pout, but when you lose your first game to someone who nobody really considers good at the game, it's a little bit humiliating. And instead of just being humble and continuing to play, Jack decided it would be a good idea to throw it in Gabe's face. He teased and tormented Gabe about it all to the end of recess and all throughout the week. By the end of the week, Gabe wasn't talking to Jack anymore; they haven't talked since.
At the age of 13, in his seventh grade year of Middle School, he made his second big mistake. A very beautiful and intelligent girl named Susan was in Jack's English class, and over the year they became friends. One day, he found out that Susan had a crush on Jack's BEST friend, Harry, and in his mind, he had struck gold. The two barely even saw each other, and Harry was one of those boys who really hadn't found himself wanting to be near girls in any way at all, and so they really were just two people. Jack, however, brought them together in a negative way. Whenever they were seen within ten feet of each other, he was always jeering at them and poking fun. Harry got over it eventually, and didn't really care; Susan told Jack what she thought and for years they hated each other. They never quite made up.
When he was in his Junior Year of High School, Jack made another huge mistake. This one was by far the greatest of his youth. When he saw a rather notorious boy named Gary picking on a freshman, Jack stood up for the boy. Gary, a burly, muscular football player about six feet tall, was not someone you want to mess with. But Jack stood up for the rather scrawny freshman and when he walked home that day, Gary was waiting en route for him. The two exchanged words, and ended up fighting. Jack was left on the ground with a broken arm, two cracked ribs, and some bruised knuckles. Gary was left on the ground with a broken neck. When the police finally arrived after someone noticed the two, it was apparent that Jack was going to make a full recovery; what was also apparent was that Gary was going to be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life, and probably wouldn't live much past forty. Jack was expelled from his school district and placed in Juvenile Hall for the next two years. He later finished high school at a private school.
However, the biggest of all Jack's mistakes was that he made in his fifties. Having kept his mouth shut for years about things and not daring to get to know people, Jack finally met the prettiest, nicest, and smartest girl he had ever seen or known. They were married within a year of their first meeting, and they were happily married for about the next 20 years. But around their twentieth anniversary, tensions started to rise. Janet, his wife, was going through menopause, and she was far moodier than Jack would have liked. They frequently fought, and their fourteen year old son was always caught in the middle. What he never noticed though, was his son's increasing independence from everyone and everything, the more time he kept spending in his room with loud rock music playing. One day, in the middle of the night, when Carl would normally have been asleep and his music off, he woke up with his music still blaring. Jack went in to go investigate. His only son was slumped over at his desk, his face stark white, not breathing. They called the paramedics, but upon he was pronounced dead. It was later discovered he had a high amount of heroine in his blood stream. They found several puncture wounds on his left deltoid, that were the result of frequent heroine injections. The young teen had been neglected so much that his parents never noticed that he had been doing drugs. Jack was devastated and never got over it. His wife left him a year later and they never spoke afterward.
"Jack...you should rest," the polite nurse had come back to Jack's room.
"I...I don't need to rest," he said in a raspy voice, and he was straining to breathe.
"Jack..it's ok...you can rest now," and she turned out the lights and left.
And in the darkness, Jack saw a light forming in front of him. He saw it, stood up, and walked towards it.
It was the light at the end of the tunnel. And he was finally able to see it clearly. He stood up, walked towards it...and then walked into the light.
=========
As Jack Burnette lay in his bed, eighty-seven years old, he thought to himself about all the mistakes he'd made in life. Being so old, he had quite enough time to make mistakes, and he was no angel by any means.
In fact, at the age of 11 he made his first big mistake. While at school in the year 2003, he was playing tether ball with one of his best friends, who considered himself a champion at tether ball, and nobody really expected to win. There was the rare win by this other boy, but he was the only one who anyone even considered able to beat Jack's friend Gabe. However, one day Jack decided to play Gabe in tether ball, and miraculously one. Gabe tried not to pout, but when you lose your first game to someone who nobody really considers good at the game, it's a little bit humiliating. And instead of just being humble and continuing to play, Jack decided it would be a good idea to throw it in Gabe's face. He teased and tormented Gabe about it all to the end of recess and all throughout the week. By the end of the week, Gabe wasn't talking to Jack anymore; they haven't talked since.
At the age of 13, in his seventh grade year of Middle School, he made his second big mistake. A very beautiful and intelligent girl named Susan was in Jack's English class, and over the year they became friends. One day, he found out that Susan had a crush on Jack's BEST friend, Harry, and in his mind, he had struck gold. The two barely even saw each other, and Harry was one of those boys who really hadn't found himself wanting to be near girls in any way at all, and so they really were just two people. Jack, however, brought them together in a negative way. Whenever they were seen within ten feet of each other, he was always jeering at them and poking fun. Harry got over it eventually, and didn't really care; Susan told Jack what she thought and for years they hated each other. They never quite made up.
When he was in his Junior Year of High School, Jack made another huge mistake. This one was by far the greatest of his youth. When he saw a rather notorious boy named Gary picking on a freshman, Jack stood up for the boy. Gary, a burly, muscular football player about six feet tall, was not someone you want to mess with. But Jack stood up for the rather scrawny freshman and when he walked home that day, Gary was waiting en route for him. The two exchanged words, and ended up fighting. Jack was left on the ground with a broken arm, two cracked ribs, and some bruised knuckles. Gary was left on the ground with a broken neck. When the police finally arrived after someone noticed the two, it was apparent that Jack was going to make a full recovery; what was also apparent was that Gary was going to be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life, and probably wouldn't live much past forty. Jack was expelled from his school district and placed in Juvenile Hall for the next two years. He later finished high school at a private school.
However, the biggest of all Jack's mistakes was that he made in his fifties. Having kept his mouth shut for years about things and not daring to get to know people, Jack finally met the prettiest, nicest, and smartest girl he had ever seen or known. They were married within a year of their first meeting, and they were happily married for about the next 20 years. But around their twentieth anniversary, tensions started to rise. Janet, his wife, was going through menopause, and she was far moodier than Jack would have liked. They frequently fought, and their fourteen year old son was always caught in the middle. What he never noticed though, was his son's increasing independence from everyone and everything, the more time he kept spending in his room with loud rock music playing. One day, in the middle of the night, when Carl would normally have been asleep and his music off, he woke up with his music still blaring. Jack went in to go investigate. His only son was slumped over at his desk, his face stark white, not breathing. They called the paramedics, but upon he was pronounced dead. It was later discovered he had a high amount of heroine in his blood stream. They found several puncture wounds on his left deltoid, that were the result of frequent heroine injections. The young teen had been neglected so much that his parents never noticed that he had been doing drugs. Jack was devastated and never got over it. His wife left him a year later and they never spoke afterward.
"Jack...you should rest," the polite nurse had come back to Jack's room.
"I...I don't need to rest," he said in a raspy voice, and he was straining to breathe.
"Jack..it's ok...you can rest now," and she turned out the lights and left.
And in the darkness, Jack saw a light forming in front of him. He saw it, stood up, and walked towards it.
It was the light at the end of the tunnel. And he was finally able to see it clearly. He stood up, walked towards it...and then walked into the light.