Intro
Darkness. An absolute void where not one ray of light penetrated. A darkness that deprives the mind not only of sight, but also thought. That’s all there was when I first opened my eyes. At least, I thought I had opened them, but I couldn’t be sure. As I slowly began to think again I noticed the cool, hard, smooth surface plastered to my face. It almost felt like marble, but it was even smoother than it should have been. I slowly slid my hands under my shoulders and tried to push myself up. Before I was even to my hands and knees I fell back down. It felt as if I hadn’t moved in weeks. Slowly reaching outwards I tried to create a mental map of my immediate surroundings. To my right was a wall, to my left, more of the cold hard floor. The wall felt as if it was standard dry wall, painted with really cheap paint.
I tried to get up again but soon gave this up as a fruitless labor. As I lay there panting I soon realized that I had no clue who I was, nor where I was. As you can imagine, this was not a pleasant feeling. I raced through my mind trying to find answers to what my past held in it. Nothing was there. It was if I was searching through a room darker than the one I was in searching for a contact that had fallen out. I grew frustrated. “What is going on?!?!” I shouted. Only the echo of my voice answered. I could feel my heart rate quickening and panic setting in. Not a shred of my identity remained. I had no clue how old I was, if I had any family, why I was in this god forsaken place. Wait, one glimmer of hope, one thing that I did know. I knew that I knew that there was a God. It was the only thing that I could feel. I threw myself into this. It became my identity. I knew nothing, nothing except the fact that I had a God who loved me dearly. Thinking back on that horrible moment in my life, that one idea is probably the only reason I didn’t go insane. God saves in many ways.
Chapter 1
“You’ve really got to stop this…” my wife sighed, “every time you go out you come home with numerous injuries and an excuse that doesn’t fit.”
“I told you, it was just a little mix up at work,” I shot back as I removed the ice from my eye and winced as she began trying to clean the gash on my leg.
“Just a little mix up?! Jesus, Mark! You look as if you just got discharged from World War III. How can you call that a little mix up? And what I really want to know is how does your work cause you to get into fights? You’re a freaking cashier at Walmart. There is absolutely no reason why you should be getting into physical altercations.”
“Look, Susan, I already told you, some guy was trying to steal a camera and I chased him down. He didn’t like that and thus this happened. How was I supposed to know he had a knife?”
“Why didn’t you just call the police?”
“I did!”
“Oh, and I assume that they saw you and said ‘you look ok to me, you can go home now’ because you look just marvelous,” Susan replied. I could sense the doubt in her voice; it was always there, ever since the first incident. I wanted so bad to tell her what really was happening, that I really wasn’t a cashier at Walmart. I t hurt me so much to have to lie to her like this, but I couldn’t tell. I never could. It was for her own good. If only she knew…
I looked into her eyes willing her to understand that I had no choice in the matter. Her eyes were mesmerizing; they could freeze over the Amazon River with their glare and melt the ice caps with their affectionate glances. Those eyes were just the tip of the beauty that was my wife. A beauty she was, the most beautiful person in the world as far as I was concerned. She had long black hair that fell to her shoulders. She had a face that everyone could love and a body that could turn heads.
The physical appearance only scratched the surface though. Susan was the most loving and caring person anyone could find anywhere on this planet. Even when she was upset or angry she still had your best interests at heart. I was so happy that we were together, in fact, I can say with certainty that it is impossible for any man to be more happy with his spouse.
“Look, I told you what happened. I’m sorry if you don’t believe me but that’s what happened,” I finally replied. Oh how it pained me to have to lie to her like this. The words of my high school physics teacher briefly flashed through my mind. “Never keep a secret from your spouse. It is not a good idea.” Ack! I agreed so much with this statement, but he had never been in this situation, that much is for sure.
“Humph!” Susan replied as she stood and walked out of the kitchen. Our relationship was on its brink and nothing I could do could save it. The only reason why we were still together was for the children, and even that was beginning to lose its grip. Oh the precious children. They were the love of my life. Few people could experience the same joy I could just by hanging out with those kids. There was the cowboy Joey, and the princess Shannon. They were the pride of my life and I would do anything for them.
I decided that sitting around the house wasn’t helping anyone so I hopped in my 2000 Honda CR-V and shot out into the street. I had absolutely no clue where I was going, just that I needed to get out and clear my head a little. I hated it when Susan and I fought and tried to avoid them at all costs. The times when we did fight, which was becoming more and more frequent, I usually ended up here, behind the wheel of my reliable mode CR-V. That car probably shared more moments with me than anything else in my life. It was my place to escape to, my safe house.
I started to reflect back on the last few years. My marriage had taken a turn for the worse shortly after that one fateful night. That one night is where all of this trouble began, where my life changed forever, for the better or worst. That night and that man, that man who first intro….
“HONNNNKKKK!!!!” My thoughts were interrupted by an angry driver behind me. I had been day dreaming at a stop light again. I quickly started through the intersection and turned off into the next driveway I saw as the other car sped around me. I began to look around and tried to figure out just where I had taken myself this time. I quickly came to realize that I was in the neighborhood where my good friend John lived. John also happened to be my pastor. I decided to drop by and see if he was around. It always helped me to talk to him.
“Ding-Dong” the doorbell sounded. It was the most standard sound for a doorbell, and it fit John perfectly.
“Mark!” John exclaimed as he threw wide the door. We embraced and then I was whisked inside. “How have you been? Ohh I see you have been having more adventures, you must tell me everything. We haven’t talked since Sunday, where have you been?”
Mark was a very ecstatic and energetic man. He was also very simple. He lived in a small rural house that was quite literally in the middle of nowhere. His car was a ’95 Camry that was outdated before he bought it. Everything Mark owned was simple and functional.
Mark was the kind of person that was impossible to hate. He always had a smile on his face and genuinely cared for people. Mark also had that kind of air about him that said that it was ok to tell him anything you wanted to.
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