Hope

HOPE

Joe woke up when he heard a banging on his front door. He wondered, "It's 2am, what the hell is going on?" He staggered towards his front door, half asleep. He slowly opened the door and rubbed his eyes. In front of him were two police officers. Joe asked, “hello officers, what can I do for you.” The officers’ faces looked really down. One of the officers said, “Joe, may we come in. We need to tell you something.” Worried, Joe invited the two officers in.

Sitting in the living room, the officers told Joe that his parents were caught in an accident and both of them were killed. There was a dead silence. Joe slowly took it in. Joe smiled awkwardly and spoke, his voice trembling, “this must be a joke right?” One of the officers put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and said, “Joe, I know how you must be feeling ri-“ Joe pushed the officer’s hand away and shouted, “YOU’RE LYING!” Joe sank down on his sofa. A tear slid down his face, he shook his head, saying no continuously, he would not accept the truth. He couldn’t. His parents were never coming home. Tears started to fall down his face. He buried his head in his hands and screamed in pain. The officers got up and told Joe that his aunt was on the way here and they left.

The days that followed were the worst part of Joe’s life. He hardly ate, he became distant. He did not even go to his parent’s funeral. He was slowly killing himself. He was mostly found in his room clutching a picture of his parents, crying softly. He had lost all hope. He was growing more distant as the days went by. His aunt tried many ways of consoling him but to no avail. One day, Joe boarded up his room so that no one could enter. There was a small hole at the bottom of the door for food. One month passed, two months passed, Joe never came out of his room. He was detaching himself from the world.

One night, when Joe was crying on his bed. He heard a voice calling his name. At first, he thought it was his aunt calling him again so he ignored it. The voice kept calling his name but it was slowly getting stronger. “Joe, get up, get up Joe.” The voice called. The voice sounded warm and caring. It urged Joe to get out of bed. Finally, Joe couldn't take it anymore. Joe opened his eyes and looked around and the voice stopped. He wiped his eyes, steeled his nerves and slowly got out of bed. He opened his window and took a deep breath. A cold wind swept into his room. “Oh, it’s winter, it’s beautiful.” Joe whispered to himself. Joe slowly came back to his senses. He closed his eyes as a cold wind swept into his room caressing his cheeks. Joe felt a sense of calmness around him and he slowly crept out of his room.

When Joe went out of his room, he saw a Christmas tree standing in a corner in his living room. Carefully and quietly, Joe walked slowly to the kitchen to get a drink. He opened his fridge and got out a bottle of cold water and gulped it down. The cold water woke up Joe in a jiffy. He then continued his way to find his aunt, knocking on her room door. The door opened and Joe saw his aunt for the first time in a long time. His aunt started crying and gave Joe a big hug and told him how much she missed him. They were locked into an embrace for a long time. Joe’s aunt reminded Joe of his mother and without knowing, tears started to form around his eyes and he started to weep. Tears were running down his face and he couldn’t stop. His aunt then took Joe by the hand and asked him to sit in the living room as she made a quick supper.

While they were having supper, there was a knock on the door. Joe looked at his aunt and his aunt replied, “It’s for you.” Curious, Joe got up from his seat and walked to his front door and opened it slowly and he came face to face with a face he once knew. A girl stood in front of him. Tears were streaming down her face. She grabbed Joe and hugged him fiercely. She started sobbing uncontrollably. She took a small step back and looked at Joe longingly. She slowly moved in and kissed Joe. Joe was so surprised that he did not know what to do. His eyes started to water, “Hey, I missed you. Pam.” He croaked. He was so taken aback. Joe gave her a big bear hug and the two of them stood at the doorway in the cold night in a tight embrace. Telling each other how much they missed each other. After calming down, the two walked hand in hand into the living room to see Joe’s aunt smiling.

After supper, Joe, his aunt and Pam walked to Joe’s room and turned on the light. What Pam and Joe’s aunt saw shocked them, Joe’s room was a mess. They were scratch marks and holes in the wall. Books and clothes were strewn all over the floor. The bed sheet was torn and the bed was ripped. His table was in pieces, smashed by Joe. Pam grabbed Joe’s arm tightly as she could feel how much Joe had to suffer through. She knew he was in so much pain that she started to cry again. Joe looked at Pam and told her that he was fine and that he can be with her again. That night, Pam and Joe slept together in another bedroom.

The first thing Joe did the next morning was he went to a graveyard. Walking arm in arm with Pam, Joe went to see his parent’s grave. He squatted and placed a bouquet of fresh flowers on their tombstones. He talked softly to his parent’s grave, telling them that he was sorry and how much he had to go through. As Joe talked, tears were falling down his cheeks. His voice started to quiver. He was trying to control himself but he couldn’t. He knelt in the snow and screamed in agony. He put both of his hands on their tombstones and said, crying, “MOM, DAD, I MISS YOU! PLEASE COME BACK TO ME!” Pam knelt next to him and hugged him, comforting him. Joe kept on crying, he felt his heart clench and his chest got heavier. He gripped his chest and lost all strength falling flat on the ground. He could see Pam calling for help and Pam’s voice was getting more distant as his eyes slowly shut.

When he came to, Joe was back at home. It was in the afternoon, Pam called Joe’s friends to help her. When Joe awoke, he was greeted by many anxious faces staring at him. He smiled at all of them. Suddenly, one of Joe’s best friend, Mike, shouted, “Joe, I-We missed you, all of us missed you.” With that, everyone started to brighten up as Joe slowly got up from bed. There was a lot of chatter from everybody as Joe’s aunt brought in some tea and biscuits for everyone. She thought, “Joe is really getting better. After six months, Joe had finally woken up from his bad dream and recovered. His friends and family did their best to help and supported him. I am so happy for him.” Joe has finally gotten back hope.

A week later, Joe was up and about, going back to school. He had made a speedy recovery and had finally accepted reality. Every day, he would go and talk to his parents. Spending at least two hours with them, talking about his day. There were times where he was sad and he missed them but he did not go insane ever again. On the night of Christmas, Joe returned to his room getting ready to sleep. Kissing a picture of his parents, wishing them goodnight. He stood and looked out of his window and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool breeze. He said softly, “You know, this would have never happened if I didn’t hear your voice, so whoever you are, whoever you may be, thank you. Thank you for helping me and calling out to me. Getting back my senses and accepting my own fate. Without you, I would still be insane so thank you.” With that said, Joe closed his window and got into bed. As he was about to sleep, he could have sworn he heard the faint jingle of bells in the still, winter night.

Author's Note

please dont be so harsh on me. I write these stories because I like to. If you do not like it, you can just tell me what u don't like about it and I'll take note of it when I write my future stories. thank you