Sinners
A 100 word short story
Who are these parishioners gathered here today?
Angels of comfort with bowed heads and clasped hands.
God’s commandments must not be broken.
Damnation awaits, warns His priests.
Yet this poor soul is already trapped in hell.
Every breath a clawing, gasping struggle in a body that’s killing itself.
This fateful decision only his to take.
Lying in bed, bathed in the warmth of love, he swallows the pills and waits.
His eyes close.
The pain fading.
Peace.
They huddle around. Saying their goodbyes.
Here, at the end of the journey, respecting a life well lived.
Friends, family, lovers.
Sinners all?
So, it’s been a while. Sorry about that.
We’ve been moving home for the first time in twenty years and downsizing from a house to a flat, so the last few weeks have been spent getting rid of a lot of stuff. Luckily I’ve managed to keep hold of quite a few of my books, but still ended up giving about 200 away to charity, which was tough, but they’re going to a good place. That being said, the limited space hasn’t stopped me buying new ones and my collection is growing once more!
My time away from writing was hard though, and I’m glad to be back. In the clear out, I did find one of the first novels that I wrote about 35 years ago, which still (almost) hangs together and that made me want to get back to work.
So, for my first tentative step back, here’s a story that was inspired by a prompt from Caro Henry with the word, “Sinners,” which is a great movie, but also got me thinking about the nature of sin and the actions it gets applied to. Thanks very much for the prompt, Caro.
In the UK parliament, the Assisted Dying Bill for Terminally Ill Adults has been discussed over the last few months. It is a complex and tragic issue that had politicians from across the spectrum, for once, actually discuss a serious topic in a kind and caring manner.
It is also something that I am torn on. I have seen relatives and friends needlessly suffer through critical illness, but I’m still not sure what the answer is. Some countries have made it legal and some haven’t. Who is right? As F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said - “the test of a first-rate intelligence is to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” I can see both sides of the argument on most things and will always listen with empathy and understanding before making my choice. That’s how it should be. None more so than when it comes to life and death.
Anyway, after all that, I still hope you enjoyed the story.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.
Glad you could use the prompt, Dan! You used it brilliantly! That you placed “Bathed in the warmth of love” directly against the pills is your poem’s most precise move. You refuse to let us separate tenderness from the choice, insisting they exist in the same moment. My husband and I have talked about this. Thanks for writing about a difficult choice.
Such a complicated premise, with the only answer being "let everyone decide for their own?"