The Old Man

by Jesse David

  You know the phrase from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." Well, that phrase is true for his father, not because he is toby (Spiderman), but he is a business man. With great money comes less sleep and family time.

  Erasmus grows up alone, well, his mother is there but she has some problem with drugs, legal drugs. If you don't know, alcohol is a drug. Nicotine is a drug. And the drugs behind your bathroom mirror, that is all legal. Don't need to find a secret source to be addicted to drugs.

  Erasmus grows up alone with his parent, when somebody says that money is the answer to every problem, well, in that case, the answer became the problem.

  His father wants more money and his mother uses it to buy something that is very bad.

  Even though they got a big house, Erasmus always play outside. He found his heart to adventures. He just thought that his life is nice until something happened.

  Erasmus notices that he hasn’t seen his father for a week. Then he thought what was new. But another week passed and he doesn't saw his father again. He doesn't have the courage to ask his mother. Maybe because he doesn’t want to hear the answer or he already knows the answer, he doesn't want to confirm it.

  Erasmus wakes up one night. He hears a familiar voice. It comes from his father, but still, Erasmus doesn't seem happy. He hears his father's voice for the last time and he is fighting with his mother.

  Erasmus goes to the stairway, he sneaks on the corner where people from below won't see him, he knows it will be the last time he will see his father. This will be his last memory of his father.

  They told him he was exceptionally smart for his age. He seems to be protégé. But they thought that there is something odd. Little do they know that his hatred is building up inside. He hates his father for leaving and hates his mother for not stopping it. He is a kid. This is the simplest explanation for himself.

  He grows up smart and a little bit hateful. He is small kid so he was bullied, but because of all the hatred inside of him, he fights back and he ends up hitting the bullies much harder than they are hitting him.

  Erasmus grows hateful. He became distant to his mother because he always saw his mother with different men and drugs. This is very challenging for a kid to see. Kids are very smart. They understand it.

  So Erasmus starts to rebel. Cutting classes and fighting with another student for an absurd reason. He once fights because he wants to make his friend believe him that he can from bigger kids. But that event surely reminded him to be picky and to measure his opponents.

  Time flows so fast. He got a new leather jacket from the money on protecting the geeks. He also got a new nickname.

  As he grew older, the scenes done by his mom become more and more disgusting. He sometimes sees the paraphernalia. He sometimes throws it away but after a couple of days, he will see a new set.

  After finishing high school, Erasmus goes to his first adventure. With his friend, having the same outlook in life, they go to a beach and start to learn surfing. They got some of their money having some part time job and usually playing in a band. Erasmus feels new and different, he feels refreshed. It's been years since he felt this free.

  He lives by the day, but and he is free and he doesn't need to work on a box, I mean a cubicle where he doesn't enjoy what he is doing. He feels suffocated when he is in a closed space. He feels dead. But this job outside was pretty good.

  He even met the loved of his life on the beach. Belinda is her name. She changes Era. There is a person in our life that changes us for good. Or for better. And for Era, that is Belinda.

  Era begins to dream again. And one of the prices of a having dream is going to have a work in a box, much safer and stable. Erasmus needs this if he wants to marry Belinda. Erasmus does it even it is hard for him. True love changes people. He changes for good. Belinda even introduced the Lord our God to Erasmus.

  They both read the bible every day and he studies it and takes it to a higher level. He study gospels and teach it to the children outside.

  The new Erasmus is having a great time in his life. He is happy even having worked in a box. He goes home with Belinda. They got married for years and waited for a baby.

  It took them 10 years to be pregnant but waiting for it is worth it.

  Unfortunately, the baby didn't survive. For Erasmus, at least, his wife survives. They are going to try again, but life happens and when it happens, it will kick you in the gut. Belinda got cancer, she got leukemia. They fight cancer for 10 years.

  But most of the war between cancer, cancer wins. She didn't survive. Erasmus thought that God never exist, he does a lot for God and still, this all happens. He shouldn't exist because if he exists, surely this thing wouldn't happen. He thought that everything in life is just an accident.

  After the burial, Erasmus got an emotional breakdown and he was left at the cemetery. Somebody saw him and send him to the nursing home across the cemetery.

  Ever since then, Erasmus just floats around like a dead person.