I faced death before. Back in 1991, after the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, I was six years old. Haiti was fighting a brutal civil war. It has left the Haitians broken causing the nation to become one of the most corrupted and poorest nation on earth.
During the war I saw men killing women, I saw men killing men, I saw women killing children, I saw fathers killing sons, I saw daughters killing themselves, I saw death at her nastiest. She almost killed me too, and to this day I still don't know why she did not ravage me then like she did the others when she could.
Though she drained me of all who mattered, she did not sink her teeth in me. She left me alive--a joke I tell you because when you watch your father pull a gun and kill your mother, then your siblings, and then himself; and that the only reason he skipped you to off himself was because he trusted someone else to off you for him--, being left alive is nothing but a funny joke.
Because I am now twenty-three and that things had changed since then, for I managed to remain alive and I moved to another country where things promised to be different, I grew up a lot from 1991. I had matured enough to choose life rather than death as I contemplated the benefits and the deficits of the two in my darker days.
I chose to live rather than die when life was harsh for me in this new country because the bible says that one must live life in abundance, to the full, till it flows, and till it overflows. Please note that I am not in the least interested in Jesus--I find Him to be a pompous asshole for several reasons that I do not at this moment care to shed light upon-, but because His scriptures when I least expect it bring a measure of balance, purpose, and calmness in my life, I abide by the bible's rules whenever they suit my needs.
So things were going great. I graduated University, though I am still struggling to find something decent to do with a Business Administration degree, but life is not as painful as it was in the beginning of my tender years. The full gig I have at Danse Macabre until I find a job in my chosen career allows me to keep my creditors happy until I put the degree to use so that I continue to pay back the atrocious student loans.
So things are good, not great, but a little better as each day goes by. And that is my undoing, gentle reader. Because if things stayed as stinky as they were before when I saw things no children should be allowed to see, then I wouldn't have forgotten my fate. I wouldn't have become naive enough to believe that death had ceased to have things to do with me.
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Her victim was young. He used to be firm and strong, and full of stamina. He was full of energy and life. The latter has become untrue the moment he moved to the metaphysical realm not too long ago. Whether he's gone to heaven or hell, his journey here is done. And I cannot help but feel it to be downright insulting as I stare at who used to be a fine specimen-- a strong man who was rumored to be absolutely ruthless in his acquisitions in life--, unexpectedly brought down to his knees without a fight from his part.