MIND YOUR ENGLISH

„Long Story Short”

Afterwards the man wasn’t as bad as he looked like. It was unusual appearance that made him look like a homeless guy from the street. He was wearing dirty clothes, his boots were torn. He also had a filthy hat on his head so that he could cover his greasy hair. His face looked as if the man had just come back from the war; he had a lot of scars. He had brown eyes and a straight, sharpened nose. His mouth was covered by his dark grey beard and a moustache. The man was coming home from the woods, carrying a little dark green bag over his arm when he suddenly saw me standing by a bonfire. He approached me, sat on a rock, warmed up his bare hands, took a look at me and then started to talk. Surprisingly, his voice was warm and nice, like the voice of a caring father.

- “Listen carefully young one” – when he said that he changed his position to a more comfortable one. He also made a gesture which apparently was an order for me to sit down so, of course, I sat by him and begun to listen. Then the man continued.

- “Don’t you ever lose faith in your family and God – he said – I’ve lost mine long ago. I had a caring and lovely family. I had my wife, my young son and my little daughter, she was maybe three years old. The thing is… stuff began to fall down on me. I got fired from my job, there was not enough money to take care of children so my wife had to work secretly as a prostitute. Eventually she found another man and took my children away. Oh God how I missed them! I still do! After that I began drinking. For the first few days it was occasionally but as the time passed by it was more often. Soon I realized drinking was my addiction. Then years passed by and one day I asked myself: “What am I doing with my life?”. That day I gave up drinking and moved to a little house in the forest. It’s been almost fifteen years since those events. Now I’m taking my life back. Soon I will go to the court”.

- “Why are you going to the court?” – I asked.

- “I’m taking my children back and I pray the Lord to give me strength and hope. He gave me hope long ago. You should also pray for me young one! Now I’m coming back home. I have to prepare and light a fire. Be good young one!” – the man then stood up, took his little bag with him and walked away in the opposite direction. I’ve never seen him in my life again but his words are deep in my heart. I doubt I’ll ever forget them.