Theresa and Charlie were happily married in a small
apartment tucked back into the busy streets of New York City. It was a charming
apartment on the 4th floor of a rustic building and yet retained an
unexplainable elegance and beauty. Charlie worked hard and provided for Theresa
so that they may enjoy the pleasures of life. One day Charlie was cooking
dinner and Theresa began to complain, which sparked an argument. They fought
for several minutes and amongst the exchange of insults Charlie lashed out and
pricked Theresa with the cutting knife he had in his hand. He was so astounded
at his carelessness and actions toward his wife he instantly ran out the door.
Theresa did not hear from him except for a box full of all of the cash he had
saved in his banking accounts over the years and a letter that read, “Theresa,
this will allow you to live a life full of joy.”
Theresa
was wandering down a dark alley behind some shops in the city a few months
later on her way home. She noticed a man sitting on the pavement, leaned
against a brick building, and looking down at his hands. This was by no means
atypical of this particular alley and it was a fairly common place for
vagabonds to linger. Something was different though, and she paused at the end
of the alley. She thought deeply about what seemed so familiar and why she had
noticed it. Had she seen this man before? Was he simply just one of the regular
beggars who populated the alley?
She
decided that she had to know the identity of this man, so she turned around and
slowly approached him. He appeared withdrawn from reality, like he was
completely unaware of his surroundings, but yet it seemed to be a withdrawal in
which he was maintaining full concentration on something. What could he be so
focused on?
“Excuse
me, what is your name?” Theresa said.
The
man didn’t look up, he just continued to look at his hands, and gruffly
grunted, “Chuck.”
She
replied, “Chuck, have we met before?”
“You
may have known someone like me, but I am no longer the man I once was,” he
answered.
She
noticed a softness in his voice, a tenderness, a comfort that she had been
missing lately. She talked to the man for about an hour, but he never revealed
why he was there and what had happened. She continued to visit him over the
next week and they shared meals, stories, and he always had something for her
that he had found that day. She noticed he always looked at his hands and she
never had a clear image of his face. He had a thick beard, kept his hood up to
fight off the October chill, and never looked her in the eyes.
She
finally decided one day that she would find out the true identity of Chuck, so
she sat down next to him as she usually did on her visits. She asked if she
would ever see his face and he brushed it off by changing the subject to the
trinket he had found in the alley earlier that day. A few minutes later she
jumped up, pulled back his hood, and gasped at the sight of who she found. The
mysterious man was her husband Charlie!
Theresa
was so flustered on why he left and why Charlie had abandoned her entirely with
nothing but his life’s savings. He explained that he couldn’t bare the fact
that his wife had been injured by such a monster, and he knew she deserved
better than him. She begged for him back and they both knew that the love was
still in their hearts, but how could the trust be restored.
He
told her that if she forgave him, he would come back home and be with her. He
knew that there was no way she would ever do this, but nevertheless she
returned the next day and forgave him. He still refused to come home with her.
She returned the next day, the day after that, another day, and finally on the fourth
visit he agreed to come home. They were in love again and their life was once
again perfect, and soon after they gave birth to their daughter, Joy.
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