THE TONGUE

THE TONGUE

That night, before John went to bed, he read from the Bible, Moses’ flaws due to his temper and he prayed for grace to hold himself back and not be easily angered.

Seconds later, he was gone, soaked completely in the ocean of sleep. Of a sudden, John was no longer 8 years. He was now a man in his late 30’s, already successful in his way and married too. His wife, Rebecca, who he called Becky for short was a gentle woman, the type that doesn’t worry her husband.

They really loved each other, naturally, just like milk and flour. All was going smoothly until that day…

Before this fateful day, both of them had been expectantly waiting on the Creator for a child but Becky hadn’t taken in yet.

On that day, John was visited at work by his uncles; the only two brothers his mom had. They brought news on how miserable their sister was and how it was his fault, how she was dying gradually and hadn’t seen her grandchildren and how that was Becky’s fault too.

Well, if I, the narrator of the story, were told John would fall for those lies at the first attempt, I would have disagreed totally. And that is why I am sincerely flabbergasted that John was completely brainwashed that instead of rebuking his uncles, he paid for their lunch and apologized for bringing bad luck, in essence, Becky, into their ‘honorable family’!

When John arrived home, he was downcast. His wife, who knew that wasn’t John’s nature, tried to find out what was wrong. And as if under a spell, he started hurling insults at her. She at first thought it was a transfer of aggression, and as he didn’t look drunk, she came to know that her husband had been corrupted…

Becky could have written an encyclopedia of insults from all John was uttering. Slowly, her ego and self-esteem dissolved in the pool of his abuses. Crying, she moved close to him and tried to calm him down but he shoved her away and cast that last stone at her. A very big insult her cracked heart couldn’t withstand anymore. This one hit her hard, sending her from her world of hope to one of despair and depression. She was lost, gone like the wind. She rushed into the kitchen.

John heard a loud cry, screams, sobs, sobs and that was all.

The concluding scenes came faster than normal. He rose to get some coffee in the kitchen and there Becky was, no fragment of life in her anymore, with the knife still in her belly, blood seeping from her mouth. It really was a horrible sight.

When John was back to his senses, he was being prosecuted for murder. Serving a life sentence in jail, he faced the paradox, he was suffering for a murder he didn’t commit and yet more logically, he had killed his wife, with his words, with his mouth. And with no evidence to prove it was suicide, it was too late.

 When 8 year old John woke from that terrible dream, what he put down in his diary, as humorous as it may seem, was something millions of people didn’t and don’t know; 

THE TONGUE IS A BLAZING FIRE AS WELL AS A SOOTHING ICE-CREAM.