----- The Day -----
Kinda middle aged but still old looking Mr. John was a businessman. Business was small. He had a home downtown and was living there with family. John was neither famous nor too socially attached to anyone other that his family, wife Natalie, 15 yr old daughter Kate and 8 yr old son Bill.It was Bill's Birthday. That night they all were having dinner as usual.
Bill "Dad, I want bike. All of my friends have their own bike"
"No Bill, you are too young for that. ask something else."
"But dad... Please..."
(Doorbell rings)
"Honey, will you just check who's there"
"Sure"
Natalie went to open door.
"Hello. I'm Mr. Neil. and This is Mr. David Is Mr. John home ?" Said one of the two guys.
"Yeah. He's home. Can you just wait for a second ?" said Natalie.
"Sure"
Natalie went inside and asked John to see them.
John went in Hall. He didn't recognize any of those men.
"Hey. I'm john. I don't think I know you people. Do I ?" john asked.
"You are right, you don't."
And suddenly, both removed their hands from pocket, with Revolver in their hands.
"Gimme keys to your locker" roared David.
John almost cried "Take whateva u want. just don't hurt us"
Natalie heard that noise came running outside. She saw those men with guns and shouted like hell with fear.
There was a total chaos. already panicked David pulled trigger. and John was shot dead on the spot. Natalie ran inside. Those two followed her. Now Neil pulled trigger. Bullet hit Natalie in chest.
They both went inside dining room. Little Bill was standing in one corner. crying... They saw phone in Kates hand. Kate was calling 911 emergency. David pulled trigger again without even thinking a bit. Bullet went through Kate's skull. and she was down too.
David aimed at Bill now. Neil saw that fearful face of Bill. He pushed David's hand and yelled "No. Wait !! He's just a boy..."
But It was too late. David had already pulled trigger. But because of that push bullet went through Bill's right leg instead of head.
Bill fell on the floor. He closed his eyes with pain and fear.
----- The Next Day -----
The next day, Bill was in the hospital. Police, neighbors, press lot of crowd around him. He was in total "Shock". He was sitting on wheelchair. He had lost his leg. Above that he had lost his whole family. He was now alone in this world. His eyes were aimless. He not even tried listening what police, press were asking him. He didn't speak a word.. to anyone...
----- The Day After 10 Years -----
Its been 10 years since that day, but Bill's still in a Shock. Haven't spoken a word since that day. His eyes are still aimless. It's almost as if he's in coma. Doctors have given up on Bill...Bill's now 18yrs old and still couldn't ride a bike because of his right leg.
Still No feelings... No Leg... No Family.... almost as if No life....
Those two robbers are in jail now. People know full story about that day. People still are confused...
Whether it was Nice of Neil to spare Bill or Cruel of him...
----- X -----
(what I'm asking is whether this life of Bill is even worse than death or not)
(waiting for your comments... coz even if the work is purely fictional, i'm really confused...)
14 Comments:
it was nice of Neil to spare bill... i guess Bill was at fault because he couldn't move on... (Well you can say that he was just 8 yr old and lost his family in front of his own eyes.. blah blah.. but when u think of it, its life!!.. you've got to learn to move on... there might be a period when you lose control, but thats when u need to pull urself out of it and think rationally!:)
Neil spared Bill......i don't think compassion would have been the only thing running through his mind at that instant, guilt - after all david had started the shooting ,Neil was the polite guy who had asked for Mr. John, certainly he hadn't come there to kill and hence though circumstances pushed them to murder its natural for him to try not to worsen the situation.....sounds crazy but human mind does work like that at least thats what i think....
as for 'moving on' the kid is 8 years old for gods sake,he witnessed the murders of his family members, you can't expect him to 'move on', even if he had been 18 years old,it still would have been difficult for him......
What else can he do?.. You don't mean to justify whats happened to him, do you?.. instead of finding a soln, justifying would be the "weak" way out i guess...
I am not saying that he should hop out of the bed the very next day and act as if nothing had happened.. but 10 years is a very long time, and your life is not so cheap as to waste it away like this...
can't he think of helping others in his situtation?.. working for others good?.. wallowing in one's own sorrow is surely not justifiable!!
(I totally accept all the points you have put forth... I just think this part was missing :)
he was 8 years old ya....
ok..he should have moved on...but was there anyone to guide him...help him understand..that his life is precious..and he must leave the past and try and build his future...??
when ur 8 years old...ur not mature...forget being mature enough...u may not even know what life is...!!!
Good story. It was nice of Neil to spare Bill.Yes it is always going to be hard for a 8 year old kid to come back to whole after this kind of tragic experience,but there has to be a moment when you talk to yourself and start the rebuilding process.
In these kind of situations your friends are always there to help you move on.
I dont thinks its Bill's "fault" as such.Some people find it hard to move on because they tend to hold on to past.And since he was 8 years old when it happend I think the less age factor always helps to move on.You often see adults having hard time facing tragic situation rather than a child
Time is wisest healer they say.You just have to get through it.
I don't think it was either nice or cruel of Neil. It was his conscience that wouldn't allow him to kill a small, helpless child. Bill was not an immediate threat to the killers in anyway, which must also have factored into the decision.
Hi...Its nice post...can have different views of readers...What I feel is...it was realy Nice of Neil to spare Bill...as he saved Bills life ...coz life is gods gift.. everybody there on the earth have their problems ...everybody is learning frm different incidents happening in their lives ...I know what happened with bill was so strange ..!!..but that doesnt mean that he is alone ..he has to come out frm what happened...and there was no question to ask bill to run frm there ...he was just of 8 years ..... to come out frm such shocks takes years along ..what can makes him normal is ..he should try to do something creative ..that may builds up his life..many handicaps are doing,searching for betterment of their lives...and many of them r succeeded..He needs someone to share his sorrow.. who he feels realy closer to him...
What Neil and David did were out of the total panic of, since they were doing something absolutely incorrect. The first 3 kills were through the fear of getting caught, and when at last it was turn of little Bill, who appeared harmless and was helpless, Neil's 'self' somewhere caught him, and he couldn't let such a thing happen. (Though this act didn't help little Bill in any way. And also definitely Neil couldn't have thought too far, everything that happened was based on instinct.)
Also, I agree that through some special efforts on part of Bill's relatives and Doctors, after 10 years, at least something should have been done to pull out Bill out of his shock. I think that would have been possible, with the addition of something from Bill, who could have got better in due course of time.
Its very difficult though, when such a large impact is made on the feelings and emotions of such a small child, but sill its through the efforts of people around that child, and in due course the child himself, that this impact could be reduced.(Think of children in Iraq, or in Kashmir, or such victims of such Wars and terrorist attacks) May be it would have been possible (like they sometimes show in movies and this is stretching it too much but still...) that Bill became a policeman or something similar, whose aim in life was to prevent such incidents. That is, may be something good could have happened out of all this, instead of just plain existence of a living body but with no mind and no life in it.
Neil has shown presence of mind to save Bill. Bill's life is equivalent to death because he lost his family thats true...but what I think is in life there are many ups and downs so he should try to move on because he can not live his entire life like this.
Nice post.
It's disturbing to be asked to comment on something like this. Rather to say if decision like Neils is are right or wrong. Life just isn't so simple.
How each one lives is merely a combination of attitude + circumstance. Some people are born with a larger than life attitude, and some are complacent. Some are born to fight eye for eye and tooth for tooth.While some morph to suit the environment everyday.
In this case, Bill was a victim of a tragic circumstance. But how he lived his live from that accident onwards, is not something to be determined from what Neil did. That is entirely Bills attitude.
We all are victims of circumstance. Some good things happen, some bad, some even worse. But how we continue from that point onwards is not determined by the person/thing that inflicted pain/sorrow upon us, but how we choose to deal with it.
Hope that answers the Neils decision being right or wrong.
And now at the risk of sounding hypocritical, I revert to my original statement. Life can' be answered in yes and nos. There are many factors that come into consideration, emotions, sentiments, love, that comprise what we call humanity. Obviously to a third person, the rational decision would be to "move on", but I feel commenting on the way Bill lived his life is merely insensitive. Hope I don't have to explain why.
There, hope I did your question justice.
*can't be answered in yes and no.
Though that was pretty obvious eh?
very well written...
8 is a very young age and I dont even remember what life was like.. back then. So I dont know whether people could actually "move on" at that point. But if the age was anywhere after 12-13, I would have said that there was some fault in raising up Bill.. coz he ought to have the capacity to move on. I think ( at least till date :))that this sort of "indulgence" is.. or rather should be in our hands..
I guess it sounds rather harsh... but I think that if u want to be happy .. u will..
When your entire world comes crashing down upon you at such a young age, it tends to break you mentally...it scars the mind to an extent which is beyond repair...it is then like a life spared on a suicidal verge where nothing seems to matter anymore...at such a turning point, only sheer will power and unflinching courage can get you to stop existing and start living...to pick up a zillion shattered pieces of cold glass and build a new mirror all over again is something only a few can do...
On the other hand...
time heals every wound in human life...and blunts even those cuts which seem engraved forever.....
in short the dude shud get a life n stop watching so many hindi pictures :P
Really nice post !
After reading so many posts, I won't say anything different as such. Saving Bill was nice of Neil at that moment of time.he was harmless to them. Of course, Neil didn't know the future at that time.
After such an incident, mental shock is obvious. But Bill has to move on. Time is the best medicine. Time doesn't stop for anyone.
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