**Staring into the Void**
James and Emily married when they were just nineteen. They couldnt live or breathe without each otherit was a wild, reckless love. Their parents, anxious to legitimise the relationship, quickly arranged the wedding to avoid any scandal.
The ceremony was lavish and unforgettable, complete with all the traditions: ribbons on the car bonnet, bouquets everywhere, fireworks, a grand reception hall, and guests shouting, “Kiss the bride!” Emilys parents couldnt contribute financiallytheir earnings barely covered basic groceries and, of course, drink. The grooms mother, Alexandra Wilson, covered all the expenses. Knowing her full name was a mouthful, she preferred to be called Sandy.
Sandy had warned James against marrying a girl whose parents were heavy drinkers. But could he listen? He insisted Emily was differenttheir love would outweigh any inherited flaws. Sandy sighed and said, “Remember, son, the apple never falls far from the tree. Love like yours might not last the season.”
James and Emily stood on the brink of what they believed would be endless happiness. The world was theirs.
But life had other plans.
Sandy and her husband gifted them a flat as a wedding present. “Live and be happy, my dears!”
At first, all was well. Fate smiled upon them.
Emily gave birth to two daughters, Lucy and Sophie. James adored them. He was proud to be the head of his household.
Yet before five years had passed, Emily began vanishing mysteriously. When she returned, James could smell alcohol on her breath. He pleaded for explanations, but she stayed silentuntil one day, she coldly admitted she had never loved him. It was just youthful infatuation, she claimed. Now she had found the man of her dreams, a married father of three, and was leaving.
James was crushed. A thick fog of despair settled over him. He felt horribly betrayed.
Emily ran off with her lover to a remote village, declaring, “With the right man, even a hovel is paradise; with the wrong one, even a mansion feels cramped.” She abandoned her children without a second thought.
Ever resourceful, Sandy took the girls in. She and her husband doted on them.
Meanwhile, lost and heartbroken, James joined a religious cult on a friends advice. There, he was quickly remarried to a widow with two sons. His new wife, Clara, monopolised his time with her endless demands. If he ever mentioned his daughters, she snapped, “They have a mother, dont they? Let her care for them. Take Oliver to school. Feed Benjamin.”
James obeyed. He still loved Emily but knew there was no way back.
Seven years later, Emily suddenly appeared at Sandys door, holding a four-year-old girl. Sandy eyed her former daughter-in-law critically.
“Life hasnt been kind, has it?” Sandy remarked. “Whos this?”
“My daughter, Lily. Can we stay with you?” Emily fidgeted.
“Did he throw you out?” Sandy pressed.
“No, I left. He drinks, he hits meI couldnt take it anymore.”
“You chose him. Why not go to your own parents?” Sandy retorted.
“I missed my girls,” Emily said weakly. “Let me see them?”
Sandy scoffed. “Now you remember them? What a mother!”
The doorbell interrupted them. Lucy and Sophie, now teenagers, entered cautiously. They recognised their mother but felt no warmthonly resentment. Sandy often lamented that they were orphans despite having living parents.
Of course, Sandy let Emily and Lily stay. She wasnt heartless.
But a month later, Emily vanished againback to her abusive lover, leaving Lily behind. Now Sandy and her husband had three granddaughters to raise. The girls adored their grandparents, and the home was filled with kindness and respect.
Time marched on.
Sandy passed away, and soon after, her husband followed.
Lucy married but remained childless. Sophie chose solitude, never marrying. At seventeen, Lily had a baby by an unknown man and left to join her mother in the village.
Youth slipped away unnoticed; old age arrived uninvited.
Emily ended up alone when her partners daughters took him back to the city. Ill and disabled, they blamed her for his decline. “Mind your own business,” they sneered before leaving.
Villagers called Emily a shameless drunk. Gossip spread like wildfireeveryone knew her disgrace.
James eventually escaped Clara and the cult, barely alive. He lived alone in his mothers old flat, surviving on scraps, sleeping in a cold bed. Three cats kept him companyhis only love now.
Happiness had once knocked on their door. But they hadnt listened.
And so, life left them staring into the void.
