another battle

Another Battle

Immediately after opening the door I regretted it. The
tension in the air was suffocating, and the quietness of
the house was near deafening. I could feel the silent anger
coursing through the hallways, and I knew somewhere deep
within a monster sat waiting to pounce. I’ve been in this
calm before; I know the storm that’s brewing; it’s
ingrained in my soul and resonates through my being. 
My instincts told me to run, to get the hell out of there,
for I was the prey, I was in the path of the storm. I
turned to go, but stopped myself. The battle was inevitable
and the longer she sat there fuming the worse it was going
to get. If I waited too long, I couldn’t ever come back.
Besides, I couldn’t let my brother happen upon the beast, I
couldn’t let him get slaughtered as well. I took in a deep
breath and braced myself for what was to come. 

With my heart pounding and my breath shallowing, I made my
way through the cold house, hoping she was only armed with
fists this time, and praying I’d find the strength to
survive not only the physical beating, but the much more
damaging psychological one as well. 

I finally reached the base of the stairs and began to make
my way up despite the chill that caused my very soul to
shiver. The closer I got to where she was, the more my
knees and hands began to shake; I wasn’t sure I’d make it
up the ever more daunting stairs, but eventually climbing
the stairs was no longer the problem at hand. From the
landing, I could see her sitting in the worn, red chair
through the ajar door. 

I crept towards her and stopped at the doorway. During
those few tense moments that I watched my disintegrating
foe from the hall, I began to feel sorry for her. Sitting
there with an exhausted posture and tear-stained cheeks,
she looked older and more helpless than I ever remembered.
I could see the high toll her tough life had taken on her.
She had probably been in the same position as I not thirty
years before. Some part of her knew that the way she
treated me wasn’t right, but that part is just as much a
victim of the monster as I am. I walked through the door
and stood there looking at her as she remained looking out
the window. Seeing her sitting like that made me want to
reach out in peace and give her a hug. I wanted to hold her
and tell her that I loved her, that the pain will go away,
that she will be alright someday. I was about to reach
out, but then she spoke; I recoiled and the war raged on.