On a sunny Sunday afternoon after the Morning Service, the church door creaked as a man wearing shabby clothes with piercings all over the body walked down the aisle towards the confessional.
The priest observing the person entering the confessional rushes to the other side of it. Both of them occupy their seats at once.
In a hoarse voice, the stranger said, “Father, I have come to confess sins.”
Leaning his ear towards the white curtain that was separating them, the priest mentioned, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper child but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
The stranger whispered, “I want to kill a man who has destroyed my life.”
Taking a deep breath, the priest asked, “And what will you achieve of it?”
After a moment of silence, the priest continued, “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”
The stranger smirked before saying, “There was no law when my drunk father struck my mother after being questioned about his activities. Trust me, Father. He didn’t perish.”
The priest for the first time turned to look at the stranger. Meanwhile, the stranger continued, “He used to hold my mother by her long hair and dash her forehead against the wall. If not that, his belt was his second choice.”
As soon as the stranger concluded the line, he pulled out a dagger and rushed it through the curtain. With his intensity, the sharp dagger slid through the silk curtain within no time and ran into the priest’s throat.
As the priest’s voice echoed in the empty church, the stranger said, “Even in front of his son, my father wouldn’t hesitate to hurt my mother. He didn’t bother about it I suppose.”
As the priest crashed on the floor spitting out blood and leading his last moments, the stranger walked out of his cabin and reached the other side.
Looking at the dying man, “However before long, my mother chalked out a plan to end his horrible torture and stabbed him three times on his chest as soon as he returned home drunk.”
As he said his sentence, the stranger could see the priest was dead. The priest didn’t blink any longer and kneeling on the floor, the stranger said, “She, unfortunately, stabbed him on his chest unlike me going for the throat.”
Extending his hand, the stranger closed the priest’s eyes before stating, “Sleep well, father. At last for all of the sufferings you have gifted me, you deserve this.”
Meanwhile, another priest walked into the hall to find his brother lying dead. He rushed back to the chamber and called the police.
Observing the priest, the stranger shouted, “Don’t worry priest. My father sought redemption after surviving the stabbing.”
After a moment of silence, the stranger mentioned, “I just gave him what he was seeking. Years after I gave my mother what she was seeking.”
The priest behind a locked door shouted, “You’re a sinner and you will be prosecuted by law!”
With a smile on his face, the stranger said, “Hunting my mother for what she did to me gave the law the right to prosecute me for years. I don’t think I’m an alien to this concept.”
With him finishing his sentence, two policemen with revolvers in their hands stormed in. Looking at them, the stranger said, “It was the law that told me my father was alive and it was them that made me decide to pay him a visit after I was released.”
Credits
This contribution is edited by Sreekar Ayyagari & Tarun Chintam & photographed by Prabhath Narapareddy.
Product
This story is also available in paperback & ebook.
Your Opinion?
Excellent
Good
Average
Bad
Comments