Daggers Through My Heart

• Uche Imoh, Grade 6, Chester Hill Public School
• Short Story
• 2022

Excellence Award in the 'National Treasures 2022' competition

It hurt. Oh how it hurt to be betrayed, crystal tears trickling from his eyes. How could he feel again the pain of losing the one he loved most pierced through his heart? Oh how he wanted to lay there to drown in his guilt. The tears; Oh the tears that flooded uncontrollably from his eyes as he screeched her name. “If there is no love then there is no life” he said, as he released his hands from his heart yet he could not, for the promise he had once made still dwell deep in his heart. “I promise to avenge you my dear Tiffany” he said as the rusted chains tied against his heart another promise that he was yet to fulfill.
He set off. Pearl daggers falling off the moon in the dead of night as he took each step to evolution from his broken past. He wondered if his suffering could end now. But the fear was still very much alive. Eating his body each time he said her name, it was as if a fallen angel endeavoured its way to life oh how he wished the blood of the enemy would be his. The satisfaction of the cries and screams kept him going. The thought of revenge for his dear beloved was now encased in scarlet, which was now encased into his veins, The days of suffering would finally end, he thought.
As the days blackened and his desire for revenge became vast he found himself staring at the enemy with eyes full of vermilion. His hatred for the thief that stole away his beloved. When their eyes suddenly met. His body began to move by itself as if he was a wooden marionette puppet, slashing his blade up and down with no self-restraint. The string caused agony towards his body as he uselessly swung his blade. He tried to stop but he kept moving on his own. They bled. Blood squirting out and it seemed it was out of their control. The futile battle which only ended. All that was left was a bath of crimson blood from the bodies of the wounded men and an emotionless sufferer.
With the days of revenge and hatred over he thought it would end if only that was the case. He fell to his knees, Begging for forgiveness but the deed was done. The bodies could not be erased. Kept in a cell feeling nothing but loneliness. The chains that were tied to his heart began to release themselves. As the tears crystallized from his eyes, he wished he could reverse the time. He closed his eyes for the last time and said goodbye to what he thought was revenge. He hoped that the next time he was reborn, the outcome would be different.