Two Powers

A Story by dklp88

A man confesses his sins to a priest.

‘Father, I have sinned.’ A pause followed this statement. The priest didn’t say anything, and the only movement he made was to give a quick rap with his knuckles on the wood of his bench.

‘Father, I have sinned, for I have committed adultery, and have taken another’s life.’ The priest looked toward the grating that separated the two chambers of the box, and his eyes opened wider.

The other man continued to speak. ‘Father, I know it is your duty to report such crimes and sins to the proper authorities, and I won’t stop you. But please, I implore you, listen to my confession first. Afterwards, I will be of no trouble to you again.’

The priest opened his mouth for a moment, before closing it. He spoke no words, and did not move from his seat. After a brief pause, the man continued again. ‘Father, it is impossible to tell my story without interweaving tales of both the adultery and the life I took. But I will try to be as clear as possible, and try to make it easier for you to follow.

‘Father, my tale begins years ago, when I was a young lad. Young, earnest, and foolish. I had some grand notions of honour. Anyways, I had reached the age of 22 with no incident. Oh I dallied around with the girls some, not in any way as to sin, oh no. I was just being a young lad. You know the type, they go dancing with the girls, but they never have dishonourable intentions.’ There was another pause here. The priest sat motionless, looking down into his hands. Again he did not speak.

The voice picked up again. ‘Father, it was when I was 22 that the troubles began. It was mid-afternoon, and I had stepped out for a smoke. I do that. Smoke. It was a good relaxer, and I doubt it’s a sin. I still smoke, and the amount has grown. Two packs a day barely covers it, when back then it was two cigarettes a day. I’ve also become a chain smoker, which adds numbers to my habits. But that’s irrelevant.’ Another silence continued. The priest looked towards the grate, but no sound was to be heard.

The other man started to speak once more. ‘Father, it was then that I lost everything. For who was to step besides me, but a creature more lovely than the light of day, and God, the day that he decided to bless her and put her down on Earth, must have been feeling generous. And I know that God is supposed to be some unknowable higher power, that does not have emotions and moods that we can relate to, but I still believe it. God was in a good mood that day. Anyways, this beautiful creature came up to me and asked for a light, so I obliged. And if you don’t mind, Father, I will take a smoke myself.’ The only sound that passed for a moment was the hiss of a lighter opening, and a few coughs and exhales of the other man. The priest opened his mouth again, before closing it. The moment passed.

‘Thanks, Father. That was what I needed. Sorry if the smell bothers you, but then I would never be able to make it through without smoking, so I hope I can have forgiveness for at least this. Where was I? Oh yes, the lovely creature asking me for a smoke. Now I bet you’re wondering what a creature looks like. So I will tell you. She was tall, at least six feet, with legs that reach from here to divine, if you excuse my vulgarity, Father. Her hair was black. No fancy metaphors there, Father. It was just black hair. I mean, amazing black hair, in the sense that it perfectly complemented her, but no fancy metaphor for black. What else about her? Well, her posture was impeccable, and on that day, she was wearing a dark blue dress that perfectly showed off her figure. And her smile was winning. That was what won me over, that smile of hers. It was one of those natural smiles that came easily to her, no matter what the situation was, if she needed to smile, it always felt heartfelt. But Father, this just sounds like I’m listing virtues when I should be telling you what happened. I don’t know what to say though, Father. I gave her a light. Nothing much, but enough to get us talking.

‘What did we talk about Father? Nothing much. I learned her name, Alice it was. Alice is a pretty name, or at least I have always thought so. Alice through the Looking Glass. Of course, I was the one falling through the looking glass, not her. Anyways, we soon became fast friends, taking quite a few smoke breaks together. Oh I never mentioned where we worked. I was a low level copy clerk in an office; she was something somewhere in the same office. Now I can’t tell you what she did, mainly because I was never sure myself. I’ve always wondered if she was my boss, or at least more senior than me, but I never did find out. Anyways, we became fast friends, and I asked her out to dinner for a few times. But she never said yes, Father. However, I always felt that her rejections were in a teasing manner than in a serious rejection, for if she seriously rejected me, then I would have backed down. There is no honour in pressing a girl to fast and too quickly. Anyways, because I know you have more people to hear from Father, I will finish this up quickly. There are few relevant details left.’ Another pause in speaking. The priest turns his head towards the grate once again, and starts to stand up, before sitting down again.

The other man speaks again. ‘You can see where this is going, Father. This pattern went on for four years before she finally agreed to dinner. I took her out, to a nice but expensive restaurant. I really didn’t have the money for it, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to be going out with her. Even now, Father, I really didn’t know if I was doing it out of a sense of love, or just a sense of lust. But I guess it matters not. Anyways, after a nice dinner, we returned to my apartment. And after a few glasses of wine, we became comfortable. Of course, this is where things go wrong, Father. For, fortunately before I bed her, but after we went through other acts, which mainly included quite a bit of kissing, I figured out that she was married. By finding her wedding ring. Let’s say that I kicked her out afterwards, and we haven’t talked to each other since, all 11 years since. That is my tale Father.’

The priest sat there for a moment, before finally speaking. ‘Now, I have a question for you. I understand your confusion, and see why you see the need to confess, but I have to ask, where the adultery or the taking of another’s life is? Anything that seems like adultery was because this woman misled you, and therefore she should be the one confessing. And I don’t know how another’s life got taken by this story. Can you enlighten me, my son?’

There was a brief pause, and the other man spoke. ‘Father, isn’t the adultery obvious? I coveted another’s wife. Even after I learned that she was wed, I still coveted her. Even now, I still desire her. Now, there is a part of the tale that I didn’t tell you, and that is how I took another’s life. I ended up tracking down her husband and telling him about the incident. Two weeks later they were starting the divorce proceedings. Two months later, Alice was dead�"suicide. That’s what they said. So I took her life. I am an adulterer and a life taker, and I seek to confess to my sins. Thank you for listening to my story, Father. Goodbye.’

There was no noise, and the priest opened his mouth, but a sound came from the other side of the grating. Closing his mouth, the priest stood up, and exited his side, walking to the other, and opened it. Inside there was only a sheet of newspaper, with some writing on it. The priest picked up the paper, and looked at it. The news article on the paper was an obituary, of a Ms. Alice Reden, formerly Mrs. Alice Quicken. The handwritten part just said, ‘This is my sin.’ The ink was a dark red.