The Reality of Addiction

A man's journey into love is slowly crushed through his addictions. Can he stop himself before his love is lost?

Susan was a beam of sunlight in my darkened life. She came to my rescue when I hit the rock bottom of rock bottoms �" grounded by debt and helplessness. She was an angel from the heavens living on earth, on my side no matter what wrongs I had done. She was a tall goddess, blonde, bold and beautiful. We got together one Friday night at eight for a meal at the swanky Fine Dining Restaurant of Juliet and hit it off. She was working as an intern at the local hospital, and I was a journalist at the time. Six months into our relationship we moved into a small in a recently built up residential area. That was when the money began quickly draining into the gutter.

I gambled every penny we shared �" she found out when she looked at our joint bank account �" although she was angry, she was extremely sympathetic, and we faced my addiction head on. After a year the debt was cleared and we were happy again. Once we saved up enough money, Susan and I moved to a two bedroom house and we began to climb up our career ladders to higher positions, where we worked most days hardly ever seeing each other. I became editor for the local paper and she became a fully qualified doctor.

It wasn’t before long I was dragged back into another addiction due to the high demands and stress of my recent job promotion. I began drinking heavily at nights after work and coming home to Susan in a sorry state. The cocktail mix of cheese and onion crisps and ten beers on my breath was one of many qualities Susan had to endure at the early hours of the morning. My boss Randle, who was head of the firm, threatened to sack me after coming into work drunk for the fifth day in a row. When I called Susan she talked while weeping tears of disgrace and depression. I was later referred to a friend of Susan’s, and got control of the drunken habit.

Luckily, we had enough money to keep us going. I luckily escaped getting sacked by the skin of my teeth and got demoted to my old job. Susan, by this point sat me down and explained what I was doing to myself and to her. The gambling and alcohol abuse was making her ill and she constantly worried about keeping up with the endless stream of bills and mortgage payments, which I did not have the money to pay for. I regularly spent my earnings on shameful bad habits like cigarettes and bottles of whisky.

“Something has to give,” Susan cried as she wept into my lap.

“I’ll give it up, tomorrow is another chance.” I’d always say, but one inevitable evening changed this cycle into something more . . . real.

The following morning I got up and headed for work. I scrolled through prints of newspaper and wrote about the new bus route system and handed the newly-printed article to my boss. I clocked out at the end of the day and began striding out the building. I turned the corner and stared at the pub doors in front of me, Susan’s voice echoed in the back of my mind “something has to give.” I turned to cross the street and headed down the road towards home with the sun setting behind me, like the end of a motion picture. I unlocked the front door and headed inside.

 

 

“Honey I’m home!” I chirped as I walked into the kitchen and tossed my keys onto the counter and hung up m coat. The smell hit me like a runaway train. I chocked in shock as I headed into the next room to find the source of the foul odour.

To my surprise and horror, the smell was Susan. She hung from the chandelier in the centre of the living room, her body limp under the tight noose wrapped around her delicate neck. A note was left bellow her on the coffee table. It read:

 

I can’t cope with your addictions and emotional self harm. I tried to warn you but you just wouldn’t listen. I hope you eventually free yourself so that you can live happier than I did.

Your loving lady,

Susan.   

 

Author's Note

This was just a quick write as I haven't been around for a while I thought It be good to write something again. Please let me know what you think, I've got LOADS of reviews to write and to catch up with all the requests I'll get to you all soon i'm sure. :)

Reviews

[M Garcia]

An addiction is an addiction. There has to be a rock bottom before things can get better, even then, sometimes they don't.

[Marie]

Well, I'm afraid I can't be sympathetic. Susan should have kicked this guy's sorry a*s out, locked the door behind him, and taken everything he owned.

[Ryzo]

Thanks very much for your review. Yeh, I think so too. I wonder if this guy would've changed his ways if it had been written like that? I can only ponder. Thanks again I'll have a look at your writing too. :)

[TheSweet]

Wow, it's quite a powerful story towards the end and it tells a simple tale of reasons and consiquences. What I would have liked to see, in order to spice it up a little, was little snippets of sprcific thoughts or in depth explanations of feelings. The reason for this is because it'd make the story more philosophical and get people thinking more, dragging attention and creating more intelligence to the story.

I'm not saying it's bad as it is at all, but the story is just telling the story, what and how it happened. So the only improvement could be include the why and how deep. I hope you understand what I mean. Thanks for sharing :) I certainly enjoyed it.

[Shep]

This story hit me like a ton of bricks. Life is life, crule and unforgiving. Seldom do we ever find true balance. Forever we sit and wait before wait to get to the other side. Awesome write and giving us something to think about.

[victoria]

an excellent story, you end it with the reader reeling from your shock....superb write.

[Cascara (aka Sprint Goe..]

i really like susan's caring personality

great story

[Coyote Poetry]

A very sad ending to the story. I hope for a better ending. Addiction can destroy the life of many. A marriage based on love can fall apart when a man had no control. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote