"Love has no special cost,it only demands that your heart be free from hatred".
Mark pondered over this realistic statement, but he got flustered at every attempt to exercise it.His fidgeting fingers reflected his anxiety,the awful past kept intruding into the dim present.He moved towards the other part of the living room to welcome the cool air of the evening by opening the window and parting the curtains.To his utmost amazement,he saw his mum making her way up through the stairs;towards his door.
He heard a resounding knock on his door,he tried to deafen his ear through negligence,but he couldn't.He opened the door forcefully and gazed directly at his mum's face.She looked dejected and awful.
Her face sought for sympathy,empathy,love and forgiveness.She knelt before his son and uttered the following words,
"Forgive me son,I have wronged you;let's bury the past"
"You leave me with no choice.Bury the past! You forsook me when I needed you to survive and thrive as a child.You abandoned me and treated me like trash and you now expect me not to be rash and vengeful.Leave my house honorably," Mark said in a gentle but serious tone.
She rose up from her knees apologetically, but left the house without saying a word to bail her out. Remembering the great sacrifice St.Valentine offered through love made Mark uneasy.
'Is forgiveness too expensive to be bought by love? Does he really have the love in his heart? How can he access it? He thought
"Open your heart to receive it,"was the answer that came forth from within.
He ran out of the house in search for his mum wildly,but his race was cut short when he saw a crowd gather round a body,he took a furtive glance and immediately saw the bloody body of his mum;she had been hit by a fast moving vehicle.He Knelt beside his almost lifeless mother and held her hands dearly.
"Mum,am pleading that you forgive me of not forgiving,the healing power of love has restored sanity back to me.You are a treasure to behold through love. Don't die now,"Mark said while the tears flowed freely like the River Nile.
"Son,the present you present to me through love has overshadowed the past full of flaws..It's great to be forgiven,greater to be cherished and greatest to be loved.Bye,son." Life left her body before Mark could give a response.
Mark sat on the couch in his living room to mark the tenth year of his mother's departure to the great beyond.Co-incidentally,it was a Feb. 14 - Valentine's day.Mark had created an imaginary presence of her mother and taken her to be his val.
"Mum, you have taught me the greatest lesson of love.Forgiveness can not be acquired by revenge, anger and prosecution not even justice but by love.And love is what eases the heavy burden of not forgiving. As I celebrate this day of love with you,I am remembered of how unlimited the power of love is.
He drank a toast to his mum.Two cups were actually present in his mind;that of love and possibilities.
Love is the key that closes the door of hatred,bitterness,cruelty,brutality,injustice,castigation,selfishness,resentment,slander,violence and infidelity.
Story by:Kolade Olanrewaju Freedom
