Until He's Free. (Fiction Story)

I saw him sitting there, chained to the chair. His head was down, his eyes were closed, and his entire body looked limp. He seemed lifeless as the darkness crept in. Inside my heart I felt a tug, to go toward him, to rescue him. But as I made my way over, walls began to form around him. I ran up to the window and placed my hands on the glass. As I looked inside, he began to struggle with the chains, pulling and tugging. As he failed to make a difference, he looked up and around.

My heart began to beat as I internally cringed. Immediately I cried out to him, knocking on the window as loud as I can. Tears started streaming down my eyes as I screamed for him. His eyes met mine and I felt my heart fail to beat. Quickly it caught up to itself and pounded more intensely.

He looked inanimate, with no spark in his eye whatsoever. My hands remained on the cold glass as I tried hard not to breathe too direct as to not fog my vision. The tears on my face grew cold and dry as a warm new drop fell from my eye. As I looked at him, he kept our gaze. I felt completely helpless with no way to him. I could not touch him, I could not be there for him. I watched as he struggled once again, trying to break free from the chains. If only this wall would fall so I could run to him. And yet I stood on the other side of the window and sobbed.

I began to pray, "Please, God. Free him from those chains! Don't let him hurt too long!" I fell to my knees and banged on the wall in anger. I felt so far from him. I wanted to save him so bad that I could hardly even watch him suffer. I wept and wept as I sat on the floor, weakly hitting the wall every so often. When I found the strength to stand again, I did. Looking around, I walked the perimeter of the room he was in. Each wall had a window. Coming to the last side, I saw a door. I ran to it and thrust my hands upon the handle. Using all my strength, I attempted to pull it. It was locked.

I ran back to a window and knocked on it again. This time I saw the other side of him. His head turned toward me and his eyes were like daggers to my heart. As I cried out on the other side of the window, I tried to point toward the door. He looked over, then back at me. Soon he began trying to free himself from the chair once again. A shiny object caught my attention, and looking down near his feet, I saw a key! I tried to direct his vision toward the key. He finally caught on and tried using his foot to reach it. The chains were tight.

I prayed once again, "Please, God! Make a way! I do not want to leave him. I just can't. I must see to it that he is saved from those chains... What is holding him in there? Please make a way..." I cried as I watched him struggle to reach for the key on the ground. When he failed, he looked back up at me. My heart was almost giving out, I could not handle it anymore. It hurt in the most painful way to watch him struggle with chains.

When it seemed he was about to try harder, he gazed over at me, stopped struggling, and closed his eyes. There he sat, limp once again.

He gave up. As another warm tear rolled down my cheek, I watched him sit there looking lifeless. I turned around and leaned up against the wall as I sat myself down. Looking toward the sky, I grew confused with why there seemed no way to help him. My lips quivered as I questioned God, "Why would you have sent me here when I cannot help him? This is too hard on my heart! Must I sit here and watch him struggle, watch him chained in that room? These walls keep me so far from him and I cannot open the door. I don't want to be here anymore, but I don't want to leave him..." My head dropped as I sobbed. Eventually I found the strength to put my arms on my knees and looked straight ahead. Still not understanding, I knew I had to keep trusting.

I thought I saw a hint of light coming out of the window. Hurriedly I got up and looked in once again. He still sat their hunched over, looking down. But a stream of light made its way down on him. That's when I noticed that his mouth was covered. He could not scream for help. As the light grew brighter, I got a deep, warm feeling inside. Something inside was telling me he would be okay. I could not leave.

Like lightning, he was struck and his head came up. He looked straight above him into the light. But as he did, his mouth became uncovered. At that moment he looked back at me, then down at his chains. He started to fight again as my blood began to rush. Soon the chains broke as he cried out. He reached for the key and stood. Looking up, the light above him allowed me to see his tears. When our gazes met, he smiled at me. I grinned in return and ran to the door. I attempted to open it again, knowing it was still locked. I struggled with no luck.

Running back to the window, I grew confused. He looked over at me with sad eyes. I did not understand why the door remained locked. He gave me the expression that he could not do anything about it. I didn't understand as I felt like crying again. There he was, free of chains, but why do these walls separate us? He looked down at the key he held. I recognized it immediately. Finding his gaze once again, our eyes danced. I wanted to look away, but I kept staring at him.

He was afraid. He was afraid to let me in and I could tell. I couldn't remove myself from my spot, nor look away. Unexpectedly, he walked up to the window. He still held the key as he placed one hand on the glass. As if he was trying to understand something, he stared a while into my eyes. Breaking the gaze, he looked down at the key. Then all of a sudden he turned and went toward the door. I walked toward it, waiting to see it open. After moments of what sounded like struggle on the other side, the door flung open and he stood there with enough strength to barely stand. I ran to him and wrapped my arms around him. Hugging tightly, I never felt so perfect. The same man who sat in the chair with chains now stood here, free and without a wall in between us.

The first words to come from his mouth were barely audible. But I understood him.
"Why did you stay?" he asked.

I smiled and answered, "Because I didn't want to leave you like that."

He teared up and shook his head. "I do not understand. No one else has stayed. I am better off alone."

"But you're not alone." I hugged him again and he returned it. Remembering the key he had, I let go and looked down at his hand that held it. He noticed my gaze and opened his hand.

"I ignored this. And I have no idea why." He handed it to me and turned around. Looking straight at the door, he walked up to it and closed it. Grinning back over at me, he made his way to my side. "Shall we?" He held out his hand as I slowly put mine in his. I did not understand why he gave me the key, so I gave it back and told him to keep it.

He laughed and pulled out a key from his pocket. "I've already got one." Looking ahead, he led us away from the building.

Finally I examined the key and in tiny writings...I found his name.