Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes
By Joseph Logsdon

Lilia Richardson wanted to kill herself. She needed the noise and destruction of the world to fade away. She did not see the point in waiting for death, nor did she see the point of living a miserable and useless existence. Lilia had been a housewife, a wife that looked after her children and husband. However, the tragic woman soon discovered that her husband was having an affair. It was not the most original betrayal ever committed, but a betrayal nonetheless. She did not weep when she found out, nor did she shout. Lilia ran from her family and from her duty as a mother. She walked the streets at night and hoped to find peace within herself. However, that peace would not come until it was too late for salvation.

Lilia Richardson continued to walk the streets at night. Her once beautiful face had become worn and tired. She wanted food, but could have none. She had squandered her money on drugs and alcohol. She was drunk and without love, without the warmth and comfort that everyone should receive. She wanted to die more than she had ever wanted anything else. Lilia looked down into the water by the sea and thought about jumping. However, her attempt was halted when a man called out to her from nearby.
“Stop!” the man shouted as he rushed to her side.
Lilia turned her head and gently stared at the man who called out to her. He was tall and had piercing blue eyes. Lilia thought he was quite handsome, but that thought did not prevent her from wanting to die. She quickly looked away as rain began to fall on them. The man quickly took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. Lilia didn’t know what to say. The man had shown her kindness in a world filled with cruelty and loneliness. Lilia Richardson was lonely and had been lonely her entire life. As a young girl, Lilia loved to paint and she loved to draw. The world seemed like a colorful and wonderful place to live, a place that would guide her passion. As the years went by, Lilia saw what the world really was. Her family did not support her dreams and her husband was no different. He wanted a devoted housewife, not an independent and artistic woman. Lilia became a victim of the society she lived in.
“What were you getting ready to do?”
“I’m not sure.”
“It looked to me like you were going to jump.”
“Maybe I was.”
“Why?”
Lilia did not respond to the kind and gentle man. A tear fell from her eye and the rain swiftly took it away. She was lost in her own thoughts and nothing could seemingly bring her back to reality.
“Are you all right?”
“I’ve never been all right,” she replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Lilia.”
“Why do you want to jump, Lilia?”
“I’ve always loved the water. As a child, my mother would take me by the sea and we would have lunch together. That was the only time I ever felt truly happy. I loved watching the water crash against the beach.”
“What does that memory have to do with killing yourself?”
“I want the water to rinse my life away.”
“I’m calling the police before you do something that you regret.”
The man attempted to reach into his pocket to retrieve his phone, but was stopped by a desperate cry for understanding.
“You must not do that!” Lilia shouted.
“And why not?”
“Because I’m weak! I hate the police and have always hated them. As a child, my father used to beat my mother in broad daylight. He was a police officer and no one ever touched him. His friends knew about the abuse and ignored it. All police officers do is drink, spit, and abuse!”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“You can let me die! You seem like a nice man, a man that is too innocent to understand how cruel the world can be. Why won’t you go home?”
“I can’t stand by and let someone die.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s wrong.”
“But why? I’m a grown woman and can take care of myself. Do I need your permission to die? Sir, I’m not a part of your moral principles, nor am I bound to your ideas of right and wrong. Sir, go home and let me die without another argument on my conscience.”
“I just can’t do that.”
“You’re a fool, you know that?”
“Are you trying to talk me out of saving you?”
“You never were going to save me in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m already dead.”
Lilia suddenly jumped and fell into the water below. The night became silent and disturbed as the rain came to an end. The man remained confused and defeated as he walked away from the tragic scene. He couldn’t have saved her, for she died long before that night. Lilia was a wonderful housewife and mother. She caught her husband having an affair and she ran away from her duty as a mother. She squandered her money and took up drugs as a way of coping with her depression. She roamed the streets at night and jumped into the water. No one could save her that night, not even a handsome man with blue eyes.