Woman
To God we belong and to Him is our return
I loosen my shoulders by rotating them and stretch my legs. I throw an easy and mocking grin to my opponent.
He grunts and throws off his coat into the snow.
"We'll see, mate." He grunts.
The sun rises in the distance, the dim light sets the scene for my demise.
Mike stampedes towards me with his arms out to his sides and his fists clenched tight. I swerve to the side and grab his shirt, I pull him the direction he is running and he somersaults and lands in a heap behind me.
I force out a chuckle and run a few paces from him.
He cries out like an angry child, and the familiar way Arthur reacted when he slipped into a pile of snow a few weeks ago has me staring.
He runs and lands on top of me. He starts punching my shoulders as I pull my fists up to block my face. The cloth padding gives some resistance but the weight of his entire body crunches my ribs. He scratches my knuckles. I grab his arm and unbalance him and kick him in the face as I roll away.
"So, you've got a few tricks up your sleeve." He sneers and spits out a yellow tooth into the snow.
I wipe my bloody knuckle on my pants.
"And that must be surprising because you haven't got any." I say and stretch my face into a smirk.
"All I'm saying is that those men that took my wife will have another thing coming."
"Liar." I say and spit at the ground where he is getting up.
"What did you say?" He screams and he runs for me. He grabs my hair but it slips out of his fingers for the first time and I take his arm and lock it behind his back.
My head rests next to his and he screams out in pain.
"You're wife left you." He gasps.
"She tied you up when you were passed out drunk and she took your purse and ran." He struggles against my lock and I catch my breath as the anger in my mind takes over. I pull his arm harder.
It took me a week of practice to get out of Joseph's lock, so how would he fare?
"How do you know all this? Ahh!" Mike screams.
"Don't you know who you're fighting? I'm surprised you didn't poison yourself with that alcohol and die yet." I throw Mike to the ground and kick him in the ribs.
After a long silent moment as the sun begins to rise to lighten the land Mike rolls over and grunts to stand.
He stares at me. His figure is defeat. I rest a hand on my hip when I want to bend over and clutch my ribs.
"Did you take her!? What did you do with her?" He screeches out like a donkey. His hands lobbing at his sides and his body leaning forward and wobbling to support himself.
"Mia Winston, you know her? You know she's almost 18, I have to get her back!" He gurgles.
I stare at his madness, he falls into a heap. He stares at me and I stride towards him. My hands sweaty in the cold wind.
"You will never get me back." Mike's eyes widen.
"Mi-Michael?" He whispers.
"Mia." I huff with my normally light tone.
I stare into his tiny blue eyes. They squint and squirm as they watch me.
I stare into his eyes and his pudgy face is contorted as gravity pulls the weight down. How I wish that the earth would swallow him up and God would let the equal revenge of all that he did to me be this man's death. Mike blinks at me.
I watch the sunrise in his eyes. His breathing hastens.
"Please I, I promise, I'll take care of you. I've changed. Look I've been searching-"
"For money. I know why you married me. I know why you wanted me back all of sudden. You think that a day's travel from Winsor would make me stupid enough to believe that you've been looking for me for two years." I laugh humourlessly.
"Mia, you, how could you be like a man, you're a woman!"
I pull the wraps from around my arms from under my sleeve and throw them at him.
"Because you couldn't." He breaks in front of me, tears of hot anger roll down his face and he struggles to stand. He begins crawling towards me and I kick him in the ribs and he rolls away fiercely. Well, as fierce as an upturned turtle can be. He lies face up on the snow.
"Go away."
"No Mia, I'm taking you with me mate. Even if it kills me." He stares into the sky and breathes out.
His eyes close.
After several moments of me staring at him, waiting for a move, waiting for a weak comeback I look at the window.
Elsa stares at me with Mrs. Milton glaring at the body of my husband.
I stride towards him and drop to my knees. I put my hand under his nose.
No breath.
I close his eyelids over his tiny lifeless eyes.
"To God we belong and to Him is our return" I say and reflect on the words and the moment and the rising sun.
And the corpse.
He grunts and throws off his coat into the snow.
"We'll see, mate." He grunts.
The sun rises in the distance, the dim light sets the scene for my demise.
Mike stampedes towards me with his arms out to his sides and his fists clenched tight. I swerve to the side and grab his shirt, I pull him the direction he is running and he somersaults and lands in a heap behind me.
I force out a chuckle and run a few paces from him.
He cries out like an angry child, and the familiar way Arthur reacted when he slipped into a pile of snow a few weeks ago has me staring.
He runs and lands on top of me. He starts punching my shoulders as I pull my fists up to block my face. The cloth padding gives some resistance but the weight of his entire body crunches my ribs. He scratches my knuckles. I grab his arm and unbalance him and kick him in the face as I roll away.
"So, you've got a few tricks up your sleeve." He sneers and spits out a yellow tooth into the snow.
I wipe my bloody knuckle on my pants.
"And that must be surprising because you haven't got any." I say and stretch my face into a smirk.
"All I'm saying is that those men that took my wife will have another thing coming."
"Liar." I say and spit at the ground where he is getting up.
"What did you say?" He screams and he runs for me. He grabs my hair but it slips out of his fingers for the first time and I take his arm and lock it behind his back.
My head rests next to his and he screams out in pain.
"You're wife left you." He gasps.
"She tied you up when you were passed out drunk and she took your purse and ran." He struggles against my lock and I catch my breath as the anger in my mind takes over. I pull his arm harder.
It took me a week of practice to get out of Joseph's lock, so how would he fare?
"How do you know all this? Ahh!" Mike screams.
"Don't you know who you're fighting? I'm surprised you didn't poison yourself with that alcohol and die yet." I throw Mike to the ground and kick him in the ribs.
After a long silent moment as the sun begins to rise to lighten the land Mike rolls over and grunts to stand.
He stares at me. His figure is defeat. I rest a hand on my hip when I want to bend over and clutch my ribs.
"Did you take her!? What did you do with her?" He screeches out like a donkey. His hands lobbing at his sides and his body leaning forward and wobbling to support himself.
"Mia Winston, you know her? You know she's almost 18, I have to get her back!" He gurgles.
I stare at his madness, he falls into a heap. He stares at me and I stride towards him. My hands sweaty in the cold wind.
"You will never get me back." Mike's eyes widen.
"Mi-Michael?" He whispers.
"Mia." I huff with my normally light tone.
I stare into his tiny blue eyes. They squint and squirm as they watch me.
I stare into his eyes and his pudgy face is contorted as gravity pulls the weight down. How I wish that the earth would swallow him up and God would let the equal revenge of all that he did to me be this man's death. Mike blinks at me.
I watch the sunrise in his eyes. His breathing hastens.
"Please I, I promise, I'll take care of you. I've changed. Look I've been searching-"
"For money. I know why you married me. I know why you wanted me back all of sudden. You think that a day's travel from Winsor would make me stupid enough to believe that you've been looking for me for two years." I laugh humourlessly.
"Mia, you, how could you be like a man, you're a woman!"
I pull the wraps from around my arms from under my sleeve and throw them at him.
"Because you couldn't." He breaks in front of me, tears of hot anger roll down his face and he struggles to stand. He begins crawling towards me and I kick him in the ribs and he rolls away fiercely. Well, as fierce as an upturned turtle can be. He lies face up on the snow.
"Go away."
"No Mia, I'm taking you with me mate. Even if it kills me." He stares into the sky and breathes out.
His eyes close.
After several moments of me staring at him, waiting for a move, waiting for a weak comeback I look at the window.
Elsa stares at me with Mrs. Milton glaring at the body of my husband.
I stride towards him and drop to my knees. I put my hand under his nose.
No breath.
I close his eyelids over his tiny lifeless eyes.
"To God we belong and to Him is our return" I say and reflect on the words and the moment and the rising sun.
And the corpse.