When everyone's dead there is no reason to fight. This depressing truth became known to Keith the moment he looked into their lifeless bodies. As the fire spread, he lost his will to live. It was like seeing them charred, killed all of his survival instincts.
Earlier that evening, Keith had made the decision to leave them all behind (Agnes; his long-term partner of 12 years and mother of his twin three-year-old boys - Angelo and Krish). His time with them would only bring them an inescapable doom, or at least, that's how he felt. Keith never had a good life. Dealing with the guilt of killing his mother through child birth, the abuse from his father, and the consistent bullying from the outside world, Keith never knew what it meant to love and be loved.
It was odd meeting Agnes for the first time. After spending only one week together he loved her more than he ever knew possible. She was kind to him and genuine, but most of all, she reciprocated his love. This was something different - a good different for him. When their twin boys were born, three years ago, life took an even better turn for Keith. He then had a family that he could love. The best part was he had people who loved him for who he truly was. There were no issues.
Life was finally looking up, but Keith knew better than to let that fool him. He knew that things would go awry soon, and his abominable life would return to him. Instead of dragging his children and the love of his life into his misery, he thought it best to leave them while they still had a chance. Agnes had a good job, she was bound to fare well. As for the boys growing up without a father, Keith knew Agnes could easily marry off and find a new father-figure for the boys.
While his decision required swift and firm action followed by an everlasting removal from their lives, Keith could not help but to leave a note:
My love,
You are deserving of much more than I can ever give you. You taught me how to be happy and what it meant to be loved. My life has never been so good until I met you. Unfortunately, I know that the fixation of my luck meter has been stuck on the "without" setting for as long as I've lived. Me finding you was an anomaly in the whole setup. Nonetheless, life has a twisted way of balancing itself out, and I would hate for you to get caught up in the crossfire.
I am leaving somewhere you will never find me. Please move on and take good care of the boys. I turned over my savings account in your name. Use the little I have to take care of everything. I believe with all my heart that you will find love and live a great life. I have the most faith in that.With tears in his eyes Keith left the note on the kitchen counter next to the front door of their house. He had hoped to be long gone before Agnes and the children came back home from running errands. However, to his dismay, bad luck made its return to him earlier than expected. The twin boys ran through the door as energetic as ever after Agnes opened it. They quickly hugged their father then, carried on roughhousing as toddlers normally do.
Acknowledging the tears in his eyes, Agnes asked Keith what was wrong. Withholding his response, Agnes noticed the note on the kitchen counter. Without reading the whole note she immediately recognized Keith's handwriting, and magnified on the worse part:
I am leaving ...It was like a virus of despair jumped from Keith into her, and she couldn't stop the tears from coming.
"You can't leave. I need you. We need you here with us."
"I will only hold you and this family back Aggie. I am just doing what's best for you."
"If you want to do what's best for us, you'll stay. Life will not be better without you. How could you ever think that?"
"You don't understand. I am cursed beyond repair. This life is the best you can ever get with me, and it's not even what you deserve. You deserve a modern house, a nicer car, a partner without so much pain, and a partner who can love you effortlessly. I can't give you that."
"All I ever want is your best Keith. This life is already the best I'd ever had and it's because you're in it. Please Keith, don't leave us."
Notwithstanding his own cynical beliefs of his inevitably doomed life, Keith could not resist the pain and sadness he saw in Agnes' eyes. Her grave desire to keep the family together and keep him home made him finally realize that he was enough for her. For some reason, he was always enough. Keith warmly embraced Agnes, kissing her on the cheek and reassuring her, "I will never leave you." Their love was authentic, original and unique. It was the glue keeping everyone together, and Keith finally realized this.
Breaking up the love fest was a stench of gasoline in the air. The couple was so caught up in their love affair that they had not noticed the stench before. They began to look for the source immediately. Keith opened up all the windows in the house.
Just when he came from opening the main door to the house, he noticed Krish playing with a torch lighter in the corner of the room. He ran as fast as he could to retrieve it from the boy, but it was too late. Krish ignited a flame setting off a violent explosion catapulting Keith through the open door.
Knocked out for a few minutes, Keith opens his eyes to a flaming house. Unafraid of the fire, his first instinct was to run inside to save his family. Just as he walked through the door, behind the smoke like a work of art was his entire family burnt alive laying flat out on the living room floor. It appeared as if Agnes grabbed Angelo and tried to reach Krish for an escape, but was stopped by all the smoke then set ablaze while doing it.
The feeling of failure and regret pounded through Keith's veins. To think he was going to walk out on his family and leave them to die all alone brought Keith to making his final decision. He grabbed Krish's burnt body and put it next to Agnes and Angelo. Next, he laid down next to his family, wrapping himself with their burnt bodies. Keith knew there was no sense in trying to fight the fire. You'll never beat the system; you can't beat bad luck, you merely ride it out. As he did all his life, Keith rode through the fire with his crisped family - the only love he'd ever known.
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