Indulgence.

A hermit hears the cry of a newborn through the woods and among the trees finds the infant on the floor. He hastily prepares a fire to keep him warm, and backs away into the shadows to watch him sleep. He fears that his hands, rough and insensitive as they are, can hurt such a fragile creature. Days go by, when the sun is up the hermit hides and watches him play, when the sun goes down he creates a shelter around him. The sleepless nights become evident in recurrent dark circles which refuse to abandon the hermit´s eyes. He intimidates, hurts, and even kills those who attempt to harm the baby, and in doing so he becomes corrupted. Remorse and guilt dominate a man who was until now at peace with himself.

The little one grows cheerfully, as he feels that a caring and benevolent entity takes care of him. The hermit ages pale and tired from living in the shadows and working at night, and his back bends with the burden of those who commit atrocities. The child wakes up every day among fresh flowers and harmless forest creatures. The old man goes to sleep covered in dirt and surrounded by nothing else than corpses of the beasts who threatened the kid.

When the little boy grows into a young man he feels ready to meet the one who hides among the shadows. Shouting, he begs the man to reveal himself, assuring he has nothing to worry about. While describing the unconditional love he feels for him he even calls him “father”. Beaming with pride and happiness, the old man enters the clearing with tears in his eyes. His arms stretched in front of him are not trying to hide the numerous scars; they all bare the boy´s name. His tattered clothes fail to hide his thin, battered figure. His mouth twisted in an atrocious grin, as he has forgotten how to smile.

The young man who was never before seen such a horrific sight feels the terror a child would experience should a monster appear in his dreams and runs away screaming for his father. The old man, unable to catch up to him, falls to the ground, with tears in his face. Maybe of joy, or maybe of sorrow. Either way, he knows himself condemned but does not regret anything he has done and dies on the spot with the weight of the years crushing over his shoulders, but the cleanest conscience a man could have.

But then, I wonder, who would have been innocent.