Need of Coal
The tightly shut wood door flew open, a rush of snow and ray of pale light flew in with it as Lucius in his thick woolen winter gear stepped through and slammed it shut behind him. He quickly found his son, scanning him through the lump of blankets he had pulled around himself, and dropped a sack in front of him.
“Put this coal on the stove, old boy. Let’s get this house nice and warm.”
The son leapt up and dragged the sack off to the stove, eager to get to work. Although Lucius’s wife was delighted for the coal, she still dreaded that they had it at all.
“Lou, where’d you get the coal from? Don’t lie to me.”
Lucius began unwinding the scarf from around his face and gazed out the thin window as if he’d see something through the whiteout.
“I’d never lie to you, my dear, which was why I wasn’t planning on saying anything about it. I have to keep you guys safe and cared for, I want to be a good steward, but I don’t want you to hurt because of what I do either. I have no scruples about what I do for my family, I only worry about you.”
Eliza dropped her work on the table.
“And what are we going to do without you?”
Lucius shrugged passively.
“I’m just afraid to see my family deprived of what they need. My own life doesn’t mean that much to me anyway, as long as the people I need to take care of are safe and sound.”
“They’re going to find the coal once they come for you, you know.”
“They won’t, your son knows how to hide it well. You’ll be stocked for a while at least.”
Eventually, Lucius turned around and saw his wife crying, so he chuckled and walked over to hug her in a futile attempt to get her to stop.
“Lucius, I don’t care about the coal and I don’t care about staying warm, I married you, not coal.”
Lucious laughed and thought of something to say to break the tension.
“That’s why God put a man in the house, to make the tough calls.”
She did not appreciate this. In her heart she thought about him:
“Why does he have to be so short sighted?”
In his heart, he thought about her:
“Why does she have to be so short sighted?”
…
A couple days later the family was lying in bed when there was a knock at the door. Lucius got up to answer it, Eliza covered her face. She heard everything they said.
The door unstuck itself and swung open.
“Lou, you know why I’m here, right?”
He chuckled again in his terrible way.
“Yeah, I can make a pretty good guess why you’re here. Come in so we don’t let the heat out at least.”
Footsteps.
“Take care of anything you’ve got to before we go. I’ll wait for you.”
Lucius came back around and hugged his son.
“Take care of your mother, boy, I’m going to be gone for a long while. I left you enough coal to survive, work hard, alright?”
He walked over and kissed his wife, he saw that she was crying.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way, Eliza, but I need to go now. You should have more than enough to get by while I’m away. I’m sorry, I really am, but please don’t think I’ve failed you.”
She sobbed futiley.
“Why can’t you understand? I don’t care about supplies, I care about you. I’d rather freeze to death with you than live on without you. Now your son’s going to grow up without a father.”
He straighted up and grabbed his coat.
“I wish things were that clear cut. Sometimes, you have to make a bad decision. If it comes down to this or possibly losing the two of you, I can’t justify one of those decisions no matter how much you want it.”
She looked at him with puffy eyes and he drew hit hat over his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see it.
“I hope you can forgive me for it, but I’d rather hurt you than let you go.”
Lucius left the room.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
He was gone.