Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Hope: Regret's Best Antidote

No one told me it would be like this. No one told me any of this would happen. Is life always like this, mean and unfair? I never knew things would turn out like this. I never even imagined things could go any other way besides my own. Why did no one warn me that there were people like this, places like this where no one cares whether you're hurt or in good health, hungry or full, cold of hot, no one cares if you're alive or dead?

They never told me about the nights of cold weather and loneliness, with nowhere to go, nowhere to lay my head and relax with that feeling of safety and security I took for granted all those long years, with the shelter and protection of my home constantly around me. I want to get away from here, back to where I belong.

And no one ever told me about this horrible Regret that haunts me all night and most of the day, saying to me in that voice with a mixture of sorrow and a bit of pride, "If only you could have been content with your life, not seeking freedom and independence so early on. Just think what your life could have been, if you hadn't been so stupid in all your choices. And now it's too late. There's no turning back now. What's said is said, what's done is done. And now you're stuck here; no friends, no home, no parents to help you when times get rough. There's no turning back, no turning back, it's over now, no turning back. You might as well just—" No! I can't be letting my mind wander off to these topics of gloom and despair. Everything's not over yet. I still have hope. I mean, without hope, what's the point of life? I believe that somehow God will help me through this, like He always has in the past.

So she prayed to the God who created the universe with mere words, the same God who is gentle and kind enough to soothe and calm a troubled heart in times of great trial. She prayed this humble and simple prayer, "Lord, I know I am a wretched sinner, and that these hard times I am going through are luxuries compared to what I deserve. And I also know that whatever you put me through is what I need to go through, and in the end, just as it says in your Word, It will all work together for good. So I, Your servant, ask You not to take me out of these hard times, but to have your will be done, whatever that may be. But one thing I ask of You, Lord, is to keep my thoughts on the hope that's ahead of me, instead of the sorrow and regrets of what's done and passed. And I know that I never have to fear the future, because You are with me always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

A new feeling, one she had not felt for a long time, came over her then. It was as if all the pain had been wiped away and now she was a new person. A person that was able to face what was ahead of her with full confidence, knowing that whatever she did, whatever happened to her, she would always have the loving arms of God around her, keeping her safe and secure.

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