HAUNTING STURGEONS: Epilogue

 Previously in this blog serial...

(Click here to read Chapter Twenty-Six) 

Now the HAUNTING concludes...

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That’s what I remember about the day I killed a man.  

Now I’m serving 15 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

I took full responsibility for why I had a gun and for shooting Clyde Woodhouse, so there was no need for a trial, just a hearing to determine my fate.

Benjamin Straker appeared and asked the court for leniency due to the traumatic events in my life.

The judge wasn’t interested, sighting my premeditated intention to inflict harm as reason for the maximum sentence. 

Straker paid me a visit afterwards and we discussed guilt and forgiveness, something we both struggle with.  

It felt good to talk with him, to take an initial step in making what seems like impossible amends. 

Then Eddie showed up one day, which made me nervous because I didn’t know what to expect.

His visit was full of long stretches of uncomfortable silence, but he said he would come back and he did. 

We mainly talk about my letter, working our way through my lies, which is painful, but necessary.

He is still coming to terms with the magnitude of what I did, but he places some of the blame on his dad for encouraging my actions. 

Sometimes, after one of Eddie’s visits, I allow myself to hope, but only for a brief moment.

I still have many years to go before I’m free.

Free from the ghosts of Sturgeons.

Free from the shadow of Stickler Hill. 

Free from the prison I built for myself.

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Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words! 

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. Click the pic ⤵️ to go back to the Prologue…

…or…

…go back to the VERY beginning… ⤵️

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