At 39 years of age, Ben is still a nasty piece of work. I’ll begin at his youth.

Ben was only seven when he nearly cut the tail off his pet dog. His mother was horrified. Ben looked innocently at his mother while still holding the bloody kitchen knife in a mildly threatening way at her and smiled a sweet child’s smile. Now he is twelve.

 His mother, a single mom in the city, struggles to make enough money from her waitress job at ‘Joes Diner’. She digs in her pockets at the store to count her change in order to buy a can of spam and a pint of milk for Ben’s morning oatmeal. She will make the spam tasty, pan fried with a potato and a tad bit of wilted lettuce as a side salad.  She still has a bit of dressing in the squeeze bottle.

 She gets in line and hands the cashier money for the food. “Thanks, Mary. How are things?” Greg asks as he bags the few items for her. He has a major crush on Mary. Her once twinkling eyes are heavy now with worry and fatigue.

 “It’s a tough time, Greg. I’m getting by. Ben is a big problem now that he is a teenager. I don’t know what to do about him.” She looks right at Greg and gives him a half smile. Her hair is messy from the day’s work and her uniform is wearing stains from gravy spilled on it.

 “If you need anything, please call me. My number is on this card. Would you like to go to a movie sometime?”

 She stops cold, smiles a big genuine happy smile and says, “Oh, gosh, yes. I’d love that.”

 “Ok, see you soon.”

 She almost floats home thinking about Greg. She goes up the seven steps to the apartment entrance and fumbles with the lock, opening the main door, then goes down the long hall to room 118. “Ben, come help me.” She hollers out as she enters the little flat and heads for the kitchen.

 “I don’t want to!” He lazily saunters into the kitchen, holding a hand held electronic game he stole from K-Mart. His mom doesn’t know it isn’t his. He told her it was Eddy’s.

 “You have to. You can wash last night’s dishes as I make dinner, and put away the milk that’s on the table. How was your day?”

 “Same-o Same-o.  Boring.”

 “You must get good grades Ben. It’s the only way out of this neighborhood. You’ll have a wonderful life if you work hard and aim for the stars.”

 “Ya, sure.” He drops a dish into the sink and it breaks into pieces. “Sorry.” He starts to walk off but his mom stops him from escaping the mess.

 “Clean that up.” The front door bell rings.

 “I don’t have to,”

 “Clean it up, Ben. Now.”

 He turns back to the sink muttering cuss words as his mom answers the door.

 “Hi, thought you’d like a little Take Out.”

 She sees several little boxes within a big bag, all with the local logo of the Chinese restaurant on them. “Oh, my gosh, what a surprise. Come on in.”

 With that Greg meets Ben.  He holds out his hand and Ben just stands there looking at it before turning back into the living room.

 Greg looks at Mary and gives her a sad shrug. “Don’t worry, Mary. I’m going to help you all I can.” They sit down to their first meal. Six months pass when they marry.

Ben is 13. Soon he is sentenced to go to juvie for beating a 74 year old man for his wallet. He spends the rest of his teen years there.

 Mary and Greg sadly watch Ben grow into a nasty, cheating, argumentative, immoral man.

 One evening, while playing rummy, there is a knock on the front door. Mary answers it.

 A policeman stands before her. “Mam, There has been a shooting. I’m sorry to say, your son shot and killed a clerk and severely beat a customer at the liquor store he was robbing.  He was shot amid the gunfire. His ID reads Ben Cummings, 39 years old. This address. Is that correct?“

 “Yes.”

 Greg and Mary, along with their daughter, Angelia, a bright straight A student at Seattle College, stand over the hole that now will house the son that brought nothing but fear and misery into this world. Greg and Mary tried to show him the value of being loving and considerate. He never saw the beauty of this earth or value of anyone or anything in it. They tried.

 After the funeral on this cold last day of October, the three of them slowly walk hand in hand away from the limited, stark lonely funeral. They will enjoy their quiet family life now, in safety, peace and love.

 Meanwhile, on a derelict trail atop Spirit Mountain, is a partially recognizable face with only the left eye showing from the path. The right eye is hidden beneath dirt, forever doomed to watch the smallest critters socially get along as they live their lives. The left eye will watch animals of all sizes scamper about in safety, bicyclists, hikers, riders on horseback, lovers, all that will ever walk the path, and birds fly about in freedom.

 This is the mound of Ben, who forever will see from his stationary vantage point on the path of Vision Ridge.  He will never utter a hateful sound, threaten or inflict pain on any living entity, for eternity. He will watch the beautiful rhythm of life with eyes wide open. Forever.

                                                                  End