Short Story In the Defence of Love

by K. Deverill

He’d not long lost his son, a senseless death. Soon after, his wife died too. Sadness filled his soul, although a spark of light remained. His grandson, he made everything better. He was the only thing left in the defence of love. Then one day, out of the blue, while repairing a fence on the farm, he asked.

‘Why are guns and knives not banned?’

‘Guns don’t cause crime, knives don’t either. It’s what you do with them that turns them into weapons.’

‘What about a hammer?’ He shook his head, and removed something from his pocket, a handkerchief. He swept it across his dampened brow.

‘A hammer is for repairs, not despair.’

‘How about poison?’

‘Ah, medicinal tinctures are fine. Like I said, they aren’t made to kill.’                                              

‘But I don’t understand.’

‘What don’t you understand?’

‘Murder. Death. It’s so final.’

‘That it is.’

‘How about the strangler? A strangler uses their hands!’

The handkerchief deep in his pocket now, he reached for his glass.

‘Not always. There’s rope, wire, cable.’ Back in thought, he sighs.

‘So, anything can kill, to murder?’

‘It looks that way.’

‘Can a heart kill?’

‘Yes, I believe so, if you break it.’

‘What can you break it with?’

‘Words. Words can kill too.’

The young child stopped to look at their grandfather. A perplexed mixture of fear and grief passed across the innocent face.

‘Is that how granny died?’

‘No.’

‘Then how?’

‘Love killed her.’

‘That’s too weird. Everyone knows love conquers all grandpa.’

‘Sometimes, if you lose someone you love, especially when a gun is used, a knife, a cord, or careless words and deeds, the heart breaks. Sometimes just losing them is enough. That’s when love kills.’

‘Oh no! Grampa, when I grow up, I’m never going to love anyone. Then I won’t ever die!’

He stopped. Hand gently placed on his grandson’s head, he ruffled his hair.

‘Ah,’ he paused again before he gave his answer. Thinking hard, he focused on what he needed to say in the Defence of Love.

‘Well my boy, a world without love is a soulless place, which means you won’t ever live either!’