Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-32764586-20180205032315

In 1976 the lead guitarist of the band "Blue Oyster Cult" wrote and sung the song "Don't Fear the Reaper" in a 1976 album. This man's name was Donald Roeser, and his song would become an immensely popular hit. In an interview with Donald he stated:

"I felt that I had just achieved some kind of resonance with the psychology of people when I came up with that, I was actually kind of appalled when I first realized that some people were seeing it as an advertisement for suicide or something that was not my intention at all. It is, like, not to be afraid of [death] (as opposed to actively bring it about). It's basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners." As the above quotation suggests, the song was about love being above all. Love is supposedly so powerful in fact, that even death couldn't stop it nor slow it down. The reason people had linked the song to suicide was that of the chorus constantly mentioning Romeo and Juliet, two characters in a Shakespearean play who had killed themselves due to a misunderstanding and faulty love.

While the song may not be directly about suicide, there was one thing that Donald never addressed, and for good reason. The actual inspiration for the song. You see, while the song itself is supposed to hold a cheery message, the original story contained a much darker tone.

One night Donald and his friend Tommy sat at a bar. The two had a couple of drinks and shared chuckles with each other. It was after quite a few drinks that Tommy decided to share a story with Donald. This was the story of Tommy's parents and an incident that happened when he was an infant. Because of what happened, Tommy was taken to a foster home where he was raised with a new and loving family. When he was older, his new family decided to tell him the grim story of his birth parents. A story that would be told to Donald that night at the bar and inspire a hit song. A story of love, hate, and betrayal fused together to cause disaster.

This is that tale.

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Mary Richardson was a very lonely woman. Growing up, the kids at school would never play with her. She was fine with it though. She preferred to be alone in the quite. It allowed her to think about anything she wanted. As a young woman, she often kept to herself with her nose in a book. Mary lived a very dull life. But that all changed when she met him.

When Mary first laid eyes on Maxwell Paddington, something within her lit up. His young eyes burned with such intensity and instantly captured her heart at that moment. Within a month of meeting each other, the two were a young couple deep in love. He made everything male sense to her. He made her feel less alone. She thought isolation was the best path for her to take, but that was before she met Max.

It wasn't too long after they got together that the two became engaged. It was on a cool night on the lake that Max proposed to her and she gleefully accepted. Their wedding was a small one, and certainly less than glamorous. It didn't bother the two, however. They knew that as long as they had each other nothing would ever go wrong. And for several years they lived in harmony and their hearts pumped to the beat of a single drum together.

Soon after Mary married Max she bore a child. This child was named Tommy of course. It wasn't too long after this happened that Mary started to notice something strange about Max. Although he was delighted to be a father, he kept to himself more than he used to. For instance, when Tommy spoke his first word Mary was absolutely ecstatic. However, Max simply smiled while leaning against a wall with his hands tucked inside of his pockets. This behavior caused Mary to become slightly concerned about him especially as it continues. She saw it happen when Tommy took his first steps. She saw it happen as Tommy was able to walk on his own without help, and she even saw it as Tommy used the toilet without help for the first time. She wasn't too concerned about it, but she did find it odd that whenever she brought the matter up he shot it down.

This activity went on until Tommy was two years old. There was always something about Max that seemed off to everybody, especially Mary. It wasn't too long before she became suspicious, and it wasn't too long before her suspicions were confirmed. One day Mary was early coming home from work as she was quite efficient and finished her tasks. Upon walking up to the door she found it slightly ajar already. Stepping into the house she found the air to be still. She walked down the halls and to the bedroom where she found the door to also be upon. Peeking through the crease she saw something that almost caused her to totally lose it. Her husband and another woman whom she had never met sat before directly in her vision.

The discussion following that event was an awkward one for Mary. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she struggled to compose herself. Her voice was shaky and weak but words still managed to slip through her lips somehow.

"Wh... why," Was all that she could manage to say to him. Max looked towards the ground. He looked ashamed of himself. Ashamed of what he had done to her and the way he had kept it a secret for all those years.

"Babe... look... I'm sorry ok? I didn't mean to hurt you like this. You know you're my girl and always will be right? You know I love you."

His voice was sincere and broken. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to the whole thing to blow over and never come up again. But she had to know why he would even think about doing what he did. So she asked.

"Why did you do it? Was I not good enough for you? Is there something I did to make you do this... I don't understand..."

For a moment, there was silence. The two of them sat facing each other, neither daring to blink. Max chewed his bottom while his eyes darted across the room frantically. He bit down on his bottom lip and tore tiny pieces of the skin off and swallowing them before answering.

"No, it wasn't you ok? It was never you. I just did something stupid that I should never have," He places his hands on top of her hands and she pulled away in a single jerky movement. Max sighed heavily before continuing.

"I love you with all my heart Mary, that's why I married you. You're the girl I chose because when I saw the light in your eyes it reminded me of the stars twinkling in the night sky. Do you remember the nights we spent together, laying side by side? We would look up at the stars and embrace each other for hours. I remember those times, and they're so, so special to me. I don't regret those times, but I regret what did this time."

Mary smiled a little upon hearing this. She did remember those warm summer nights with him. They were perfect. They were the best nights of her life and she loved every bit of those memories. Max outstretched his hand and wiped the tears off of her face. She didn't pull back that time.

"Max, you know that you're everything to me and I don't ever want to let you go. But you have to promise me that you won't ever do this again. Can you do that?"

"Of course dear. Anything for you."

The two smiled at each other before Max kissed her with a passion like no other. Mary thought back to before she had Max in her life. She didn't even know if she could call what happened before she met him life. It was so dull... so bland. The feeling of hurt and betrayal eased to the back of her mind as she settled into bed with him that evening. She slept soundly through the night. Her mind was clear and her confidence was regained. She believed in Max and his promise and didn't doubt that the incidents before were just bumps in the road of her relationships. After all, all relationships had trying times, and she was sure this was one of them. What she didn't know though, was that this was only the beginning. What she didn't know was that things would get much, much worse. 