Scars of Life Anabalón 1

Scars of life

Composition II

Miguel Alberto Anabalón Torres

Emilio Araya

Universidad Mayor – Pedagogía en Inglés

Oct – 17 – 2018
 Anabalón 2

Miguel Anabalón

Profesor Emilio Araya

Composition II

17 October 2018

Scars of life.

Tharion was holding the soldier by his throat, just a little squeeze could break the man’s

neck. Tharion’s left hand was covered with scars, many were born in battle, but some of them

not. One scar had a particular roundish shape, like an incomplete circle with a dot in the center.

The man tried to speak, but words couldn’t come out. He started to scratch Tharion’s arm

desperately trying to fight back, but his efforts were futile. Tharion noticed then, the man’s left

hand, which was sinking its nails on Tarion’s skin, also had an odd shaped scar.

A hot piece of metal was the best, and the most useful tool to engrave the surface of

another’s man property, and thus, human skin wasn’t the exception. Tharion was a young man

when he was sold as a slave to a rich merchant during the old days of the Empire. The weight of

the shackles on his hands and feet wounded the skin, and the blood slowly covered the metal

surface leaving a rusty color. His thin body was small and rather fragile, it wasn’t suited for

combat, but only hard labor, which meant he was disposable property. Knowing this, his life

expectations weren’t very high. Tharion never remembered the name of the merchant, but never

forgot Latul, the name of the overseer, which was engraved by the whip on his flesh. The

merciless man enjoyed the suffering of others, and the smile on his face when he punished them
 Anabalón 3

provided a gruesome spectacle. The other name that was engraved on Tarion’s memory was Etel,

she was an old slave that worked in the kitchen. Her skin was hardened by the pass of time, but

she managed to keep a warm smile. Her motherly presence comforted them, and the food that

she smuggled saved Tharion from starvation many times.

After a few months, and surpassing his own assumptions, Tharion got used to work,

nevertheless, Latul always unsettled him. Etel usually brought them food at night, but she didn’t

show up that time. The next day had a cold winter morning, and the snow was piled up

everywhere. Tharion noticed the presence of a red trail of spots on the snow, so he followed it.

Etel lied at the end of it. She couldn’t smile anymore, her jaw was shattered, and her hands

crushed. Tharion ran to her, but Latul suddenly stood in front of him. Latul threw Tharion away

with a punch in the stomach, he couldn’t breathe. Latul slowly approached Tharion holding the

whip, but Etel crawled to Latul and held his left leg with her arms. She tried to scream to protect

Tharion, but the poor resistance didn’t represent any menace for Latul. It just managed to anger

him more. He turned back and stomped her head several times. He was smiling and his eyes

were injected with blood and pleasure. When he got bored of stepping on the lifeless body of the

woman, he turned back to Tharion and took him by my neck with his hand. Tharion couldn’t

speak, and he found it hard to breathe. He clenched his teeth, and tried to free himself from

Latul’s grasp. “Etel received the punishment for those who steal” said Latul, he threatened

Tharion saying that he will receive the same fate, but he tossed Tharion to the lifeless corpse of

Etel. Tharion mind changed that day.

Many years later, Tharion was no longer a boy, but a man. His weak and poor self was

now just a distant memory, still, the only thing that he kept from his early years was the hatred

against Latul. A hidden thirst of revenge waiting to be quench. And so, the day finally came.
 Anabalón 4

Latul was found death, over the snow, there were signs of a fight, but he clearly lost. His hands

were chopped, his ribs were broken, and Tharion got the satisfaction that the last thing in the

overseer mind were his teeth.

The soldier almost fainted when he noticed Tharion odd shaped scar. His desperation

turned into anger. He sunk his nails in Tharion’s hand and looked at Tharion with a gaze fueled

by hate and resentment. Tharion was puzzled, those eyes were similar to his own. It reflected his

former forgotten self. Tharion loosened his grip an tossed him to the ground. The soldier was

confused. Why Tharion would let him live? Then Tharion uttered a few words that were

engraved in the soldier’s memory, “live, now you have a story to tell”.