Truth, A Punishable Offense

by Nancy R. Koerner – Naples, FL
Copyright © 2008 – All Rights Reserved

(In my book, “Belize Survivor: Darker Side of Paradise,” based on my own true story, my character and namesake, Alexis Lord, experiences the steady decline in the quality of her life due to escalating domestic violence. This passage is particularly poignant, so I thought I would share its reality.)

Gradually, Alexis' image of what family life should be was fading into a charade. Except for her son, and the beauty of the verdant jungle around her, life had become colorless. The dream of a utopian farm had degenerated into a jaded monotony of daily chores. Alexis felt her horizons shrinking. She was lonesome for human companionship. Fear and boredom directed her wooden movements as her verbal creativity became first stifled, then crushed. She no longer wrote poetry. She hadn't kept a journal for years. Life was no longer an open book, full of promise. Max was unbearable and hounded her like a drill sergeant. He cross-examined her every word, thought, and deed, then nit-picked her answers. When she spoke, he wanted to know what she was insinuating, instead of taking her word at face value.

Sadly, Alexis learned one very valuable lesson: that a plausible falsehood was often more useful than an unworkable truth. She wasn't a dishonest person, but it simply became more practical to tell the man whatever he wanted to hear. If openness and honesty were the trademarks of a healthy marriage, then Max had effectively educated her on the value of deception. He’d taught her to become a liar by making the truth a punishable offense.