A Spacious Place

There are men born gifted: physical perfection, superior intellect, charm, wealth, but also with a sense of entitlement for control over their lesser fellow beings--smaller and weaker ones, women, in particular. Should a woman make the mistake of disagreeing or refuse cooperation his rage is vile, and punishment follows. To have a woman escape retribution will leave that man obsessed with hunting her as though she were prey, to dispense revenge. This fictional tale is about one victim’s thrilling escape to freedom to save herself and protect those she loves. Marti Sweltzer’s life slowly spirals from joyful bride to controlled, silent, and demoralized woman, in fear for her life from her abusive husband. She sees herself as in a cage, trapped, like the rabbit she witnesses caught in the trap set by her husband and knows the time has come where it is a matter of life or death--she runs. With no skills, no driver’s license, no self-confidence, no one to turn to Marti flees the nice home, in a nice neighborhood in Des Moines, Iowa where her husband, Ted, is a cagey businessman; where he’s kept Marti isolated, subservient. In running, she unleashes the latent killer inside a man with no conscience, a man who views any woman as prey, but especially one who would cross him--and anyone who helps her, as no better than dead. Marti leaves a twisted trail across Iowa in her flight from Ted. Finding comfort in recalling certain verses of scripture, she clings to hope God would bring her to a spacious place, safe, secure. She struggles to regain normalcy in her life, knowing the man she married will never cease in his search-obsessed with revenge on her. When Ted learns where she is, she flees a second time to Minnesota, leaving behind friends, people she loves, as well as a traumatized dog that has attached itself to her. Her loneliness is heavy, filled with fear for anyone who cares about her, helped her--as she knows her husband will punish her through those she loves. She knows it will end with one of them dead. Having bungled his first attempt to kill Marti in Decorah, it took another six months for Ted to find her in Red Wing where she is once again learning to fend for herself and is employed, making new friends, but trusting is hard for her as she lives in fear of discovery. In unrelenting pursuit, Ted tracks her down again with heightened determination to get it right this time. Recovering from any trauma is a lengthy process. Watching loved ones’ struggle with their pain takes a toll on everyone. Abusers leave a trail of destruction behind, affecting families watching over their loved one’s struggle with personal pain in working to recover from trauma-- physical, mental, and emotional. Not succumbing to bitterness, or hate, requires hard work, and time. Sometimes a new path, or a different goal to be able to move on, but with God, all things are possible--no fiction there! Fifty-two years ago this writer looked with shock into the battered face of a young mother, wife of such a man as Ted. Silence was the name of the game back then and no timely help was offered, but the regret, and shame, for that omission always remained. That woman’s abuser was given a name: Ted. Eyeing a clever message on her coffee cup: 'Please do not annoy the writer, she may put you in a book and kill you--' that is exactly what she did, not that amends can be made by that simple act, but the first words she uttered when the deed was done were, 'Damn, that felt good!'