For this one, you must escape torture and traditional death for your witchcraft.
STONES (any gender, mid teens through late life)
Reverend Charleston, I beg a different kind of favor. It is a favor only you can grant me. I appreciate your faith in my soul. That I can be redeemed. But I wish to skip the trials. The attempts at healing. I wish... I wish to be drowned.
Ha! Well, I don't WISH to be drowned. I wish to be left alone. If not that, I would wish to be exiled. But I understand that you have an obligation to this village. Either I go through your process of redemption or I drown.
And I choose to drown.
If.
If you can grant me one favor. When they take me to the cliff and load me with the stones... please make sure that one of the stones is mine. The stone I've kept in the box at home. You see, I believe in my soul as well. And if I have that stone as I enter the icy water... well... then comes the great mystery.
I don't know where my soul will go. But I assure you it will go somewhere better than your hell and even your cursed heaven--
no. I'm sorry. I... please do me this favor. Let us drop faith for a moment. You remember me when I was a child? I remember you when you were barely a man. Can you see that child now? I'd like to see that older boy. That child and that boy can reach an understanding. We can see something besides our beliefs, can't we? Look into my eyes for a moment.
Copyright 2016 by Matt Haynes.
If you would like to use this piece, please credit: "Courtesy of Matt Haynes and The Pulp Stage"