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Leadem, Christopher

"Highland Ballad"

Listen! From earliest manhood I have fought against
the principles, nay, the very heart of Christianity. In truth, a part
of me longed for punishment and reversal: to be put in my place, as a
sign there was some meaning, some Order in the world. But there is
none, unless it be survival of the fittest. Hardly the kind of world
that a God would make, unless his sole purpose was to punish its weak,
pathetic creatures."
He paused, trying unsuccessfully to calm himself. "The only `earth'
that the meek shall inherit. . .are the indifferent shovelfuls the
diggers throw back into their graves!
"What have you to say of that
, little whore of my flesh? Answer me!"
She knew not where she found the words, nor the courage to speak them.
She only knew that they were right.
"The final reckoning has not yet come," she said quietly. "Your
imagined victory will slip through your fingers like sand."
He bolted from his chair and came at her, before either realized what
had happened. Pinning her against the door, he mastered his wrath only
long enough to cry out in a dreadful voice:
"Be gone! Out of my sight!"
Mary fled from the room in tears.


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