She held the tattered, wartorn flag in her scraped, bleeding hands as she crawled along the rough pavement on raw knees. Long, dark hair fell over her downturned face.
A thousand assaults endured, a thousand losses under the blazing heat of hundreds of suns and dark, lonely moons. A gaping hole where her heart once was.
She begged for mercy. You’ve taken nearly everything, please, no more. And yet still more . On and on she crawled, on elbows now, legs behind, followed by a trail of blood and tears.
I have nothing left. Her breaths ratched, but testament to her sustained presence in this horrid world. Unrelenting. Suspended.
Is there no mercy, she cried. Youve taken my father, you’ve taken my security, my life as I knew it. You’ve taken my health, my passions, my dignity. Please don’t take another beloved. The embodiment of innocence, joy and meaning. I don’t ask to spare me. Please, today, spare her. Spare her, for another day.
The despair and hopelessness was palpable and her raw vulnerability laid bare as she begged. Things didn’t have to be this way. Things could be different. The whys were long lost in the cries into the wind. She collapsed at the altar of fate. And waited.
Five Minutes Later Update: Fate spared her today, as soon as I published this. Thank you for this mercy. Thank you.🙏 ❤️