Welcome to Gaia! ::

The cage of Guilt

It's not really a winter story, but an old short story I worked on.

The adults spoke with their big words, and discussed. It was a normal scene, since adults always discuss something. They discussed a oh so serious manner. The discussion was of abortion. They spoke of these words with a young girl standing in the middle, such a sweet girl. She was thin of built and kind of face. Sweet young petit girl what a predicament have you gotten yourself into? Your thin built now plagued with a small bulge on your stomach. A second heart beating along with yours. Such a sweet girl with dreams of being a gymnast. Such a graceful girl body that bended reality as she danced gracefully in the air. Your dreams now grounded, your wings now plucked, freedom slipped through your fingers, what will you do know?

The young girl stood in the room, as the adults discussed her future. She was young just barely thirteen but she showed more promise than many older students. She possessed straight A's and was well-mannered, her gymnastics abilities were ones to behold.

She had been asked to come after school...

She stood there nervously when they brought up the subject of abortion, she felt uncomfortable with them speaking of such things... She knew of abortion, but she didn't believe it right. For this child was meant to live, and none of them were right...

The principal looked at her with a warm smile. He spoke to her in a gentle voice. "We just want what is best for your future, little one." He said with genuine kindness and concern.

Her eyes showed determination as she spoke the words. "No... my... daughter has a right to live!"

One of the teachers, eyed her. "How do you know it's a girl...?" The girl did show a small belly but it was too early to know what the baby was.

The girl closed her eyes in a more serene manner, yet she stuttered a bit. "I-I just know..."

One of the professors sighed as though finding it annoying how naively she spoke, but he forgave it for she was a child after all. "Do you even know how to take care of a child?" He spoke in a colder and calculative voice, but their was concern for the girls future in his heart. For this young girl didn't deserve this cruel twist of fate. "Do you truly want bring a child in to this world?" He asked almost demanding.

The young girl became flustered at all the things that they kept saying. She wanted her baby to live, why were they so determined to take it's life? "I'll take care of her! You'll see!" She said in almost a yell, they all quieted down and looked straight at her. Mixed feeling were in the air, but everyone there wanted but one thing, and it was the young girl's well being. Especially the teacher that had asked her about the gender of the young living been. This teacher had been her teacher since the beginning and she loved the young girl like her own. How this woman wanted to take the young girls pain away, but she could not...

The young girl realizing her outburst blushed heavily and attempted to apologize "I-I'm-" But the words failed to come out, because of her embarrassment. The young girl looked at all their eyes that were now on her like when this discussion began. For she could not take this sudden attention, she quickly left the office. She leaned on the wall next to the entrance and panted a bit, the pressure had gotten to her. She slightly wiped her teary eyes and walked away...

The teacher, as she had seen the young girl leave the room so quickly, she had tried to go after the young girl. The principal had grabbed the teachers wrist and said. "Let her leave... she has a lot to think about."

The teacher slightly glared at the hand that held her back, but she let it be. He was right... that little one had so much to think about. More than any thirteen year old should have to think about...

The young girl now wandered the busy street of her city. Everyone was so into their own world, that they never bothered to glance at the child that walked amongst them. Many of them had cold faces, and uncaring. The small girl looked at each one, they were so different yet the same. Different features but the same expression. Few smiled and when they did their smile soon faded. The young girl frowned and looked down at the littered sidewalk which she walked upon. The world could be so cold. Her feet began to hurt, so on the sidewalk she sat and watched the unhappy people of the city. As she sat there glancing at the busy people she saw a man run up to a woman and right before her eyes, stole her bag, a few of the crowed screamed as the woman yelled in horror. She ran after the man, but she was far to slow with her heels. The young girl sprinted after the man across the street and followed him for what seemed twenty minutes. She arrived at the slums of the city soon and looked around. Her eyebrow raised as she saw the sights. She saw the young man holding the purse and throwing away most of the contents that were not money. She hid behind a wall and glanced.

The young man smiled at the money that he had and walked away. She saw him go into a grocery store and began to buy food. She looked confused, for she did not imagine a thief buying food after stealing, she always thought thieves would waste their money. But he was buying food?

She walked inside the grocery and was thankful that the man did not recognize her. The man walked to line and paid for the food while the cashier looked at him with a sweet smile. "I see you finally got a break."

The young man smiled, though what seemed a bit of guilt was in his eyes. "Yeah, I finally did... A new job." he blatantly lied, though the young woman did not know that. "I'm finally able to get some decent food for the kids... It's been 3 months... since the damned company went bankrupt..."

The cashier nodded in agreement.

The young girl looked rather alarmed by the revelation for she couldn't believe, that this man had stolen. Just to get some food for his family. How could life be so cruel? If this man was caught his wife and children would not see him for so long. All for his children, he took that risk. To give them something to eat.

The girl's expression saddened and she looked at her stomach and rubbed it solemnly.

The girl left the man be, but felt sorry for the woman. There was quite a bit of money in that purse, it might have been her paycheck for the week. What would that woman do?

She sighed and thought what an ironic twist of fate.

She continued to walk down the street and saw what looked like a homeless man, he was cruelly being tormented by some teenagers, their ages unknown. Calling the homeless person a crazy old man. She looked in horror but was afraid of being hurt if she tried to do something. She once again hid in an alleyway and waited for them to leave.

The teenagers kicked and beat the old man, and laughed as they did so. Their eyes merciless and cold, they looked like monsters as they did this for purely pleasure. They laughed and laughed as the old man was curled on the floor in pain, bringing down a wooden stick on his ribs. Repeatedly and repeatedly brought down on the man. The old man groaned in pain but couldn't fight back at the ambush. As they beat him and degrade him a something dropped from the old man. It was golden and lovely, it was a locket.

One of the monstrous teenagers picked it up and held it like a prize. "I bet we can sell this for a good price."

The old man on looked in horror, and managed to groan out. "That's mine..."

The teenager looked at him on the floor, and laughed. "You probably stole this from someone you, dirty scum." He rubbed his chin and looked at the locket with interest. "I'm just stealing it back..."

The old man roared in and yelled. "GIVE IT BACK!" he stood up, in pain.

The teenager looked at him slightly surprised and backed away. While his gang merely readied the sticks to beat the old man down. They swung their sticks at the old man's ribs. The old man hunched in pain holding his ribs. But he stepped forward looking angered at the teenager that held the locket. Before any of the gang knew what was happening the old man lunged at the teenager and collided with a wall, with the teenager to cushion the force. The teenager let out a yell of pain, but soon after yelled in more pain. As the old man in his desperation bit down on the teenagers shoulder. The blood seeped through and the teenager yelled in mixture of horror and pain, he cursed at the old man. "YOU SICK ********!" The old man quickly took this opportunity and grabbed the locket and held it tightly. The teenager after being released from the bite pushed the old man of him, and the old man fell down on the dirty sidewalk. Tears were in the old man's face and he with both hands held the locket to his heart. The teenagers looked in a panic at the bite wound, which was surprisingly deep and quickly decided to leave. But before they left they yelled at the old man. "YOU REALLY ARE A CRAZY OLD MAN!"

The old man was on the floor now just crying his heart out. He crawled in the alleyway as the young girl had quickly left to not be seen, she now stood behind the old man, listening to the suffering of his soul. It slowly began to rain the old man looked at the contents inside the locket and he got on his knees and looked up at the rainy sky. He stretched out his arms and roared to the heavens. "WHY DID YOU TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME?!" The locket dangled wildly from the man's hand. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND?!" He now questioned in outrage. His voice was cracking and he yelled at the heavens once again. "WHY DID YOU TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME?!" he now let out a yell of anguish, he then just laid his head down on the ground the locket was open for who ever could see. Inside were the pictures of a young woman and child, the glass that protected the picture was cracked. The rain just kept falling on the old man as he sobbed, and had nothing left but the rags he wore. The young girl looked sadly and once again rubbed her belly gently.

She walked away leaving the old man, she didn't know what to do for the old man, or if she could do anything. So she left him to be hoping that he would be alright. She didn't even think that an ambulance would have been help to someone so broken.

Hours went by as the young girl walked about quietly, just thinking about the things that she had seen. She walked through the sidewalk and suddenly saw a woman crying on the step in front of the house, she was drenched in water. The street was relatively empty, the young girl looked curiously and walked a little closer, the young woman didn't seem to notice as she kept crying. The girl could just make-out some bruises on the woman's neck. The young girl looked alarmed at the sight, then she noticed all the other bruises along the woman's arm. The woman kept crying, asking herself something. The young girl couldn't really understand what the woman was saying so she stepped closer.

"Why does he do this to me?" Asked the young woman to herself. "He says he loves me... but why does he hurt me?"

"Why would the person I love do this to me?" The young woman was a lovely one but the bruises tainted her beauty. She sobbed into her hands as a man could be heard screaming his guts out. He opened the door and holding a bottle in his hand. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, WHORE?!" He asked in outrage and the woman let out a squeal of terror. She quickly stood up in terror and looked at the door of her house bang loudly. "N-no" she stuttered in horror as she slowly backed away. The man opened the door in a thunderous manner and roared. "YOU b***h GET BACK IN HERE!" he yelled at the poor woman. The little girl looked in horror and stepped forward, and the man neared to the woman, he raised his hand to harm her.

"NO DON'T HURT HER!" yelled the young girl in rage, tears in her eyes. The woman's eyes widened in horror at the fact that the young girl had just done that. The man turned his drunken self towards the young girl and saw her belly and yelled. "WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW YOU LITTLE SLUT!?" He walked over to the girl about to hit her with the bottle.

THe woman couldn't stand by and let anything happen to the only person that had cared enough about her well been to say something. Everyone else merely always turned their cheek and never paid attention. "NO DON'T TOUCH A HAIR ON HER HEAD!!!" She lunged forward at the man and stopped the bottle from colliding with the little girl's head. The man and woman were in a struggle now as the little girl screamed in terror. The neighbors now finally came out of their houses to see what was disrupting their lives and saw the struggle. The man had managed to push the woman off his back and the woman staggered back on to the street. And suddenly someone yelled. "LOOK OUT!!!" When the woman looked to the side a car came straight at her and collided with her. The little girl's eyes went wide in horror but only let out a silent scream as her mouth gaped in horror. Blood splattered across the street and a bit landed on the girl, but she stood there in silent terror. Looking at was left of the woman. The drunken man just hiccuped and said "Serves her right..." People screamed at the sight as some of the bones of the woman were sticking out. The woman's face frozen in horror as the tears could still be seen streaming from her eyes, the life faded from those eyes as the blood tainted the already streets, the blood mixed with the rain. The young girl finally screamed unable to keep herself quiet and ran away from the horrible sight.

She ran away as fast as she could...

Hours again went by and the young girl had curled up in another alleyway, much like the one where the old man had been. She crawled in a cardboard box and hugged her knees within it, feeling the cold permeating her skin. She closed her eyes her face was expressionless but the tears streamed down. Her heart broken at all the things she had seen today, and this was but one day in life. How much more suffering was going to happen in the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year?

She know started recalling how the child had been conceived.

The girls parent's were well-off, but they were never at home. The girl had everything she needed food a roof and a few other things. But her parent's were absent for most of her life. One day a friend of her father's stopped by the house when her parents were not there, he claimed to have come there to pick up some papers for her father. But as he entered the house and looked at picked up the papers he looked at the young girl. He studied her and leered at her, he then forced himself on the young girl, threatening that if she ever told, she would not live to see another day. And a month or two later the small girl had found out that she was pregnant with this twisted beens child. Her parents since they rarely saw their own daughter did not know that she was pregnant. She cried and thought to herself the world was so cruel, and that this child didn't deserve to suffer... She cried but her expression still gone...

The next day she arrived at her school and walked over to her teacher, "I'll do it..." she said looking at the teacher in a defeated manner.

The teacher looked alarmed at the sudden change of heart in the young girl and asked her if she was sure. The young girl merely nodded and looked down sadly. The teacher sighed and nodded, she informed the staff of the young girls decision and they decided it was best for her to accompany the young girl, since the little girl looked up to her the most.

And so they left for the clinic...

The girl sat in a cold chair in the waiting room and looked around nervously, the teacher had informed her parents about the procedure and they didn't seem to care all that much. They merely let the teacher be the guardian of the little girl for the abortion because they could not be there. The teacher had been incredulous at the little girl's parents lack of parenting. The teacher held the young girl's hand in a gentle yet motherly fashion and told her everything would be okay. The little girl nodded and looked around the clinic a bit more. She saw girls like herself but older also there and she also saw some sad women, that apparently they could not keep their babies for their health issues.

After what seemed like an eternity for the young girl the doctor called her name. Both the teacher and the girl stood up and they walked. The doctor asked a series of question's and the young girl answered absent-minded. The doctor then nodded and got the room ready for the abortion.

The young girl was looking at pair of birds out the window. One was big and the other one small, the bigger one seemed to be teaching the smaller one to fly. She watched as the small bird jump, at first the bird didn't seem to come up, but soon came up flying and the bigger bird flew now beside the smaller bird. And soon they flew away side by side.

The young girl blinked as she watched them. To fly away... She wished she could fly away into the heavens.

The doctor was ready to begin the procedure as he sat the girl in an odd chair, the chair kept her legs spread for the procedure. The young girl looked away and faced the teacher that was sitting next to her. The teacher held her hand protectively and whispered in her ear. "You'll be okay, everything will be okay."

And then the procedure began, the girl slightly squirmed in discomfort. But kept a tight hold of the teachers hand, never looking at was going on. Her eyes were shut tightly.

"The world is such a cruel place." she thought to herself.

A man had to steal money from a woman to be able to eat...

Yet he loved his family so much that he was willing to do anything for them...

An old man had lost his family and had been left behind with nothing...

Yet his love for them, survived for the decades and he never forgot them...

A woman died by the hands of her beloved...

But that woman stood up for someone who she had just seen...

She risked her life for the young girl.

The teachers and principal had convinced the young girl to have an abortion...

Yet all they wanted was the girl to have a happy future, and to live a good life...

The world was cruel indeed... but...

There was more to it than just that. For there were diamonds in the rough, for there was still good in this world. For there still was hope...

And suddenly it dawned on this girl. That this child that she carried had a right to taste that good that had been hidden away in the anguish of this world. The young girl's eyes opened wide and she looked down at what she had just done, the machine was inside her already and it had been for a bit. The young girl screamed "NOOOOOOO DON'T KILL MY BABY!!!" she cried hysterically. The teachers eyes opened in horror at the young girl as she saw her squirm. But it was too late for the baby... the baby was dead. The machine was merely removing the dead parts. She squirmed and squirmed, the nurses had to come and hold the girl down so the machine didn't harm her because of her struggling. The girl kept crying and screaming "DON'T KILL MY BABY PLEASE!" But the damage had already been done.

A couple of hours had gone by and the girl was resting in a recovery room, the machine had harmed her a little but not too much, just some bruises. But they wanted her to stay there under observation to make sure she was okay. The young girl lay on her bed with a dead expression and looked out the window, the sun was setting...

The teacher sat down beside her, the teacher looked quite ill. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry little one." She said to her stroking her hair. The teacher had been trying to comfort the young girl for the past few hours but it didn't work. The little girl kept looking out the window and saw a beautiful sunset. The little girl finally spoke...

"And I took it all away from her..."she said. "I can never be forgiven..."

The teacher's eyes watered and gently once again held the young girl's hand...

The teacher had left the room for a moment to call her husband and tell him that she would be staying with the little girl. Her husband was fine by it, since he knew how much his wife loved the little girl. The woman after calling her husband walked over to a coffee machine and bought a bit. She walked inside drinking her coffee in a solemn manner and opened her eyes and pressed herself against a wall rather alarmed. A group of doctors basically stampeded through the hallway that she had been walking in. And then suddenly her eyes had opened in horror. For she saw the doctors run into the room of the little girl.

The little girl's heart had stopped working...

And just like that...

Everything was not okay...

For this little girl was gone...

For the guilt had taken her away from this bitter sweet life...

In the distance two birds flew side by side.

A mother bird and a baby bird.

Both flapped and flew into the heavens so high...

And this is the end of the girl's story...

The cage of guilt...
Such a unique cage.

For this cage is strong, since it can last for years to come.

Yet brittle, because it can come down on itself with you in it.

A cage that is best avoided.

A cage best released from.

Sometimes in life we have a cage.

And we are so determined to leave it.

That sometimes when we do...

We just end up in a more dangerous cage.

The cage of guilt is merely one of them...



Author's note: The first one in my series of short stories. x3
Comments please.