Princess's Playground

The Sacrifice (Narrative Fiction) February 24, 2010

He was furious now, his voice cutting through the air like the sonic boom of a fighter jet.

“You’ll never get away with this. No living person has the right to make such a choice. You can’t do this to me. They’ll burn you. I swear to God you’ll burn for this!”

Let him talk, I’d made up my mind. When you know what you want, there’s no turning back. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I better try to keep him calm. Let him accept his fate on his own terms. There’d be far less pain that way. I tried to calm him down, just a little.

“I cannot help what must be done. It’s time you accepted this is what I must do. I’m so sorry that it has come to this. You might think I’m lying, but I do mean that. I didn’t want it to be this way, but things change. People change. Over the last six months, you have seen me change. Can you deny that?”

He stood there in silence, pondering his situation. I could see the fight draining from him, slowly, like spent bath water in an old claw foot tub. He knew that I was right. Life would never be the same. For a moment, I felt pity for him. It was to this man I had proclaimed my love. He was the one I had sworn myself to for life. I couldn’t deny that. I spoke those words before God, family, and friends. I made a vow. Was what I was about to do to him beyond my right? What authority did I have to proclaim myself a dark angel, a soldier of God, to bear the sword of righteousness that would cut the very soul from him, leaving but an empty shell?

No, no, no! Now was not the time to lose my nerve. I was doing this for the greater good. Not even the Lord could deny that. It was then that my beloved spoke to me again. Humbled, but still hoping, he pleaded with me.

“Don’t do this to me. There has to be another way. I’ll do anything. Anything at all. We love each other, don’t we? There must be a better way, a compromise. Please don’t hurt me like this. Morgan, please…. don’t.”

Then suddenly, it was over. He had finally bowed his head in shame, broken. The air grew quiet, like the calm before a great storm. Victory was mine. I felt a kick from within, and rested my hands on my swollen belly. I softly whispered my closing words to the man I had taken as my Husband.

“I love you, Jason. I always will. You know that this is for her, our baby. You know that no matter what, she must be my priority. I need to do right by her. I know that in time, you’ll forgive me.”

The man came back then, wanting to know if we had made our decision. I took a step back. This was Jason’s time. As a man, it was critical that he was the one to say the words that sealed his fate. Anything less would destroy him. He gave the order, and it was done.

“We’ve decided. Let’s do this. ”

The man was pleased, grinning like a Cheshire as he led us to the room where it would all conclude. You could tell he was going out of his way to be kind. He could smell the fear, sense the pain. He offered us something to drink, and we accepted. The air in that room was so hot and sticky, not from the weather, but from the raw emotion that clouded over us at that moment. The man said his words, and in a few minutes it was over.

“I have everything I need. Just sign on these lines, and here, and here. Oh, and of course I’ll need those keys to your Corvette. Trust me, folks, you won’t be disappointed. This is the finest minivan on the market today.”