A Short Story

This story came to mind as I was watering the garden on Friday. So I jotted down some notes and wrote it the next day.

CONTRITION

Lorelei’s heartbeat thudded in her eardrums. The room spun as she tried to focus on what he was saying.

“Okay? Lorelei?”

“What?”

“Here,” he slid a paper cup towards her.

She stared at the door and sipped the tepid water.

“Just meet with her and then you’re done- with all of it. She just wants to talk to you face-to-face, and in exchange she won’t sue or go to the press.”

Lorelei nodded.

“Not like she has much of a case. You had every right to protect yourself. It’s registered and everything. Just humor her and we’re done here.”

Lorelei nodded again. She could do this.

Together they watched as a woman entered and sat down across the table. She moved slowly as though an invisible weight pulled her down. A mother in grief.

Lorelei expected her to be crying but her eyes were red and dry. She looked so young.

Her attorney muttered something but she couldn’t make out the words. Lorelei’s eyes fixated on the person across from her.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up.

“I’ll be right outside.”

The door shut behind him, leaving just the two of them.

Lorelei didn’t know what to say.

“We’ve met before,” the woman finally said in a near whisper.

“Have... have we?”

“Yes. It was a long time ago and I don’t expect you to remember. But I never forgot your face.”

Lorelei desperately tried to remember her.

The woman’s eyes roamed the dreary walls.

“I was a baby myself. Not even old enough to drive a car. And terrified. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

She turned to Lorelei. “You were outside the clinic. The way you spoke drew me to you. You said this baby would be the best thing that would ever happen to me. That it was God’s plan and He would provide and take care of me.”

Lorelei’s voice caught in her throat and her hands shook. Oh my god!

The woman reached across and grasped Lorelei’s fumbling fingers.

“You were right. He was the best thing to have ever happened to me.”

The woman leaned back.

“Labor was hard,” she went on softly. “I nearly died. My family disowned me and kicked me out. I couldn’t help what happened to me, but they didn’t care. Somehow, my boy and I survived. Together.

“He had a hard time with school. Didn’t really learn or understand things like normal kids do. But he saw things in his own way. And in his eyes, the world was beautiful. Full of light and love.

“He had the biggest imagination. Told me stories all day long until he fell asleep. He was my everything. And you killed him.”

Stunned, Lorelei felt like she was falling down a dark tunnel.

“Why was his life so important to you before and not now? Why were you so quick to extinguish the life you had fought for?”

“I… I was afraid for my life.”

The woman stood and looked down at Lorelei with fire in her eyes. Then her gaze hardened and a deadened look washed over her.

“So was I.”

Then she left the room.