cmk418 | The Bellinger Thing

This was a little too long for the HT100 Challenge on Scars (167 words) & since I've already done two for this one, I decided just to post this here. It's about Shirley Bellinger after she returns to Oz.

SACRIFICE OR SALVATION

Shirley watched Sister Peter Marie leave Nat’s cell. The nun didn’t make eye contact with her and that suited Shirley just fine. The time in the institution didn’t serve to soften her heart toward the State’s decision.

Shirley needed to take control of the situation and she stepped up. In order to save them all, she did what needed to be done. Not that she’d have any recognition for her actions – there’d be no newspaper headlines or parades down the center of town. The only reminder would be the twin scars on her hands, right in the center of the palm, like a stigmata. And the other one – longer, deeper, jagged.

Thank the dear Lord they were killing her soon enough, she couldn’t bear to see her body disfigured in this way. That was her sacrifice. The other thing, well, that was salvation for Governor Devlin, Sister Pete and all the rest of them, and they would reward her by sending her to her Maker soon enough.