The squatters in the village stood on rotting refuse and human neglect. John was extremely weary as he trudged back to the guest house. John had to take on three jobs a day and into the night to make ends meet. Emma, his daughter was his pride and joy of his life, the only remains he had from a marriage that was blissful but unfortunately short-lived. He and Emma were a family bonded by years of common suffering. However, recently, rumours had floated about, whisperings of John’s daughter, Emma was a witch in practice and it had reached a boiling point that the neighbours had felt that her presence was a disease in their lives!
Suddenly, John heard angry voices filling the air as they were raised in condemnation towards a certain girl, Emma! Turning a corner, he saw Emma, her thin frame discernible in the distance. Surrounding her was hostility erupting from their once amiable neighbours. Emma’s voice rang out above the din as anguished tears wracked her body, “I did not do it! I am not a witch and I did not curse any of you!”
However, the faces of their neighbours had a rawness smelt of menace. One of them swung his hand at Emma as if insanity had possessed him! John would never forget the sickening scream of pain that tore from Emma as he gaped at the drama that unfolded. In a rare show of decisiveness, John leapt into the air and threw himself between the crowd and her…
The wailing of the ambulance siren insistently penetrated her confused mind. The limp body of her father lay on the road. She looked at the blood still flowing from a deep gash on her father’s back. The crowd finally backed away but by then spasms of agony wracked John’s body and there was ubiquitous bleeding from his orifices.
She replayed the scene that was indelibly imprinted in her memory as she struggled with the guilt of having caused her father’s serious injuries. She recalled the horrific spectacle of her neighbours “tearing her father apart” as he tried to thwart the efforts of the people from reaching her. She then realized that it was his love for her that had driven him to sacrifice himself for her.
Word Count 380
