The old woman’s eyes narrow into an angry squint, and her lips curl in disgust. “Filthy!” she spurts, pointing at me and then twisting away. Confused, I look down, see a damp streak on my skirt, and my fingers come away red and sticky. That was 12 years ago, but the...
He bends low over the body and stares into a lifeless face. He did this once before, many years ago. That face had been beautiful, the body strong and perfect. This body is different. Mutilated. The face is swollen and exhausted. It is the body of his son. The Father...
Claudius held down the man’s arm, although he did not struggle. I held the point to his wrist and raised the mallet, flung it down. The spike made a thud, driving through skin and muscle, a small clink as it reached the wooden beam. The Jew gasped, exhaled a long hiss...
The wet slap of the whip. One red splash after another, speckling the air, slowly painting the ground, slowly plowing his now shapeless back. Meat and bone, shreds of skin. Blood welling, soaking, trailing away into the dirt. His army, pleading, inches forward but he...
I’ve been a judge too long for that trick. I saw their faces as they dragged him in – their sneers and burning eyes, the angry spittle on their lips. “He’s a criminal!” they sputtered, shoving him toward me with sharp jabs. Well, maybe he was, but I saw more. They...
There is an ache in his gut, a whirring in his head. The hollowness of this place – a dead, empty desert – feels like the hollow inside of him. Sharp rocks and grit. Shivering, then sweat. Hunger and loneliness. He sinks onto a rock, head spinning, the merciless sun...
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