Congregation

Congregation
Copyright all rights reserved to Monica Pereira 2013
Smashwords Edition

Ebony looked at the congregation -  everyone was white, with white or blonde hair.  She grew scared all of a sudden as she realised that the war had taken away everyone who looked something other the white and pale.  Ebony fingered her brown hair tendrils and she gulped, she hoped the village hadn't turned into the KKK.

“Hello friends;”  said the speaker whose name was Rod Trowel.  “I see a lot of faces new and old, friends and new friends; how has your morning been?”  he asked in a light-hearted tone.

The congregation laughed -  Ebony faked her laugh and smiled to the person next to her; she then sat as everyone else sat and she readied herself to listen to the service.

“My morning has been terrible;”  told Rod as he glared at the crowd before him.  “I saw a dead snake on the road;”  he muttered.

The crowd gushed false-anguish as they waited for Rod to continue on.

“I picked it up, I put it on the grass, and I gutted it;”  told Rod as he glared.  “I gutted it and all these little snakes tumbled out, and I helped them to a nearby dam where they wriggled away;”  he muttered.  “That snake had died but her children will live on;”  he said.

The congregation clapped.  Rod nodded.

“I know snakes are regarded as terrible creatures, however I didn't put those little lives down.  I said be yourself, farewell, and don't venture close to roads like your mother once did;”  he added.

The congregation laughed.

“I said farewell;”  told Rod.  “I had blessed those little creatures and they slithered away as though they were already adults when they were just seconds old.  I called them blessings and let them go.  Was I wrong?”  he asked the congregation.

The crowd looked the Rod unable to answer.

“Did I chose the right hand?”  asked Rod as he glared at the crowd.

Again no one answered.

“No one can tell me if I was right or wrong, and why?  Because no one likes the snake;”  he muttered.  “Snakes kill when they are grown, they swallow things alive, they bite our children when they play; and here was I, telling little snakes to wriggle away after their mother has died;”  he added.  “This is a decent subdivision;”  he told.  “If the snake was not hated then perhaps all of you would have cheered;”  he declared.  “But none of you could raise any hand for or against what I did;”  he added.  “I let our enemy wriggle away, and who knows how they will live;”  he added.  “I let a killer wriggle away, and who knows what it may kill;”  he said.  “I was wrong to have let them out of their nest where they would have otherwise suffocated as their mother rotted;”  he declared.  “I have filth still on my hands, and I think if only I hadn't touched the snake would they smell like soap still;”  he added.  “I touched a killer and let it go, and I feel dirty;”  he declared.  “That is why I had a bad morning;”  he said as he glared at the crowd.  “I feel guilty;”  he declared.  “I acted without afterthought and here I am telling you that I feel dirty over what I did;”  he said.  “I don't feel clean;”  he added.  “But it was my decision; I let it in, and I pay the penalty over having had done the right and wrong thing;”  he declared.  “You all shall someday make such a decision, and what will you do?”  he asked.  “You will continue on;”  he said.  “Even when you feel bad you shall continue on and wait for the feeling to pass; that is all you can do;”  he said.

The crowd clapped and Ebony saw that there were some frowns.  She wanted to clap but she was confused herself -  she wasn't sure what it meant to have done the right or wrong thing; however as Rod looked to her she felt as though she may have been the outcome of a moment of bad decision and she hung her head.  Rod rolled his eyes and then he spoke.

“I see a child!”  he told the crowd.  “I see it and it burns my eyes as Satan burns my soul;”  he said.  

The crowd cheered and raised their hands up high.  

“Raise the child up to the roof!”  he cried out before the crowd cheered and stomped their feet.  “Feel better?”  he asked.  “I do;”  he smiled before the crowd cheered again.  “If only it were so easy to pass over all of our regrets then we could call a meeting and there would be no regrets!”  he added.  “We would be free!”  he declared.

Again the crowd cheered and clapped, and Rod smiled.  Ebony laughed as she clapped, and a tear dribbled out of her eye.  She felt as though she were the child, she had been raised to the roof, and she felt shame.

“Do not feel ashamed;”  told Rod as though he could read her mind.

Ebony looked to Rod and saw he spoke to the crowd, however she felt as though he spoke especially to her.


After the meeting was over Ebony walked home.  Home was a good fifteen minute trek down a long dusted road, and the heat overhead pounded down onto her like an iron.  Ebony guessed it was fifty degrees, and she felt her body sweat until it dribbled off her fingers.

A car pulled over and stopped.  Ebony gasped, she hadn't even heard the engine.  Ebony walked past the item and she saw Rod inside.  He smiled.

“Get in, I'll give you a lift home;”  he invited.

Ebony wanted to say 'no', but she knew she was safe in the car of such a community minded person. 


However Ebony was wrong in her assumption -  as soon as she had hopped in Rod turned the car around and drove her away from the direction she had head.  Ebony glared at Rod as she grew glum, she wasn't sure why he hadn't wanted to drop her home but she had a feeling that she had been noticed for the wrong reason.

“Are you okay?”  asked Ebony. 

“Me?  Sure;”  told Rod as he glared at the road.  “Never felt better;”  he added.

“Have you met another snake?”  asked Ebony as she glared at Rob in a questioning tone.

Rob looked to Ebony and smiled -  however he didn't not laugh, and his smile spooked her until she chilled inside.  Ebony shrivelled inside, however she did not want to shy. 

“I would like to get out;”  she declared.  “You're not driving the right way;”  she added.

“Is that so?”  asked Rod as he sped up the car.  “Well if you feel brave you might like to jump for it;”  he retorted.

Ebony looked out the windows and saw trees as they turned into blurs.  She couldn't jump, she had no skill, no knowing; it wasn't safe.  

“Let me out;”  she pleaded, however Rod was a mile away and he drove down the highway fast as dust sprayed the tyres and windscreen.


Rod stopped outside of a chapel and then he raced to the passenger side and took Ebony out.  He grabbed her and escorted her to the chapel in a rough manner.  Ebony wanted to struggle to get away, however she couldn't; so she walked with Rod until she was inside of the building.

Rod was welcomed with a short applause, and he smiled to all.  Ebony looked around and saw a gang of people in robes -  they were more then a small congregation, they were congregation leaders.

“An abomination!”  gasped Rod before he took a cloth and pulled it over his body to conceal his clothes.  “Let us perform;”

Ebony wasn't sure what on earth they were going to perform, but she felt a shiver that started with a scream.  Rod didn't silence her, instead he ignored her as he pulled her to the centre table where he laid her down and strapped her down with a copper belt.

“There that will hold it;”  he told before he looked to the others who passed knives and books from one person to another.

Ebony wasn't sure what was going to happen but the threat of the knife made her scream.  She screamed as she was grabbed at on all sides, and then she screamed as the knives came down upon her body like a hail of threats that robbed her of her breath.


Ebony was sure she was dead, however she woke and when she did she saw Rod as he peered at her.  Candles burned close by, Ebony could smell their scent; however she didn't care about the candles, she only cared about how hard it was to breathe.  

Ebony wanted to speak however all she could do was rasp.  Rod smiled at her, and then he poured a liquid over her wounding that warmed her blood right away.  Ebony smiled as she was covered with warm sensation, and she managed to relax as she gasped through wounding; for a moment Ebony felt good, but then the cluster of leaders began to talk their hymns and her mind twirled until she broke free from her body and floated. 

Ebony looked back to her body and watched as it rotted from the acid that had been poured.  She thanked her soul that she had been freed, and she floated away as the cluster of leaders continued to voice their hymns which was the emblem of death and cleansing as they watched her body rot.