The Judgement

"The Judgement of Self-Appointed Gods" Copyright 2009 Adele C. Smith

"I made a mistake. Doesn't everyone make mistakes once in a while? Why judge me? Am I special in any way for making a mistake?" Her hand rests on her belly, her green eyes wide with premature sorrow. Eighteen, she never should have faced this. So in love, he never should have left her. Broken hearted, she never should have gone out to a midnight motel rendezvous, just to make the pain stop.

"She's just a whore." "Absolutely pathetic." "He probably left because she was sleeping around."

She's a soldier of a different kind. She wields a different sort of courage, the sort that men in arms cannot understand. She suffers the cuts and barbs of friends and family and strangers, silently accepting the bullets shot her way, [and she thought only God had the right to judge mankind and its actions] but keeps her head held high. Eighteen, she's in over her head. So in love, but that doesn't matter. Broken hearted, she knows it's her own fault, and there's no pretending the pain is gone. But the smile on her baby girl's face made all their words fade away.