The Stoning

A fatal love with a fatal outcome. Some may consider it beautiful, some may shrink back from the end. Careful, involves character death and angst. A short story.

The girl was tied to a wooden pole by her wrists. It wasn't even something that she couldn't have torn apart if she had really tried, but she wouldn't come far. Not even a few yards before she'd be right in front of the mob.
But why should she escape? She deserved what was to come. The girl had betrayed her lover, her suitor, and when she told him - she broke down, burst into tears, fell to her knees and begged him to forgive her.
He stayed silent, then, later, reported her betrayal. She could have had a trial, but she had refused. She knew she was guilty. She knew she deserved this. She was a traitor, and would be treated as such.
And that's why she was here now, tied up - symbolically, not that it would have mattered - and in front of a mob armed with stones.
She would die today. Of course she would. But she didn't know how she could keep on living otherwise. Even if some sort of hell waited for her - at least she'd be with others who'd have sinned. Or maybe not, if the hell for her would consist of isolation and loneliness. It wouldn't matter, in the end. She wanted to die, after all.
The girl closed her eyes as one tear ran over her cheek and leaned against the post. She had seen her lover… the man who had been her lover until she had killed that part of his soul behind the mob. But he had turned away. And he was right to.

The first stone was apparently thrown by a child, because it barely hit her thigh and even then was quite weak. A child… what had the people done to their children?
She sobbed, then the second stone hit her jaw. That did hurt. And she deserved it. Why couldn't the people see her for who she truly was, why were they waiting?
She heard someone else sob, too. "Please….", she gently whispered without opening her eyes, "don't cry. You haven't done anything wrong, whoever you are, you mustn't feel bad about punishing a traitor like me."
Silence followed her words, then another sob and another stone that hit her stomach and nearly made her double-over in pain.
Just one month ago, she would have wished for nothing more than to die a peaceful death together with her loved one. And now, she wanted the exact opposite - leave the world bearing all the wounds she had inflicted on others on her own flesh, all alone.
Three more stones hit her - forehead, chest, and legs - but she barely felt it. The emotional pain, the darkness inside her was stronger.

How could she have hurt the person she loved so much? How could she betray someone who had trusted her blindly? Why, why had she allowed this side of her to manifest itself, to come out and with him of all people? If she couldn't even make another person happy, but kept doing the opposite, what right did she have to be happy herself and rejoice over her life? She already felt dead on the inside, and she wanted to join her spirit..

The girl sobbed again as more stones kept hitting her. She wanted it to be over, she wanted to die at last, but she wanted the pain because she knew she deserved it. It tore her apart, hearing some people from the mob cry, too, but she deserved this, why couldn't they understand that?

A few moments later, an especially heavy stone hit her head and she sunk into darkness. The last thought she had was an apology.



-----



The young man slowly walked up to the pile of stones that seemed to protect a girl.
It was over.
The stoning was over, she was dead.
The girl was *dead*.
His girl.
The man fell to his knees and leaned his forehead against the stones.
Why….
Why did he…
He killed her. He had *killed* the person he loved most. How could he do that….
He should be tied up there, not her, not this girl…. she'd begged him on her knees, and he… not only was he unable to forgive her, he also… made sure she'd die…

What kind of monster had she fallen in love with?

He sobbed again - he had been crying during the entire stoning, and she… she had tried to comfort the person whose grief she had noticed, not knowing it was him…

The man stayed down there for a while, just crying into his hands and into the cold stones.
It took him a while, and then… he looked up at her.
She… she looked so beautiful. Even now, with all the dirt and blood and bruises on her face. And they showed how utterly wrong this world was to hurt someone as helpless, as defenseless as her.

And how utterly wrong he had been to hurt her.

Slowly, he stood up and started to clear all the rocks around her. One by one, he moved them to the side, trembling whenever he saw blood on one of them.

Then, all that was left was a small body that would have collapsed if not for the rope holding her up by the wrists.
The man came closer and embraced her one last time as he cut the strings with his knife. She couldn't return the embrace, then fell forward onto him. He staggered and nearly made her fall on the ground, but managed to wrap his arms around her.

The tears kept on coming and didn't wane in the slightest when he picked her up the way he would have carried her as his bride. They would never have that now. All that was left was one final goal, one final destination.

Her head slumped against his shoulder. Had she been alive, she might have heard his heartbeat and blushed. He then would have carried her to their new house, to the bedroom, and they would have become one and lived happily ever after.

Nevermore.

Slowly, he carried her towards the graveyard. Each step seamed to drive the dagger that was in his throat towards his heart.
Soon enough, he thought. Just a few steps more.

There it was. A small casket. No epitaph, not even a tombstone, just a cross.
Her name would be her epitaph.

What did it matter, though, she wouldn't need anything else on the other side. Together with the other angels in heaven…

The young man gently placed his love on the ground, laid her head in his lap and leaned against her casket.

Then, he took out a gun and shot himself.

Author's Note

I haven't written in a long time, so please forgive me for any avoidable mistakes. But mention them anyways, I want to avoid them in the future.

(The Angel was drawn by KleonX on DeviantArt, I don't own this picture.)

Reviews

[angel]

Nice; I like it dark. If I could offer a suggestion; read about proper comma usage. This, I saw, was your main problem. Just a mechanical issue. Do keep on!

[friendlyneighborhoodwri..]

The story had me gripped from the first sentence. I love how you can make emotions and feelings feel so real. The ending really surprised me. I believed that the setting was maybe around 100 BC-100 AD, but the gun had me rethink the whole thing.
I want to read more from you, so please keep on writing!

[Annabella]

This was a very dark tale, but in a good way!
I love the emotions that you evoke throughout the whole thing, you can really feel this girl's pain at what she's going through and then his pain at the loss of her.
They always say: "you don't know what you have until it's gone" and I guess this is a prime example of that.
I loved this story! Thank you for writing it!

[Gaia Octavia]

I really like the raw emotion you have in here. You've done a great job weaving a history between two characters (past present and future) in a short amount of story.

One thing my professor taught me back in one of my fiction classes was "don't say it, show it." What she meant was that I was telling her how my character felt (like guilt, regret, shame, and sorrow) instesd of showing her how the character felt through their actions. You did a great job with this. I think you *could* shave down a bit of explanation given the ending and all the emotion he shows but I don't think it's necessary to at all. Anyway, that's all I can think of for constructive criticism. I really enjoyed this and I look forward to more of your writing. Well done!
I always appreciate new eyes to find the little typos I don't see no matter how many times I check it 😁😎 I figured (given your note) I could help w a couple I saw:

"Even if some sort of hell waited for her - at least she'd be with others who's have sinned." - (who'd/who)

"The man stayed down there for a whole, just crying into his hands and into the cold stones." (for a whole minute/hour/afternoon?)😁

Again, well done! Keep writing! ✏✏