Saying Goodbye

Sometimes it is not death that separates those meant to be together.

‘The accused will rise.’ The guard by the door to the judge’s chamber spoke, and Maggie Ryans stood up. She was barely eighteen, a skinny girl with long brown hair. She stood there in a torn, dirty uniform with leaves still clinging to it.

 

An older, portly man walked in wearing the black robes of a judge. His eyes were red, and he stumbled slightly as he approached the bench. Most of the audience would put it down to lack of sleep. ‘Maggie Ryans, if are you willing to tell us the name of the person you were with in the park last night, if you do so, I may decide to send you to a labor camp instead of banishment?’

 

Nobody noticed the girl sitting in the back tense upon hearing this. Maggie laughed, ‘This country once had freedom now we are just…’

 

The guard standing beside Maggie punched her in the face and she fell down, blood coming from her nose and a split lip. ‘Stand the prisoner back up.’ The judge said.

 

Dragged to her feet, Maggie spit blood on the polished white marble floor. The guard raised his hand to strike her again, but the judge shook his head. ‘For the crime of being a lesbian, you are hereby sentenced to banishment. Your name will be stricken from the town records and none will speak of you again.’

 

Maggie open her mouth to say something, but the guard slammed a fist into her side, knocking the wind from her. She doubled over, and the guards dragged her to a side door. Nobody noticed the girl in the back row slip out. Her eyes tearing up as she ran down the street, passed all the people in their matching uniforms.

 

She ran as hard as she could, attempting to outrun the memory of the night before. She and Maggie had always been friends, but it had slowly changed, little looks, secret smiles exchanged as they passed each other. They had both known the law and had ignored it for love. They hadn’t been able to share a simple kiss or hold hands for fear of being caught, but last night they had had enough. Late at night when their families had gone to sleep they had slipped out, planning to meet in the park.

 

It had been magical, that first kiss as she felt herself melt against Maggie. They didn’t speak as they held hands sitting against a tree sharing a private moment, their first and last. Tomorrow they would be separated forever, they thought. Maggie had a job in a city and she was to leave in the morning.

 

They sat there, their lips pressed together when they heard them. Somebody had spotted one of them enter the park and called the guard. Maggie was on her feet, pulling her up. They ran from the sound deeper into the park, but she couldn’t keep up and Maggie slowed to help her. The guard drew closer, and she told Maggie to go she wouldn’t tell, but Maggie refused. Finding a hollow in a tree Maggie forced her inside, then she was gone leading the guards away.

 

Hours later, she crept into her house. Her mother was awake, waiting for her. She knew she had always known. She told the girl that Maggie was caught and was going on trial in the morning. The girl almost laughed at that. It wasn’t a trial; they had already decided the verdict.

 

She turned off the path and headed for the fence. This was the spot. Maggie had brought her here once when they were younger. This is where Maggie had last seen her father and then years later her brother. The girl hoped Maggie would come; she wanted to say goodbye; she wanted to tell Maggie she would always love her.

 

It was getting dark, and the girl knew she should leave soon. She was going to be late for curfew. Standing there with her hood pulled up, she shivered in the frosty night air. She vowed to wait until she could see Maggie. Throughout the chilly night she waited, then as the sun brightened in the east the girl saw Maggie walking towards her along the outside of the fence.