The Ordeal

there was a time back when people believed that dragons roamed the country side, back when kids were scared of the trolls in the forest, back when the world was flat & everything in the sky revolved around this big rock, where the cauldron of water was set over a fire & a small stone was thrown inside--- as the water boiled, bubbling hot & spitting, you would be made to stuff your bare arm down inside, in the attempt that you might find the stone & you would be forced by those behind you to stay in the cauldron until your boiling flesh did grasp the small stone & pull it out, flailing in violent, unimaginable pain. after a few days, a priest would come to check out the arm, making the “holy” decision that if it was healing you were innocent of whatever bogus crime you’d been accused of & if it wasn’t, then because said sanctified pederast said so, you would undergo an even harsher punishment. ah yes, that “ultimate justice” that once came with organized religion.