Watch Yourself

have you sinned my daughter was all you really heard before the figure representing God declared you unfit to be – anything. every deed, thought, notion, movement leaves a black spot on your soul which can only be erased with a priest’s robe and the rubbing of a rosary alone in a closet designed for privacy – but he knows your voice – you know he knows, and he glares at you on the playground, reminding you HE is in control and there is nothing you can do about it except pray every night and hope it never happens again. But hope itself is a tragedy because it only shadows the true reality of what could, and probably will, happen despite all your praying and forgiving. Written for a creative writing class 1990.