February 26, 2015
“Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.” – Scott Adams
One Mile North of Rajneeshpuram, Oregon
The weather wasn’t cooperating for Lexi. The rain had stopped, but was replaced by a frigid wind.
Hearing Lexi’s story gave hope to the woman that she would be set free. “I’m so sorry about what happened to your sister, I truly am.”
“I am too. You took from me the most precious thing. She was my world, she was everything. I was not only her sister but her guardian in many ways.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I know you’re sorry, but were you sorry when it happened? You’re only sorry now because you’re my prisoner and your life hangs in the balance. I’d believe you if you helped us, but you didn’t. You get caught and now all of a sudden you’re regretful for what happened,” Lexi snarled. She shivered and goose bumps appeared on her arms. “I’m wet, cold, hungry and bored.” She stood up and shook to get warm.
The woman shivered too. She looked up at Lexi and said, “I’m hungry too.”
“Sorry, no food.”
The woman noticed that Lexi still had the knife gripped tightly in her right hand.
Lexi looked around. It was quiet and peaceful save for the subtle sounds of raindrops dripping and hitting leaves on the ground.
Hoping to find an answer concerning her fate, the woman asked, “Did you forgive your mother?”
“You were listening.” Lexi smiled.
“If you think killing me is revenge, it’s not. There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. That’s a quote from someone wiser and smarter than both of us.”
“It’s getting late and I don’t think my friends are coming. I need to get moving,” Lexi said, looking around the clearing.
“Can you please cut me loose? I won’t hurt you or anyone,” the woman pleaded.
“I did forgive her. It took me a while, but I finally did.”
“Good, good for you, that is a positive step.”
Lexi laughed and said, “I did on the way here, it took me that long to do it. I just couldn’t let go. My hatred for her was buried so deep. You can’t just do it so easily. Yeah, in theory people say you can, but it took a lifetime of nurturing that hatred. Not until I looked back on your camp did I know that the chapter of my life that included her is gone. Today I’m beginning anew.”
The woman nodded. The hope she had that Lexi would free her grew.
Lexi stepped back in front of the woman and lowered herself until she was face to face. “I forgave my mother, but forgiving you, that is tough. I think I might find a way someday, but you and the others brought such great harm that forgiveness is not enough. I believe that you can forgive someone, but the crime they committed must still be punished.”
The hope the woman had began to wane considerably.
“The concept that killing a killer is somehow morally relevant is a lie. It is about intent. Do I stand on moral high ground if I let a killer go knowing they might murder again? How is that moral? In fact, that makes those righteous people culpable in some way. No, I think people who grandstand and say that killing an evil person makes you evil is a cop out because they don’t have the fortitude to do what is right. You want to quote someone wise, well, I’ve got a quote for you: evil exists because good people do nothing. That is true now more than ever.”
“Please, you don’t have to do this,” the woman begged.
“You’re wrong, I do have to do this,” Lexi said then slid her blade across the woman’s throat.
The woman gagged and choked. Blood gushed out of her throat and down her chest, pooling in her lap.
Lexi stood, cleaned the blade and put it back in her sheath. She stayed until the woman took her last breath.
Remembering there was a farmhouse a couple miles north, she decided that would be her next stop. She didn’t know if it was occupied, but it was the only place she could think of.
Just before stepping away, she looked back at the dead woman. All of it, everything to date since that fateful day in early December seemed like a horrible nightmare. Here she was in central Oregon, her body beaten, bruised and bloodied. Her life since the lights went out had been one tragic event after another with each one growing in intensity from the previous one. All of those events culminated in an epic battle. This was the end of a chapter of her life. Things would be different for her going forward and in some ways she felt lost, and who wouldn’t? Even if she found the Marines, where would she go? Back to Crescent or with them? Would she be talked into going somewhere safe? She knew that was a lie; no such place existed. No. She couldn’t go back, she wouldn’t. Her life was out on the road.
She had been born again, but this baptism was with blood, sweat and tears. She looked down the trail ahead and saw that it turned left and went out of sight. This trail was now symbolic of her life going forward, an uneven and rocky path that led to somewhere unknown.
The End