Chapter Twelve

“...the kingdom of God is open to all who believe in Him,” Mrs. Stoll finished reading the paragraph out of the theology book. “So,” she went on, putting it down. “Anyone who believes in God and lives by His commandments will be welcome in His kingdom. Now, can anyone find similarities between Christianity and other religions we’ve studied?”

A hand was raised and Mrs. Stoll gestured to the girl. “Well most of them deal with a god, or the God,” the girl commented.

“Souls,” somebody else interjected and I turned their way. “You need a soul. You need to be able to believe in it.”

“Good point, Tiffany,” Mrs. Stoll said. “This is a reason we have souls; so that we can have choices and choose to believe or not to believe in things.”

“But is a soul really necessary?” someone else asked doubtfully. “I mean, we can’t really identify a soul. What is it? Who’s to say whether we have one or we don’t?”

Mrs. Stoll nodded thoughtfully. “This is another thing that can be considered a belief, I suppose; your view on souls or if they even exist. I, personally, believe they do and are essential to you as a person. I think it defines who we are and what makes us a living, reasoning being.” I heard mumbles of agreement throughout the classroom.

Just then, the bell rang. Students sprang from their seats and headed for the door. I started for my locker thinking about the discussion. I had never thought about the fact that you needed to have choices or ways of defining yourself. A soul, apparently, was important.

Suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks. People pushed past me irritably, but I paid them no attention. You’re not a real person. You’re not really alive. That’s what they had told me. I was an android, not a human. I wasn’t a person. I wasn’t alive. I was nothing. But if I wasn’t a person, wasn’t a human, didn’t have life ...

Then I didn’t have a soul.