Her little girl had been gone for over a year
and still the pain was the center of her core.
It ate at her insides, her heart was shattered.
The pieces were scattered within her body, now
frail from lack of care and disinterest in everything except obtaining justice for her child.
Today was the day the verdict would be read and the
sentence passed.
She prayed this would bring her some closure and any kind of peace.
She paused outside the courtroom doors to compose herself, her hands shaking from the effort to control the emotions that are running rampant through her.
This was it, she pulled open the door and stepped silently inside.1
Quietly she sat herself at the back of the room.
Away from the glare of the press who are crowded into the gallery like a herd of cattle, each vying for the best spot, waiting to write and tell the tale with such enthusiasm.
Away from the pitying eyes of the jury as they filed in, the shuffle of their feet the only sound she heard above the beating of her own heart.
Away from the face of her child's killer.
She still could not look into those eyes, afraid of what she'd see there.
She was so afraid she would see what her lovely child saw as he drained the life force from her tiny body, murdered her future and condemned her family to this living hell on earth.
But most of all she was afraid that by looking into his eyes, the evil that was implicitly his, would somehow touch her and corrupt the memories of her beautiful daughter that she held onto so tightly within.
She wanted to remember her as she had been, vibrant, alive and a joy to be with.
She did not want to think of her with sadness
So she averted her gaze from the killer's face 2
A movement of the baliff brought her out of her reverie and she saw him pass the judge, a plain, crisp, folded paper
The most important piece of paper since she had held her daughter's birth certificate in her hand.
She sucked in a breath and held on to it, it seemed like an eternity until the words were read.
"Guilty" the words reverberated around the room.
The press scattered to get the story onto the wires,
flashbulbs popped as pictures were hastily snapped.
She slumped back in her chair, her breath finally expelled in one giant swoosh, as relief washed over her.
The judge ordered everyone to calm down and asked the
defendant to rise and receive his fate.
In a sombre voice the judge spoke with conviction
"You have been found guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree, for taking the life of a small child, a little girl who was defenseless against the horrors you inflicted upon her".
"It is the sentence of this court that you be executed according to the laws of this state, and may God have mercy on your soul, for we have none!"3
Death, the words sunk into her brain, it's what she wanted, but she knew it would not bring her daughter home to her.
It would not stop the pain, she would live forever in that darkness.
She stood and prepared to leave, but her eyes were drawn to a woman sitting just behind her child's killer.
She was sobbing uncontrollably.
Her arms frailing about, trying to touch him, "No", she screamed "He is my son, please, no, Sam, oh my God, don't kill my son!"
As they lead him away shackled and bound to attend his fate, a different kind of sadness settled over her.4
Pity rose up her throat for his Mother, the bile of it almost choking her.
Because she's the only one who knew for sure, the pain and suffering that lay ahead for his family.
Tears fell from her eyes as she left the courtroom.
Tears for her child
Tears for herself
And yes even tears for his family and for all they would endure.
Closure, yes, she had gotten that today.
But peace no, there could never be peace.
Two families shattered
Two children lost
They would forever continue to suffer.
The throng of people outside she doesn't see, as she walked home
Back to the emptiness that is her life!
Author notes
This piece is based on my poem "My Name Is Sam", about a child serial killer. The poem is posted at AP, reading it as well will give you some insight into these characters and the events that lead up to the trial.
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Wow, the is really thought provoking, a very deep write...
I agree with The Imagined on the tenses... and I did not like the exclamation mark after the very last sentence, just put a simple period there.
Keep up the excellent work!
Annie 
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This is very good I really like it... it's very sad and you get the point of how the child's mother felt and how even though the murder Sam was an evil person he was going to be missed as well.
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Different, Good
This was so sad! In the beginning, I kept wondering how her little girl had died, or what had happened. I empathized with the the unnamed mother, and with the other mother, too. I like this story a lot in that it is different; it examines the mother of the little girl's feelings, describing the harsh and terrible tragedy that is murder, but at the same time, it taps into the darker side, empathizing for the murderer's family. It shows that even an evil murderer like this "Sam" will be missed. Everybody has somebody.
This was a good story, but be careful of tense-switching. In the sentence "she pulls open the door and steps silently inside", it's present tense. A paragraph later, it's back to past tense. It's starts off past tense, too. That interrupts it a little, but it's still a very good story. I will just have to read the poem. -
I liked how the beginning jumps right into the story. There's enough detail throughout to fill in what's going on.
I also like the balance of vocabulary -- such as here:
Away from the glare of the press who are crowded into the gallery like a herd of cattle, each vying for the best spot, waiting to write and tell the tale with such enthusiasm.
You picked just enough descriptive words and left the rest to "plain english". You didn't go overboard with a thesaurus.
Finally, I'm curious about how the story would have looked without the final paragraph. You end the second to last with "...a different kind of sadness settles over her." That's enough detail for an observant reader to make up the last paragraph up in their head.beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 3, dialog: 5, characters: 4.
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well done!
i like the way that you exposed the emotions of the murderer's family, a voice not often heard in fiction... well written, well done! -
you really managed to capture the emotion in this piece....especially the emotions of both mothers...not many people ever think about the killers families...nice job
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Very Good
I oppose the death penalty. I think life imprisonment is much worse. Death is comparatively quick and easy. I like the way you told this story although I don't like this type of story as a rule.beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 1, overall: 10, ending: 5, dialog: 1, characters: 4.
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