"Dear child," said he, "Won't you tell me why it is you believe yourself to be neither boy nor girl?"
Ruby hesitated, glancing back at their parents and then the priest, uncertain of what was to come and whether to speak the truth. "Because I know I'm not." said they, choosing to speak the short truth.
"And why, pray tell, may that be?" asked the priest again, patiently.
"Because I don't feel like a boy and I don't feel like a girl. I just am." Ruby answered, beginning to feel rather interrogated. The priest was silent for a moment or two, before getting up to speak with their parents. "I worry for the health of your child. She is clearly mentally unstable." said the priest.
"Do what you must," murmured the mother, slipping a coin into his palm.
"I shall do everything in my power," whispered the priest, "But I fear that she may have to be sent to an insane asylum." The parent's eyes both visibly widened.
"If that is the case," stated the father grimly, "then she would be better off dead."
"Murder is a sin, dear sir," the priest cried. "Surely you wouldn't resort to that." Both mother and father shared a look.
"We won't." the mother said finally. "Come, let us return to Ruby. She is looking concerned." And so, for the better part of a week, Ruby and their family almost lived at the church, whilst the priest tried every form of magic known to man. Spells, incantations, chants, prayers as they slept, baptism, holy objects, conversion therapy, none of them worked. The little child seemed simply invincible to all. By the end of the week, the priest was nearly crying in exasperation as he shooed the small family out. "Are you sure there is nothing more you can do?" asked the father gruffly.
"Yes, yes!" cried the traumatized priest. And with that, he slammed the doors of the church shut. That night, whilst Ruby slept, the parents quietly met over the dinner table. "We have no choice." stated the father calmly. "We must get rid of her."
The mother gasped, though she knew her husband to be right. "But, Husband," she cried, "You know just as well as I do what the priest has said. Murder is a sin!" But the father only nodded. "That I know, Wife. That is why we must have the Wolf do it." For centuries, the village had been terrorized by the same generation of werewolves. That is, until one day, an enchantress of great renown arrived to the village one day. Upon hearing the horrid tales of the werewolves, she cast a spell over the entire village, banishing the werewolves, when in their wolf form, to the forest just outside. Anyone who entered those woods was sentenced to a sure death. The mother shivered upon hearing the father's plan.
"Husband of mine," said she worriedly, "We cannot simply send Little Ruby without any sort of explanation! What would the village think of such ways?" But the father only swatted his hand dismissively, "Wife, do you not think I have not thought this through?! You see, wife, do you ever wonder why you never met my mother? She lives in those woods. Every full moon, we shall send Ruby into those woods, with a basket of goods for the woman, whom we will say has fallen ill. Ruby is to bring her food and medicine. And we shall do this, until the child does not return." The mother reluctantly agreed, unable to provide a better plan.
YOU ARE READING
The Untimely Death of Little Ruby Rider
FantasyIn a small village, there lived a young child by the name of Ruby Rider. Yet, there was something strange about this child. This child was neither male nor female, but simply was. And they were just like any normal child. Tragically, their mother an...
