#12 (Part I)

#12 The Nature of Punishment (Part I)

     All the comforts of my new home were stripped away.  I hadn't seen earlier, hadn't thought to check whether I still had sheets and pillowcases.  The idea of sleeping underneath a splinter embedded comforter as welcome as if it were glass shards I slept under for warmth.  My only other option was to spend the night miserably frozen. 
     At least sliding under the comforter gave a few moments reprieve from tomorrow’s task.  The weighted cloth rested heavily over my body.  If I lay still enough it was bearable.  Almost
     I drifted along in the strange twilight between the awake and the not, my mind cataloging the rise of whispers from above, but not alarmed nor interested in what the people upstairs said. Until . . .
     "The tormented Oscar and Wilde once spoke to me of the nature of gods, 'If the gods wish to inflict a punishment, they answer our prayers.'  They would know the truth of the issue.  I believe them."