SANDS OF DELUSION 


By Tessa Harvey


STORM

Kitty pleated her tank top over and over. Her dark fingers were small and slender. Her younger foster sister was playing with her Ipad.
    Kitty swept back her long dark hair and glanced to see what Alice was watching. She gasped. It was called "Kill the Babies!" There was a choice of knife or gun. The babies were virtual reality, but real in the game.
    Her gasp of horror alerted the ten year old. The child's face furrowed in a frown. "What's up, sis? Wow, you sure look sick."
    Kitty felt very unwell. At that moment, their foster mother, Maria Alvarez came into the sunny lounge room. In one glance, she saw Kitty's white face and saw the way she clasped her stomach.
    "Come Katherine, we must talk." Eyes wide, Kitty stood obediently and followed Maria. Reaching the bedroom, Maria sat on the flowery bedspread and patted the place beside her. "Well?"
    The girl couldn't say a word. A blush crept over her olive complexion and she hung her head.
    Maria tipped up her chin with a forefinger and looked into her dark, frightened eyes. "Max?" she queried.
"Yes," I didn't mean to..." stumbled the young woman. "He said I was beautiful. An exotic flower. And he loves me."
    "Have you told him you are pregnant?" "Yes," Kitty whispered. "He says it's not his."
    Maria sighed. She and Luis had been so careful with the girls. How could they have found time? Well, obviously somehow they had.
"Will you kill it?" murmured Kitty in a small, trembling voice.
"What! No!" 
    Maria fingered her small, gold cross and looked horrified.
Unable to have a child of her own, Maria had fostered children for years, helped by Luis, a builder. To kill a child was unthinkable to her. They were too precious. As a couple, they had suffered several miscarriages. Besides, her faith in God was strong.
    But she braced for the coming storm.



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