CHEROKEE STAR

Part Seven
(Continued from 12/5/10 post)

“Not unless you can stop the hate, Cherokee. His abuse created the hate, not you. But you’ve chosen to live in it instead of to live in freedom from it. That’s very sad, you know. It was your choice, not his. What a waste.”

The tears silently streamed down her cheeks and she made no attempt to wipe them away, as if they could somehow wash clean the memories of all those years of hatred if she let them flow. He studied her eyes, overwhelmed by the emotions he’d managed to bring out of her, probably for the first time ever.

“Why? Just tell me why?”

“Why, what?” the Sheriff asked.

“Why did he pick on a child like he did? Why did he force himself on me when I was unable to fight him off? And why did he pass me around to all his friends like I was a toy? What did I do to deserve that?”

Gulping back his emotions at the admission that, as he had suspected, there was more to her nightmare than she had earlier revealed, he said, “You didn’t do anything to deserve this kind of treatment, Cherokee. You were a young child whose innocence threatened his ability to control you. He apparently couldn’t stand facing that innocence so he took it from you. His mind was sick. That doesn’t excuse what he did but it might help you understand him better.”

“I don’t want to understand him! I want to kill him! With every breath I take, I want to kill him, over and over and over . . .” Her voice trailed off as sobs shook her whole body.

The Sheriff desperately wanted to embrace her and soothe away the little girl’s hurt still so raw and deep, but he knew that would be the wrong thing to do. So he just sat there staring at her. Better to let her talk than say the wrong thing and lose this moment.

“But I don’t really. Not deep down. You know?”

He nodded. “Sit down, Cherokee. Let me tell you about Someone who can help you with this hatred. It won’t change things, because you are still going to hang for all those people you killed. But maybe you have time to change one thing before it’s too late, and that could make all the difference in the world—and in the next.”

”What’s that?”

“Your heart. You have a song of freedom to sing, Cherokee Star. And you’d better learn the words quickly because you don’t have much time left. My Friend can teach you how to sing those lullabies again and mean them. He can bring you the peace you have looked for all these years in whiskey and guns, a peace that will finally drown out those voices in your nightmares. You said a while ago you were born again that morning you killed your father. But you can truly be born again in a different way, if you would like. It’s all up to you. Please listen, will you?”

THE END

Note to Readers: Let me know if you enjoyed this serial version of the story. I don't believe any person is beyond redemption at any point until he or she takes that last breath on earth. Cherokee didn't have many choices in her life but without Christ they were limited even further. Even a hardened Sheriff could see beyond her tough exterior to the tender heart of a young and scared woman who didn't understand the hand life had dealt her. It is my sincere prayer that Cherokee listened to him as he shared about the One who could change her for eternity and learn to face death with more dignity than she'd ever known in life. Though a fictional tale, Cherokee came alive for me as her story unfolded in one setting at the computer, and by the time I finished I was in tears for the tragedy of her wasted life, yet also filled with hope for the one last choice she had to make before her hanging.

Blessings, Laura