#79 - Light Conquers Dark

Today’s words: Minute, Install, Pilot, Shocking

Word count: 392

Completion time: 36 minutes

Summary: If you misunderstand something, it’s easy to spread rumours or lash out..but it really isn’t helping anyone

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“Maybe it’s just easier for them to deal with.”

“Really? Easier for them to deal with?” the sarcasm in Tessa’s voice couldn’t have been overlooked. “It isn’t ‘shocking’ enough for them that I’m not white, vegan, and open about my sexuality? What else do they want to pin on me? You know,” she opened her windows that overlooked the children’s park, “if they took a minute to listen to what I had to say, maybe they could remove some of the shit that society chose to install into their heads.”

“They’re just kids.”

She turned around and looked into her friend’s eyes, focusing on the brown that tried to interfere with the light blue of her irises. “That’s not an excuse. You think my mum would have let me get away with calling people a witch? Or saying that they worshipped the devil?”

A pause.

“Cassie, they set one of my notepads on fire once because they were convinced that it was full of curses posing as notes for biology. You can’t excuse things like that, kids of not.”

“Maybe they just don’t understa--”

“And sixteen year olds are far from kids.” Tessa twisted her lips and walked past the windows to lean on the balcony. “Also, why are you defending them? Did the plane switch the pilot? Is this Evil Cassie I’m speaking to?” she turned her head. “I’m kidding, obviously.”

“Hey, I’m not defending them. I’m just trying to see it from both sides.”

After she turned back, Tessa’s finger and thumb rubbed the slow-climbing ivy that had wrapped itself around the pillars of the stone balcony. “The irony is that Pagans don’t believe in an absolute evil because the divine is present in everything. These leaves, the ground I’m stood on...” her voice lowered in volume. “Even the ass that calls me Sabrina the Teenage Witch every single day...which is funny because Sabrina was amazing. If I were a witch, I wouldn’t mind being her.” She frowned, knotting her eyebrows. “Why do people think it’s okay to treat others like crap to feel better about themselves?”

“Humans are selfish.”

Tessa turned to face Cassie again and leant herself on the balcony. “Yeah, a lot are.” She stroked the small silver pentagon that hung from her neck. “But even though there’s darkness in everything, light is never far behind.”