When Darkness Came Out To Dance

How does one go so far back in time and try to remember things which are so long past, those things one has tried so hard to forget during the ensuing years of living? All the painful memorie’s during one’s youth? How does one look at the scars which ever remind them of where they came from, and why they are there? There is never peace in the stillness of one’s mind which is so troubled.

The world has always been the same, so full of broken and unfulfilled things, past sins of men which always remain unforgiving, where blood has often been spilled leaving guiltless children in it’s aftermath. These children too often are taught the ways of their father’s and carry on life with the same hatred and vengence instilled from an early age.

Such is the nature of vengence and revenge, one invites and nurtures the other. Hatred grows and year after year only becomes stronger. One antagonizes the other, on and on, year after year, until the original wrong, or injustice is mostly forgotten. Now only the recent past and present insurrection is viable in the eyes of those who now aim to rectify all reasoning, and all past wrongs. Now, none from the past, none from the present shall escape the wraith they are beneficiary to.

Some blood feuds are stronger, more intense than others, they live on and on for decades and even generations. They seem to be ever simmering beneath the surface waiting to explode like a volcano lying dormant for years. Often years may pass with no action or reprisal until an old fire starts burning brightly again, gaining strength until it becomes a raging blaze and vengence must be satisfied once again with blood. There is no such thing as innocence.

Since she was a small girl, Julie had heard the older folks talking about the hatred between themselves and the Rabalais. She had heard the stories of killings, house burnings, the hanging of men, young and old, rapes and molestations committed by one family then returned in kind by the other family. How many had actually died or been injured, physically or mentally over the years was hard to say, each family had their own accounts.

Children were taught this fear and hatred of the others from an early age and were always fearful of being taken by some of “them.” Julie believed with all her heart, all her senses that “they” had finally come for her.

There had been an uneasy feeling of being watched for days now, actually for more than two weeks, but, the past few days the feeling had grown in intensity. She was careful when walking around the Quarter, always looking back to see if anyone appeared to be paying too much attention to her. She always turned men’s heads when she walked by because of her dark and beautiful body.