I gently sat the bucket of water on the dirt before running off to see what the commotion was about. When I arrived to the crowd of people, I could hardly see; being a measles 5’7 meant that looking over large groups of people wasn’t a talent I possessed. I pushed my way through the townsfolk, muttering an occasional “excuse me” as I went. After about a minute of parting through the crowd, I could finally see, and thanks to that small delay in time, I could hear what was going on, as well. Barely 3 feet in front of me lay a girl on the floor, her clothes slightly torn, and revealed small scrapes and bruises. Her raven hair was sprawled out around her, and with the addition of many people standing over her casting their shadows, her face wasn’t visible to me. 

I looked up at the people who cast the darkness over her face; none of them held any significance to me, the only notable features being that they were all men around 30 to 50, one of whom was a town priest. Surely this was an exorcism or banishment of sorts.

“Your sins cannot be forgiven by the Lord, and thus you must be excited until you repent for your sins.” I heard the priest shout out. My guess was correct, then. A religious trial, though being slightly late, I wasn't quite sure for what. Something unforgivable, clearly.

“Your family hereby rejects you and your sinful ways; begone from this holy village until the demon of homosexuality has been cast from your mortal body!” The what? Clearly, the devil had been making his targets younger...the girl couldn't have been any older than me, perhaps twelve, at youngest. A small bag was thrown at her, and I saw her wince as she started to raise herself from the floor. The judgemental solemn chattering of the townspeople continued, and the once-large engrossing crowd had pretty much entirely disbanded, leaving a large open space occupied by me and thus other girl.

She glared up at me, her dark hair covering her face, making her look almost demon-like.

I cast a final judgemental look at the sinner, and turned around to pick up the pail I had left earlier, running in between every few steps to make the journey quicker.

I shook my head as I picked up the bucket. She'd been exiled; a fair fate, though an uncommon one. It wasn't much to think about, though the large crowd was exciting. What was the girl's name, Lillith? I suppose she'd had it coming....most everyone who faced punishment did.