The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Era (02/03/11)
Marrah’s Tears

Marrah’s salty tears splashed onto the medical report that lay open before her. “The patient is sterile due to complications from a suction curettage procedure performed six years previously,” she read.

Just then, Dr. Wexelman walked over and squeezed her hand. “I am so sorry. You and John would have made such wonderful parents.”

Marrah’s thoughts spun through her mind like a turnstile door going round and round as it bids entrance into a high rise building. How could she even ask John’s forgiveness for this? Her past seemed to block any path for a meaningful life.

The 1973 Row vs. Wade decision which was meant to usher in an era of choice, hope, and freedom, instead, left her feeling bonded, disillusioned, and enslaved. This ruling had afforded her the same rights as a harsh, brutal dictatorship would have.

Numbness descended on her mind and body as she got up to leave. Dr. Wexelman saw her struggle to stand and slipped her the name of a trusted therapist as she walked out the door.

Marrah was just 17-years-old when she had fallen madly in love with her next-door neighbor, Jeff. He had promised her that taking this last step of intimacy would prove to be the cement that held their relationship together forever. She also remembered him uttering those fatal last words, “Besides nobody ever gets pregnant the first time.” At that point in her life, she was so naïve and in love that she believed him.

She drove home in a complete fog, remembering nothing of the sights and sounds she had passed on her way home. Marrah walked in through the side door in the garage, and threw her keys on the dining table. After she had sunk down into her favorite leather recliner, the repressed memories came floating back to the surface.

Two months after her periods had stopped, Jeff drove her to a medical clinic 25 miles away to have a pregnancy test. He didn’t want anyone in their small town getting suspicious about her reason for seeing a doctor. The test turned out positive, and Jeff convinced her that the only solution was to have an abortion. After all he told her, the church wouldn’t exactly welcome you back with open arms. Unfortunately, she knew this was probably the truth. Many of her Christian friends and their parents had completely shunned another unwed mother named Trish, when she came to church one Sunday.

Jeff took her back three days later to have the scheduled abortion. She checked in at the main desk before being escorted down a narrow hallway and into a small room at the end. A nurse named Janet gave her a flimsy gown, and told her to lay down on the silver gurney after she was done changing.

The nurse reassured her that she was making the right decision. “At this stage in the pregnancy,” she said, “The fetus is just a tiny mass of cells and tissue.” The nurse further informed her that the procedure would only last a short time and be slightly uncomfortable.

Next, Dr. Carlson came into the room and ordered her to put her feet into the cold stirrups on either side of the bed. She was only given a very mild anesthetic before the procedure, but she was still aware of everything going on around her. The suction machine whirled into action, causing her to scream out in pain. It felt like her insides were being ripped out. Marrah cried out for the doctor to stop, but it was too late. She suddenly knew that she had killed her baby.

The next thing she knew, John’s hands were holding her in a warm embrace.

“Honey, it’s okay,” he soothed.

“No its not, and it never will be again,” she screamed. “I killed my first baby! I had an abortion and committed the unpardonable sin.”

“Marrah, what you did was wrong, but not unpardonable.” “I still love you and I always will.”

“I don’t deserve your love,” Marrah wept. “No one, not even God could ever forgive me for what I have done.”

“Yes, he can and already has,” John exclaimed. “As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12 KJV).

Then John got down on his knees and did the only thing he could do, wept right along side her.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 1120 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
02/11/11
This is a beautiful touching story about both the emotional and physical scars an abortion can leave. Nice job of filling-it into the topic.
diana kay
02/12/11
a great story and i reckon you chose the name of your character carefully too after Naomis choice of name when she lost her sons and husband in the old testament book of Ruth.This adds to her devastation.
I think you were curtailed by the word count from describing more of her present predicament as you used them in the details of the original abortion which sadly led to her infertility.
i am glad you ended the tragic story with a slightly upbeat note of forgiveness. Lets hope that a mirical happens and these characters can be parents like the miracle God worked in the life of Naomi
Helen Carr
02/12/11
A beautifully written story. As someone else said, the word count limited where you could go at the end, and I want to read more, such as what happens after she gets home. If you do extend the story, please PM me and let me know :-).
Nancy Bucca
02/15/11
Regardless of the word count limit, you did a beautiful job with this - giving the reader needed and vital information. There isn't a thing that should have been left out. Plus you brought it to a brilliant conclusion given the limits in which you had to work.

It carries a very strong message and definitely deserves to win some recognition. But even if it doesn't - given all the amazing entries this week - it's still a wonderful piece of writing. Keep up the good work!
Genstacia Bull
02/23/11
Wow, I recently watched a movie called Come What May and it was all about making a case for overturning Row in the Row vs Wade case. Good work.
Carol Penhorwood 
02/24/11
Sensitively written. This hot emotional topic needs to be addressed, just as you have. I pray God will use this to benefit, educate, and bring forgiveness into their lives and homes.