Carrie

wanted to cry but it was too real to cry about, not like the movies.

He and George and Frieda had less than two hours to live

And if there was enchantment, it was not divine but pagan

(momma untie your apron strings i'm getting big)

and she wanted it that way.

Wearing it gave her a weird, dreamy feeling that was half shame and half defiant excitement.

She did not know if her gift had come from the lord of light or of darkness, and now, finally finding that she did not care which, she was overcome with an almost indescribable relief, as if a huge weight, long carried, had slipped from her shoulders.

If only it would be today and Jesus coming not with a lamb and a shepherd's crook, but with a boulder in each hand to crush the laughers and the snickerers, to root out the evil and destroy it screaming—a terrible Jesus of blood and righteousness.

And if only she could be His sword and His arm.

making red marks and scratches. She tore her dr