Jastrow
Imperator
I wrote this in 2015 and first posted it on Cruxfoundation. It is a Christmas tale and is centered on a young woman’s crucifixion. It is not your typical erotica but I think it is appropriate for the group. I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas
THE WITNESS –A tale for Christmas
by Jastrow
Corina was a survivor whose luck had now run out...
Orphaned at a very young age, she had survived on the streets by her wits and cunning alone. By a very early age she was an accomplished pickpocket and a petty thief-- well known to the authorities and tolerated by them only because of her young age. In time she had grown into a strikingly beautiful young woman whose lush body and raven black hair turned many heads. She soon learned that there were many men with a few extra coins in their purse who would pay her well for the pleasures her body could provide. She now plied her trade in a tiny room above a tavern and she’d lost track of the number of sweaty, grunting men she’d lain under in her brief life. She was rarely alone...and she hated every one of the men who used her. Despite her young years and her undeniable beauty, her heart was filled with anger and rage.
The last few days had been exceedingly busy. Earlier in the year, the authorities in Rome had issued their decree that a census should be conducted and that all subjects should return to their ancestral homes to be counted. The deadline to do so was now approaching and as a result, the town and the tavern were jammed with people–ripe pickings for a whore like her. She serviced many of the out of town strangers and, if they happened to have drunk too much, she’d lighten their purses as they slept it off in a drunken haze.
Late in the evening, she had taken one burly man up to her room. Although she usually knew how to handle herself, this one had surprised her. In the midst of their coupling, he had suddenly turned violent, viciously beating and choking her until she feared for her life. Desperately she screamed and fought back but the raucous sounds from the tavern below drowned out the sounds of their frantic struggle. It was a struggle to the death and when it was over, the man lay dead on the floor in a pool of blood--a knife stuck between his ribs. She panicked then, and after quickly dressing, took his purse and fled into the crowded streets just before dawn.
For hours that morning she wandered the streets aimlessly with nowhere to go--no refuge. It did not take the authorities long to find her. As a known thief and whore and now a murderer, little mercy was shown to her. A speedy trial, a guilty verdict and a sentence to death on the cross was quickly rendered. They then beat her, raped her, paraded her naked through the streets and, by mid-afternoon, brought to a place by the side of the road outside of town where they nailed her to a cross and left her to die. Her captors had earned their pay, however, since, simmering with rage, Corina had fought them like a wild beast and cursed them every inch of the way.
Once nailed on the cross, she was shocked by what she felt. The pain was horrific and she was unprepared for just how much it hurt. She frantically struggled and writhed on the rough wood in a desperate attempt to escape the pure agony she was feeling.
"So this is how it ends," she thought to herself bitterly.
Trying to somehow blot out her pain, she tried to distract herself. She forced herself to watch the many of people passing by before her who were streaming into the town. For the weary travelers, the sight of her naked, exposed body, splayed out helplessly on the cross, was an amusing diversion. They cruelly laughed at her suffering and taunted her by making lewd comments and jeering suggestions as to what they would like to do to her. Some of their children picked up stones and threw them at her. With no way to defend herself she could only shriek and curse them until her throat was raw. They only responded with more cruel laughter.
The hours passed and the pain continued unabated. The day was warm and Corina had grown exceedingly thirsty. In the late afternoon as the sun was setting, an odd thing happened. The crowd had thinned but then she saw seen a solitary couple slowly pass by–an older man and a young woman. The woman was little more than a girl, riding on a small donkey. The man’s face was solemn and, unlike the others, he did not look at her or taunt her. She could see that the young woman was heavy with child and Corina thought how hard it must be to make a long journey in that condition. The young woman’s face was lovely but she looked pale and exhausted-–her face etched in pain.
"Labor," Corina thought. "The poor woman’s in labor..." Childless herself, Corina could only wonder how the pain of labor compared to the terrible pain she herself was now enduring...
The couple passed Corina a little ways and then she heard the young woman cry out in pain. The man stopped the donkey and knelt beside the woman comforting her until her pain passed. Then he poured a cup of water from a wineskin he wore over his shoulder gave to the woman to drink.
When she was finished, Corina saw the woman point back to her and speak to the man. She could not hear what she said, but the man refilled the cup and walked to Corina. As he approached, she saw that he was older than she had first realized. Although she had been naked in front of many men in her life, strangely she felt ashamed to be seen like this and wished she could cover her nudity. There was a sadness about his face, as if he had seen too much sorrow in his life. It was worn and deeply lined but she saw his eyes were kind as they gazed into hers. He brought the wooden cup to her lips and said gently.
"For you. Drink...."
Fearful at first of some cruel trick, Corina hesitated momentarily, but then softened and began to drink the water down. It was cool and delicious.
When she was finished, Corina said softly, "Thank you..."
He nodded and then reached up and gently brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in Corina’s eyes. He gestured back to the woman and donkey said quietly, "We must be on our way..."
He walked back to them and they resumed their journey. She watched them slowly move down the road until they vanished from her sight. Their journey was nearly over and they’ll reach their destination shortly, although Corina knew it would be exceedingly hard for them to find food and lodging in the crowded town this night.
As the day ended, the last of the travelers passed by and the night fell quickly. Although it had been warm during the day, a raw chill now set in. Naked, exposed and utterly alone, she shivered in the cool night air. She felt that the world had utterly forgotten her. The night sky above was crystal clear but the stars seemed cold and distant as they shimmered un-caringly above her.
As her suffering continued, in her growing weariness she asked herself, "How much more...? How long will it take? How long can I last...?"
She was hungry and exhausted. Hanging painfully from the nails in her wrists and feet, it was becoming harder to breathe. Again and again, she was forced to painfully pull herself up the shaft of the cross as the pain exploded in her wounded feet and wrists. Still, it was necessary to allow her to draw her next full breath. Then she would slide painfully down the rough wooden surface. Each journey up and down the cross sapped her strength further. To conserve that remaining strength, she tried to will herself to be still and rest. She may have slipped momentarily into unconsciousness a few times, however in her pain and exhaustion, those periods were brief and furtive.
The endless night continued. Then, after one brief period of semi-sleep, she’d been jolted into wakefulness by something totally unexpected... music! Frantically she looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but in the darkness she could see nothing. The music was unlike anything she had ever heard–not like the crude and raucous songs of the tavern, but something else -- the sound was strangely pure and beautiful. What was it and where was it coming from?
"I must be dreaming..." she thought to herself as she struggled once again to pull herself up the cross.
Then, a short while later, she heard footsteps approaching in the night and grew frightened. She knew that sometimes gangs of thugs from the town would come to where condemned prisoners were dying on their crosses and for sport would cruelly abuse and molest them. Fearful of that prospect, her heart pounded in her chest as she helplessly awaited their arrival. To her surprise, however, she saw a group of men pass by her quickly without speaking to her and then, with great speed and determination, make their way down the road towards the town beyond. She recognized some of the men–she’d seen them occasionally in the tavern. They were shepherds from the hills that surrounded the town. She wondered what would cause them to leave their flocks unattended this night and make their way so purposefully to the town?
After they were gone, she happened to look up at the night sky above her. What she saw nearly took her breath away. The canopy of stars above her that she’d seen earlier and which had seemed so far away now shimmered like precious diamonds–far brighter than they had earlier in the night. And closer too! She felt that she could almost reach up and touch them. She could see comets and shooting stars blazing across the night sky unlike anything she had ever seen. Even more miraculous was one star that seemed to grow in both size and brightness with each passing second. As she watched, it grew ever brighter and bigger until it seemed to hang directly over the sleeping town.
With a sense of wonder, she saw a lovely light that emanated from it and that painted the hills with a soft, shimmering and beautiful glow. And as the light washed over her naked flesh, she realized that the night chill that she’d felt earlier had left her body. She felt warm...
She shook her head and tried to comprehend what was happening about her. "This strange night of my death is full of wonders. What can the gods be doing tonight...?"
"The gods..." she thought to herself. She’d had little use for the gods in her life. They were for the rich and powerful and cared little for the common people like her. The were so far away, so distant...further than the stars she’d seen earlier in the sky above.
Still, she thought to herself, "What if there was a god for people like me–for the thieves and the whores, the murders and the vast throng of wretched people that the powerful do not see?"
"What if there was a god who didn’t live in the heavens far away, but lived with us here on earth?"
"What if there was a god who would care for us–heal and feed us when we were sick or hungry, who would lay a kind hand on our hearts when we were grieving or alone or in pain– a god who would be with us at the time of death? What if there was a god who would gently teach us to walk the path of righteousness, but who would forgive us and show us mercy when we strayed from that path?"
"What if there was a god who would see into the dark corners of our hearts and drive out the hatred and despair with the bright light of love, compassion and mercy...?"
"What if..."
The need to draw another breath again asserted itself. She slowly and painfully began the task to pull herself up the cross again. She realized that her strength was rapidly failing and she knew that she could not make that journey too many more times. In her heart she knew that she would not live to see the dawn.
As she hung there she found herself remembering things--painful things-- from her life. She felt great sorrow and shame at her actions. But then, strangely, in the quiet of the night, she found herself recalling the couple she had seen pass her by earlier that day and the small act of kindness they had shown her...
She wondered where they were, wondered if they had found a place to stay in the crowded town...wondered if the baby had been born...wondered if they were safe?
With a touch of sadness Corina realized that her own brief life was drawing to a hollow, empty close and that it would end in the inescapable pain and the ignominy of the cross. Yet somewhere in that quiet, sleeping town, she knew a new life had begun. And strangely, that thought comforted her.
As she thought of that new life she realized that the anger and rage that had lived so long in her heart was gone.
She thought of the baby resting peacefully on its mother’s breast–tiny, helpless, innocent and pure. It was warm and safe for now but she knew it faced a hard and cruel world in the days ahead. She knew first-hand how hard that world could be. She wondered what its future held–what it would accomplish on its life’s journey?
She began to cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she uttered a quiet prayer for the unseen child...
"May the world be kind to you, little one..."
"May your life be filled with riches and love..."
"May you know only kindness and joy..."
A fresh wave of pain washed over her. She was growing ever weaker with each passing moment. Still, her body demanded that she take another breath and so she tried--with every fiber of her being-- to again pull herself up the cross one more time, but found she no longer had the strength to do so.
She slid painfully back down the cross and hung limply from the nails in her wrists. She knew that the end of her life was at hand... Exhausted, but with peace in her heart, she let go of the struggle and waited for the last of her life to leave her pain-racked body. She gazed upwards with wonder and awe at the beautiful star still shining above...
And as she breathed her last on that rough wooden cross, she softly whispered a final few words for the new-born babe...
"Sweet child... may you be spared my fate..."
The End
THE WITNESS –A tale for Christmas
by Jastrow
Corina was a survivor whose luck had now run out...
Orphaned at a very young age, she had survived on the streets by her wits and cunning alone. By a very early age she was an accomplished pickpocket and a petty thief-- well known to the authorities and tolerated by them only because of her young age. In time she had grown into a strikingly beautiful young woman whose lush body and raven black hair turned many heads. She soon learned that there were many men with a few extra coins in their purse who would pay her well for the pleasures her body could provide. She now plied her trade in a tiny room above a tavern and she’d lost track of the number of sweaty, grunting men she’d lain under in her brief life. She was rarely alone...and she hated every one of the men who used her. Despite her young years and her undeniable beauty, her heart was filled with anger and rage.
The last few days had been exceedingly busy. Earlier in the year, the authorities in Rome had issued their decree that a census should be conducted and that all subjects should return to their ancestral homes to be counted. The deadline to do so was now approaching and as a result, the town and the tavern were jammed with people–ripe pickings for a whore like her. She serviced many of the out of town strangers and, if they happened to have drunk too much, she’d lighten their purses as they slept it off in a drunken haze.
Late in the evening, she had taken one burly man up to her room. Although she usually knew how to handle herself, this one had surprised her. In the midst of their coupling, he had suddenly turned violent, viciously beating and choking her until she feared for her life. Desperately she screamed and fought back but the raucous sounds from the tavern below drowned out the sounds of their frantic struggle. It was a struggle to the death and when it was over, the man lay dead on the floor in a pool of blood--a knife stuck between his ribs. She panicked then, and after quickly dressing, took his purse and fled into the crowded streets just before dawn.
For hours that morning she wandered the streets aimlessly with nowhere to go--no refuge. It did not take the authorities long to find her. As a known thief and whore and now a murderer, little mercy was shown to her. A speedy trial, a guilty verdict and a sentence to death on the cross was quickly rendered. They then beat her, raped her, paraded her naked through the streets and, by mid-afternoon, brought to a place by the side of the road outside of town where they nailed her to a cross and left her to die. Her captors had earned their pay, however, since, simmering with rage, Corina had fought them like a wild beast and cursed them every inch of the way.
Once nailed on the cross, she was shocked by what she felt. The pain was horrific and she was unprepared for just how much it hurt. She frantically struggled and writhed on the rough wood in a desperate attempt to escape the pure agony she was feeling.
"So this is how it ends," she thought to herself bitterly.
Trying to somehow blot out her pain, she tried to distract herself. She forced herself to watch the many of people passing by before her who were streaming into the town. For the weary travelers, the sight of her naked, exposed body, splayed out helplessly on the cross, was an amusing diversion. They cruelly laughed at her suffering and taunted her by making lewd comments and jeering suggestions as to what they would like to do to her. Some of their children picked up stones and threw them at her. With no way to defend herself she could only shriek and curse them until her throat was raw. They only responded with more cruel laughter.
The hours passed and the pain continued unabated. The day was warm and Corina had grown exceedingly thirsty. In the late afternoon as the sun was setting, an odd thing happened. The crowd had thinned but then she saw seen a solitary couple slowly pass by–an older man and a young woman. The woman was little more than a girl, riding on a small donkey. The man’s face was solemn and, unlike the others, he did not look at her or taunt her. She could see that the young woman was heavy with child and Corina thought how hard it must be to make a long journey in that condition. The young woman’s face was lovely but she looked pale and exhausted-–her face etched in pain.
"Labor," Corina thought. "The poor woman’s in labor..." Childless herself, Corina could only wonder how the pain of labor compared to the terrible pain she herself was now enduring...
The couple passed Corina a little ways and then she heard the young woman cry out in pain. The man stopped the donkey and knelt beside the woman comforting her until her pain passed. Then he poured a cup of water from a wineskin he wore over his shoulder gave to the woman to drink.
When she was finished, Corina saw the woman point back to her and speak to the man. She could not hear what she said, but the man refilled the cup and walked to Corina. As he approached, she saw that he was older than she had first realized. Although she had been naked in front of many men in her life, strangely she felt ashamed to be seen like this and wished she could cover her nudity. There was a sadness about his face, as if he had seen too much sorrow in his life. It was worn and deeply lined but she saw his eyes were kind as they gazed into hers. He brought the wooden cup to her lips and said gently.
"For you. Drink...."
Fearful at first of some cruel trick, Corina hesitated momentarily, but then softened and began to drink the water down. It was cool and delicious.
When she was finished, Corina said softly, "Thank you..."
He nodded and then reached up and gently brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in Corina’s eyes. He gestured back to the woman and donkey said quietly, "We must be on our way..."
He walked back to them and they resumed their journey. She watched them slowly move down the road until they vanished from her sight. Their journey was nearly over and they’ll reach their destination shortly, although Corina knew it would be exceedingly hard for them to find food and lodging in the crowded town this night.
As the day ended, the last of the travelers passed by and the night fell quickly. Although it had been warm during the day, a raw chill now set in. Naked, exposed and utterly alone, she shivered in the cool night air. She felt that the world had utterly forgotten her. The night sky above was crystal clear but the stars seemed cold and distant as they shimmered un-caringly above her.
As her suffering continued, in her growing weariness she asked herself, "How much more...? How long will it take? How long can I last...?"
She was hungry and exhausted. Hanging painfully from the nails in her wrists and feet, it was becoming harder to breathe. Again and again, she was forced to painfully pull herself up the shaft of the cross as the pain exploded in her wounded feet and wrists. Still, it was necessary to allow her to draw her next full breath. Then she would slide painfully down the rough wooden surface. Each journey up and down the cross sapped her strength further. To conserve that remaining strength, she tried to will herself to be still and rest. She may have slipped momentarily into unconsciousness a few times, however in her pain and exhaustion, those periods were brief and furtive.
The endless night continued. Then, after one brief period of semi-sleep, she’d been jolted into wakefulness by something totally unexpected... music! Frantically she looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but in the darkness she could see nothing. The music was unlike anything she had ever heard–not like the crude and raucous songs of the tavern, but something else -- the sound was strangely pure and beautiful. What was it and where was it coming from?
"I must be dreaming..." she thought to herself as she struggled once again to pull herself up the cross.
Then, a short while later, she heard footsteps approaching in the night and grew frightened. She knew that sometimes gangs of thugs from the town would come to where condemned prisoners were dying on their crosses and for sport would cruelly abuse and molest them. Fearful of that prospect, her heart pounded in her chest as she helplessly awaited their arrival. To her surprise, however, she saw a group of men pass by her quickly without speaking to her and then, with great speed and determination, make their way down the road towards the town beyond. She recognized some of the men–she’d seen them occasionally in the tavern. They were shepherds from the hills that surrounded the town. She wondered what would cause them to leave their flocks unattended this night and make their way so purposefully to the town?
After they were gone, she happened to look up at the night sky above her. What she saw nearly took her breath away. The canopy of stars above her that she’d seen earlier and which had seemed so far away now shimmered like precious diamonds–far brighter than they had earlier in the night. And closer too! She felt that she could almost reach up and touch them. She could see comets and shooting stars blazing across the night sky unlike anything she had ever seen. Even more miraculous was one star that seemed to grow in both size and brightness with each passing second. As she watched, it grew ever brighter and bigger until it seemed to hang directly over the sleeping town.
With a sense of wonder, she saw a lovely light that emanated from it and that painted the hills with a soft, shimmering and beautiful glow. And as the light washed over her naked flesh, she realized that the night chill that she’d felt earlier had left her body. She felt warm...
She shook her head and tried to comprehend what was happening about her. "This strange night of my death is full of wonders. What can the gods be doing tonight...?"
"The gods..." she thought to herself. She’d had little use for the gods in her life. They were for the rich and powerful and cared little for the common people like her. The were so far away, so distant...further than the stars she’d seen earlier in the sky above.
Still, she thought to herself, "What if there was a god for people like me–for the thieves and the whores, the murders and the vast throng of wretched people that the powerful do not see?"
"What if there was a god who didn’t live in the heavens far away, but lived with us here on earth?"
"What if there was a god who would care for us–heal and feed us when we were sick or hungry, who would lay a kind hand on our hearts when we were grieving or alone or in pain– a god who would be with us at the time of death? What if there was a god who would gently teach us to walk the path of righteousness, but who would forgive us and show us mercy when we strayed from that path?"
"What if there was a god who would see into the dark corners of our hearts and drive out the hatred and despair with the bright light of love, compassion and mercy...?"
"What if..."
The need to draw another breath again asserted itself. She slowly and painfully began the task to pull herself up the cross again. She realized that her strength was rapidly failing and she knew that she could not make that journey too many more times. In her heart she knew that she would not live to see the dawn.
As she hung there she found herself remembering things--painful things-- from her life. She felt great sorrow and shame at her actions. But then, strangely, in the quiet of the night, she found herself recalling the couple she had seen pass her by earlier that day and the small act of kindness they had shown her...
She wondered where they were, wondered if they had found a place to stay in the crowded town...wondered if the baby had been born...wondered if they were safe?
With a touch of sadness Corina realized that her own brief life was drawing to a hollow, empty close and that it would end in the inescapable pain and the ignominy of the cross. Yet somewhere in that quiet, sleeping town, she knew a new life had begun. And strangely, that thought comforted her.
As she thought of that new life she realized that the anger and rage that had lived so long in her heart was gone.
She thought of the baby resting peacefully on its mother’s breast–tiny, helpless, innocent and pure. It was warm and safe for now but she knew it faced a hard and cruel world in the days ahead. She knew first-hand how hard that world could be. She wondered what its future held–what it would accomplish on its life’s journey?
She began to cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she uttered a quiet prayer for the unseen child...
"May the world be kind to you, little one..."
"May your life be filled with riches and love..."
"May you know only kindness and joy..."
A fresh wave of pain washed over her. She was growing ever weaker with each passing moment. Still, her body demanded that she take another breath and so she tried--with every fiber of her being-- to again pull herself up the cross one more time, but found she no longer had the strength to do so.
She slid painfully back down the cross and hung limply from the nails in her wrists. She knew that the end of her life was at hand... Exhausted, but with peace in her heart, she let go of the struggle and waited for the last of her life to leave her pain-racked body. She gazed upwards with wonder and awe at the beautiful star still shining above...
And as she breathed her last on that rough wooden cross, she softly whispered a final few words for the new-born babe...
"Sweet child... may you be spared my fate..."
The End
