“Have the older children been stirring up trouble again, Charity?”
“Yes, father.” The little girl replied.
Mr. Leopold sighed heavily. “What did they do this time?”
There was an uncomfortable pause. “Well, John insisted that the teacher was wrong- again, and the school nurse had to be called in because of- well, injuries.”
“But you know they’re not telling the truth, right Charity?” It wasn’t a question, and Charity knew this, but she hesitated anyway.
“What if- well, what if they’re not. I mean, there’s this one girl, who-” Professor Leopold’s stern gaze caused her to stop short.
“Hmm…” her father rubbed his carefully shaved chin before locking eyes with Charity. “Charity. I need you to promise me something,”
His daughter took a sip of her steaming soup and nodded for him to continue.
“I need you to never, ever, ever give in to what they believe. Everything they say is a lie. There is no God, there is no Jesus, and noone created us. It happened by chance. Do you understand?”
“But-” Charity began. “Well, nevermind. I understand.” Deep down inside, though, she didn’t understand. She just couldn’t fully comprehend her father’s words, because there was something small yet powerful tugging at her young heart…
