Page 5 of The Little Liar

“You want to go out this window?” he announced. “Very well. I will let one of you go. Who should it be?”

He turned his head left and right, considering the haggard faces before him. He stopped on the young woman clutching her baby.

“You. Go.”

The woman’s eyes shot back and forth. She edged toward the opening.

“Wait. First give me your child.”

The woman froze. She pulled the infant closer.

“Did you hear what I said?”

He pointed his gun at her nose and grabbed the baby with his free hand.

“Now you can go. Hurry up. Through the window.”

“No, no, please, please,” the mother stammered. “I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go...”

“I’m giving you the chance to leave. Isn’t that why you destroyed my window grate?”

“Please, no, please,please, my baby, my baby.”

The woman collapsed into the legs of her fellow captives. The officer shook his head.

“What is it with you Jews? You say you want something, then you don’t.”

He sighed. “Well. I said one of you can go. I must keep my word.”

He stepped to the window, and, with a swift swing of his arm, tossed the baby through the opening. As the mother howled and the prisoners trembled, only Sebastian made eye contact with the officer, long enough to see him smile.

His name was Udo Graf.

He is the fourth person in this story.

A Parable

When God was about to create Man, He gathered all the top angels to debate the merits of the idea. Should it happen? Yes or no?

The Angel of Mercy said, “Yes, let Man be created, for he will do merciful deeds.”

The Angel of Righteousness said, “Yes, let Man be created, for he will do righteous acts.”

Only the Angel of Truth disagreed. “No, let Man not be created, for he will be false and tell lies.”

So what did the Lord do? He considered all that was said. Then He cast Truth out of heaven and threw him to the depths of the earth.

***

Well, as your young people say: that hurts.

The story is accurate. How else could I be here, talking to you?

But was I wrong to warn God that Man would be deceitful? Clearly, I was not. Humans lie constantly, especially to their Maker.

Still, the reasons for my heavenly expulsion are hotly debated. Some suggest I was buried beneath the ground to rise when mankind was elevated to its best nature. Others say I was being hidden on purpose, as my virtue is beyond your capacity.

I have my own theory. I believe I was hurled to earth to smash into billions of pieces, each of which finds its way into a human heart.