Moses
By L. D. Lewis, first published in Anathema
A traumatized veteran with destructive magical powers struggles to escape the weight of her past crimes—but finds herself pulled in once more.
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As a young girl, Moses discovered that she had magic powers when a boy named Chad bullied her and her sister, Jordan. Moses became infuriated with Chad, and suddenly, he disappeared into ash. Her sister pleading with her, asking what she'd done, but all Moses could focus on was the blood dripping from her nose. Now in her thirties, Moses is a veteran suffering from the trauma of her magic powers. To forget the damage she's done, she self-medicates with drugs. She wakes up on Jordan's couch and they have the same fight about Moses' well-being to no avail. Jordan insists that she just wants her sister to get better; Moses bids her farewell. Moses finds herself at the Blue Moon diner, a place she likes to frequent. While there, she sees a young girl named Cherry roaming around the tables, looking for drugs or sex or other trouble. There are two men there as well, Mike and Bobby, who Cherry is drawn to but Moses knows to be malicious figures who will only do harm to the young girl. Moses pulls Cherry aside and advises her to stay away from the two men. Sitting in her booth, Moses reminisces about an old love of hers, Marcus, who she met during her time at war. There had been a collapse of a structure one day, during which Marcus was pinned down behind the debris. As Moses wailed and cradled Marcus in her arms, her anger caused him to disappear as well, leaving Moses traumatized and getting her discharged from the service. As much as she tried to forget her long-lost love, she could not. At one point, she even tried making her way to Marcus' parents' house but found she could not leave her car. Instead, she turned to drugs to push the bitter memories away. Saddened by her memories, Moses leaves the bar to smoke a cigarette. She sees Cherry, now high or drunk, being guided into a vehicle by Mike and Bobby. Moses moves to protect Mike and Bobby, which begins a fight. The fight culminates in Moses making Mike and Bobby disappear. Because she is passed out, Cherry doesn't see a thing—Moses goes unobserved. Moses climbs into the car, pops a pill, and drives off.
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