Cruelty

Cruelty

Sarah J. Herbison

Cruelty was created when we turned our backs. We gave the monster anything it wanted to stop its cries, so we could enjoy the silence. When the little girl came to us with a scraped knee and a black eye, we rolled our eyes. Children will be children, after all. The creature screamed at a homeless man to get a job, not knowing he had lost his the previous month. It found a home on the web and twisted the truth for the common man.

Cruelty is the beast we create to keep us distant and ignorant, safe even. It has been with us since the dawn of nature. But beware, this monster can turn on any one of us in the blink of an eye.

Imagine yourself sleeping on the cold pavement as a stranger kicks you. Is your job so secure? Or the person in a war-torn country, walls being ripped from you as another bomb falls, dodging bullets on a daily basis. As the woman who hears disgusting things screamed on the street, just for walking home at night. You can either be part of this beast or you can defeat the monster.

First, it appears subtly, in-jokes or passing comments, this is the best time to kill the beast before cruelty grows and takes over.

Kindness can always fight cruelty, but when defeated, the beast always returns for another bite.