Scarlet encounter

Today I met the only righteous man who ever lived. Without a word, he cut me with a thousand memories of careless words, selfish binges, greedy endeavors and heartless acts.

"Walk with me" he said.

I knew that his path came from patience, from faithful duty completed, from honor, from sincerity and truth. I knew that his path led to spotless courage, the kind that knows no shame and makes the world more just and more bright. I also knew from where my own path led. I prayed it was still concealed in darkness.

"How can I follow you?" I said, "I come from a dark path. I am a sinful woman, my heart as dark as my path."

"Follow me" he said. His eyes looked not at my darkness, but at my own eyes. He did not seem to see the shadow I wrapped around me like a shroud.

"But look behind me," I said, "look where I'm from, look what I've done." I tried to make him see.

But as I looked behind me, my jaw nearly dropped. Where once had been shadow, graves and many bridges burned, I saw nothing but red. Crimson red, thick, full, flowing, filling, covering and poured out over everything. The lines and the landscape blurred in Scarlet hues.

I looked back at him. In contrast to the Scarlet behind, he seemed to me white like a sheet, like a tomb, like a porcelain teacup emptied out. The white called out to my shamed and battered spirit like a floodlight, a star on the dim and dusty earth.

"Where are you staying?" I asked him.

"Come and see."