Ezekiel

Laura taps on the screen, her head tilted to the side with a quizzical expression on her face.

Is this thing on? The red light means it’s recording, right?

Alright, well… where do I start?

My surroundings must look familiar, huh? Yep! This is going to be your room! I finished painting it a few days ago, but it took a little while for the fumes to leave. Ezekiel, at the time I’m filming this, you are… about a week away from coming to term. It’s exciting, isn’t it? The concept of life, how it’s ever-changing and evolving, how everything on this planet is put here for a reason. It’s a cycle, they say. If I told your father I thought that way, he’d probably kill me, haha. All ‘god made us this’ and ‘we do this for that!’

Oh, I haven’t even introduced myself! Well… my name is Laura. I’m your mommy! And right now, you’re in my stomach, which in retrospect is kind of odd now that I say that out loud, hah… I guess It’s confusing that I’m even leaving you this tape. You probably have so many questions at the moment, and I wish I could answer them all. If you’re getting this, Auntie Maya has decided that you’re ready. Well- what does that mean? Haha, I should clear that up.

Laura scratches her cheek nervously, her index and middle fingers drumming on her lap.

I asked my friend Maya to give this to you when she believed you were ready to know the truth. Knowing your father, he probably never let you know what happened to me. I… The doctors tell me I’m not going to pull through. It’s my anemia, it’s gotten worse in the past few months, things are getting scarce. And… I’m really sorry, Ezekiel. That’s why I’m leaving you this tape. So you know who mommy was and how much she loves you! Your father was furious when he found out I might not make it… He blamed himself for me being so sickly. It’s not his fault, Ezekiel. The lord does everything for a reason. And if I have to give up my life to have you nourish and grow on this planet, so be it!

You… you’re going to be born into some very confusing things. Ezekiel, I need you to know that the things daddy and the cult do aren’t normal. I think I really wanted to believe that when I was young and dumb, and I first met him. He seemed like such a wonderful man, and I thought he saved me from a lot of things! Then, one day, he started telling me about all of these strange ideas… How he was a prophet sent to do god’s work, how he had ‘visions’ of how the world was supposed to be… He told me of a group he was gathering together. At first, I tried not to mind it. Now I regret my neglect, seeing the awful things it’s led up to.

Killing other humans isn’t normal. Your father might have tried to convince you it is, but it isn’t. Trust me when I say, your father isn’t killing for a mission. He kills because he likes to. I know he’ll try and immerse you in it too, but I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to join his plight of darkness. Don’t try and fight your father, he’ll only see you as an obstacle to get what he wants. I need you to know, Ezekiel. I need you to know that whatever happens, you have to find your own humanity. You’re a miracle, Ezekiel. Don’t you ever forget that. And please don’t let daddy see this. Mommy loves you.