Nina Is Not a Thief

I, Nina Conner, was sent flying ten feet after being hit by a car. Every bone in my body felt shattered, and the pain was unbearable.

It was a dark and rainy night. The streetlights cast only a dim glow. The driver thought he had hit a stray dog. He rolled down the window, cursed his bad luck, and drove off.

My body grew colder and colder, but I didn't want to die.

I retrieved my phone and called my mother, Mary Conner. The moment she answered, she spoke first.

"You stole the class fund and refused to admit it. Now you even have the nerve to run away from home!"

I endured the pain and replied, "Mom, I was hit by a car. Please, come save me."

There was silence on the other end for several seconds. She then laughed.

"Such a liar. I bet you stole the class fund and ran away because you were too scared to come home. You stole the life Jaslyn should have had. You should have died a long time ago."

The moment she finished speaking, all I could hear was the beeping of the disconnected call.

The torrential rain came pouring down, pounding against my body again and again.

At that instant, I seemed to lose all my strength. I couldn't even be bothered to call an ambulance.

Two years ago, Jaslyn Conner and I were trapped in a fire.

The flames were too intense, and the firefighters said they could only save one of us.

Mom chose me because I was closer to the door.

She told me, "Nina, Jaslyn gave you this life."

A few days later, the investigation into the cause of the fire was completed.

The gold jewelry that should have been in the neighbor's bedroom was found in their living room. There were also signs that the door lock had been forced open.

Everyone concluded that my sister and I had broken into the neighbor's house to steal, only to run into an electrical fire caused by old wiring. That was what resulted in the tragedy.

That same day, Mom grabbed me by the hair and made me kneel before Jaslyn's portrait. She beat my back mercilessly with a stick.

"Jaslyn was academically gifted. She's been obedient from the time she was little. How could she possibly steal anything?

"You're the thief! You're the one who got Jaslyn killed! Why didn't you die instead?"

I tried to explain, but Mom had already decided that I was the culprit.

She wasn't wrong about one thing. When there were only two choices, if I hadn't been there, perhaps Jaslyn would have been the one who survived.

She had been burned alive. I bet it was painful.

Thinking about it, I stopped talking and simply let Mom vent her anger.

From that day on, I was never given enough to eat or warm enough clothes to wear.

Mom always said, "Jaslyn was starving before she died. You should go hungry too.

"Jaslyn is probably freezing six feet under. Why should you wear such warm clothes?

"You stole her life, so you'd better atone for your sins."

That atonement lasted two whole years.

Finally, while I lay in a pool of blood today, my punishment had come to an end.

Mom would never hit me again.

I bet she was satisfied now.

As I closed my eyes, I felt a sense of relief unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Only one final thought remained.

'If only Jaslyn had been the one they saved back then.'

Perhaps God thought my sins had not yet been paid for and refused to let me off the hook.

My soul drifted out of my body. Under the moonlight, I saw myself lying on the ground. My body was nearly crushed into a bloody mess.

My limbs were twisted at unnatural angles, and my face was swollen beyond recognition.

No wonder the driver had mistaken me for a stray dog.