How I edit my own work - Plus a story to read too - 5

Edited text

Katherine continued as she always had. She worked hard, studied with diligence, woke early and did everything expected and asked of her. Perhaps because she had known no other way of life, she worked hard in everything and complained about nothing. She did as she was told and questioned little. Katherine settled to her lot in life and accepted it as a foregone conclusion.

By her nature, she was kind and patient and any visitors received a smile and as much as she could spare. On the one occasion that Dominic welcomed a guest to their shack, she attended to both Dominic and his guest’s needs in her usual quiet and humble manner.

Whenever Katherine had time, which was not often, she practiced her own specialised craft - that of invoking visions. When she was young, after her mother had gone, but before the accident, she had been able to see things that others could not. Instinct had prevented her from mentioning the phenomena to anyone before, but as Dominic already knew about them, she discussed her visions with him – or the lack of progress she’d had.

“I used to have such clear visions, vivid images that appeared as though from nowhere. Why can I not see them now?”

“I believe it is the constant pain in your right hand that prevents your visions. It clouds your perception and your concentration lapses after a short time. Even the pain management, the techniques that I taught you do not seem to help. You can go into the trance state almost immediately but you cannot stay focussed. I believe we must remove the source of your distraction.”

“Remove the source…” Katherine wondered what he meant for a moment, before realisation kicked in and she balked. “Oh! You mean to cut off my hand? No! You cannot!” She stepped back from him as though she expected him to try to cut it off there and then. Her left hand up but not touching it, to protect it from him.

“I should not cut it off without your permission, Katherine, please be calm. Remember that we practice, ‘do no harm’ and it applies to all aspects of our lives. Never without your permission would I do that. Believe me.”

Katherine shuddered at the thought but allowed Dominic’s reassurance to worm its way in to her mind. After a while of thinking on what he had said, she began to see merit in his advice. She could not see herself ever being comfortable with the idea of allowing anyone – not even Dominic – to cut off her hand, however. Dominic did not mention it again. He allowed her to come to her own decision – as in all things.

Close to the end of Katherine’s studying, she brought up the subject of the removal of her hand. She was anxious about what would happen to her once she had been separated from the pain and wondered if their religion would penalise her for not being ‘whole’.

If Dominic smiled only on infrequent occasions, she had never heard him laugh, not once. When he did, though he laughed at something she had said, she was surprised and delighted by the sound.

“Katherine, you do have some imagination about you. The Goddess does not practice penalty upon her followers. She is an all-forgiving deity and a slight imperfection would mean nothing to her. There is, however, one way of ensuring your peace of mind in this matter. Once I have removed your hand, we shall preserve it and keep it and you shall be buried with it when you at last pass through the veil into the next world. I promise you that much.”

That promise satisfied Katherine and she became more accepting of the suggestion of the removal of the damaged limb.

She made a decision.

“On the day that you deem I have finished my studies and we become married, I shall accept your help in ridding me of this constant pain. If you promise me that I shall be buried with my hand when I eventually die, then I shall ask you to remove it for me. I put my faith in the Goddess and in you that I shall be able to once again see the visions I had been blessed with before the pain robbed me of the ability to see and learn from them.”