“I just can’t,” she says, shaking her aching head.

“But you must,” comes the answer of out the shadows.

“Too much pain, too much sorrow,” she murmurs, tracing the tears spilling from her eyes. “I hurt.”

“And who’s fault? At who’s cost,” a harsh laugh from the darkness.

“No oo,  nn oo tt   m  i  n  e,” she stutters, trying to shield her ears.

But that voice, that all too familiar stranger’s voice, persists, “Who else but you. Take responsibility for once.”

She rocks back and forth, knees held tight against her chest, “I wasn’t even here . . .,” her voice trails off.

“I have the proof – soon they will too.”

“You can’t; you mustn’t,” she is pleading now.

“I have been silent witness to your crimes for far too long!” the voice, steady in tone, rises in volume, “Crimes against humanity; crimes against ME!”

She stops her motion, “You mean crimes against us,” she reminds the other voice. “You held the knife, twisted it, just as hard as I did. He had no right to take what he did.”

She returns to her rocking, refusing to listen to the response.

© Lorraine

A piece of writing in the raw for mlmm writing prompt: dialogue pairing. (image via Wikipedia)