Curup, 2002
Humans are creatures of vast potential, capable of both supreme grace and profound evil. If they choose the path of righteousness, they can become more noble than the angels. But if they fall into darkness, they can sink lower than the beasts.
Beasts, at the very least, have a reason; they lack the capacity for thought and are driven solely by instinct. But what is a human's excuse for malice?
In a modest yet comfortable home lived a single mother and her young son. The boy was a quiet soul, not yet ten years old. He rarely spoke and often spent long stretches staring at the world in silence. His mother, however, was a woman of infinite gentleness and patience. She never complained about her son's peculiar behavior, loving him with every fiber of her being.
Though they lived in simplicity, their home was a sanctuary of warmth. Unfortunately, a beautiful woman living alone often invited "men worse than beasts" to invade.
