Baskadia

Needless to say, pandemonium set in as students ran screaming in all directions. There was some delay before it was discovered that Casey had been hit by the exploding fireworks.

Her cries for help were initially obscured in the din of the other students shouting. The ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital as her class tutor rang Casey’s parents to inform them of what had happened.

Casey remained in hospital for several weeks fighting for her life. She was subsequently moved to a specialist burns unit for treatment of the third degree burns she had sustained in the accident. There followed months and years of treatment and surgeries for skin grafts to the damaged areas of her body.

In time, and with rehabilitation, Casey began to recover both physically and emotionally as she learned to come to terms with her debilitating injury. She had to learn how to write again as her muscle tissue and tendons on her hands had been damaged.

However it was a long road to recover. When she dressed and combed her hair she avoided looking in the mirror as she was unable to cope with the image she saw. Her parents arranged for home schooling as she refused to return to school. She became a recluse in her home and avoided social settings.

One day her parents attended an evangelistic meeting and invited her to attend along with them. She ventured out and enjoyed the meetings. Her parents began having bible studies and Casey joined them.

She loved the bible stories and was uplifted by the promises of a better life in the hereafter. It was the knowledge of God’s love that drew her to keep reading the bible and she felt a happiness that she had never known before. It was a joyous day when they all got baptized together as a family.

Casey began to build her life back and felt at home with her newfound Christian family. She loved the church music and the wonderful hymns and discovered that she had a gift for music.

She learned to play the piano and when the choirmaster asked her to join the choir she was overjoyed as he informed her that she sang very well.

She became one of the regular soloists and was invited to sing in concerts both locally and nationally. It was a new experience for Casey to feel so appreciated and loved by everyone and it did not appear to matter to them that she had a facial disfigurement as a consequence of the skin grafts.

Their acceptance of her boosted her confidence tremendously and soon she began to feel less self-conscious. Knowing also that God loved her just the way she was also lifted her spirits.

When the choir master began to take a special interest in her, both Casey and her parents who trusted this senior church member reciprocated the kindness and they spent time in each other’s home.

So when the choirmaster invited her to spend the weekend with himself and his wife they considered it a kindly Christian gesture and agreed.

However that weekend, the choirmaster’s wife had a women’s meeting to attend and Casey was left at home with the choirmaster.

When he requested that she fetch a vase from the guest bedroom, he sprang into the room and raped her.

Rape? You read that right! See you in the next episode.