Rejoice (Death of a Monster)

          I shall not attend your funeral, as my joy will be uncontainable. I shall stay behind with the smaller children, those too young to understand.
          I shall rejoice in their pure, uncomplicated glee as they dance in winter sunlight. They will loudly proclaim their grief with studiously grave faces, before returning to their games.
          They, to whom sadness is an abstract concept, will rejoice in the simple pleasures of being outside, being a child, being alive. I, who know too much of grief, shall rejoice in their innocence, their purity, their ignorance of pain.
          I shall rejoice as children do when the beast has been bested, and the maiden fair whisked away to safety. I shall thank God and Karma and the Fates for the death of a monster, and for the bright laughter of happy children.
          I shall not mourn for you, nor for myself or the child I once was. I shall rejoice for the children who remain; the wonderful unspoiled children you will never damage.
          I shall turn my face to the white February sky, as a prisoner newly released, and I shall laugh...
          Laugh and rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.