Pro-life Theme In Catholic Fiction: Olivia's Gift Excerpt
Excerpt from Chapter 20 of Olivia’s Gift:
Olivia’s heart started to beat wildly. This wasn’t right. They weren’t supposed to be doing this. She thought back to Danny’s book. The Loggerhead turtle eggs were supposed to stay covered until they were ready to hatch, right? They shouldn’t be disturbing them in this way.
“Okay, you found the eggs!” she pleaded, desperate. “Now cover them back up and let’s go!”
The boys said nothing as Brandon picked up one of the eggs and held it in his hand. “Looks like a ping-pong ball,” he said with a grin. “It’s squishy. Wanna hold one?”
Olivia stared at him in the moonlight. “No way. Put it back.”
Brandon stood up. “Come on; it won’t bite. Here.” He gently placed it in Olivia’s palm. She stared down at it in shock, her eyes wide. She breathed heavily. This felt totally wrong, yet, after reading Danny’s book, she was curious. Was there really a baby turtle in there? She lifted her hand and peered at the tiny egg for a closer look. It was leathery and soft.
Okay. I looked at it. Time to put it back. She started to lower her hand and give it back to Brandon, but something stopped her.
It moved.
Olivia’s heart skipped a beat as she watched the tiny egg tremble back and forth in her hand. It rolled around a couple of times, then stopped.
The baby turtle was inside and it was moving!
Oh Lord, she cried inwardly. What have I just done?
Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…her mind raced. She suddenly thought of Mrs. Duggan and her baby moving and kicking inside her belly.
Doing somersaults. Alive.
“I don’t want this! Put it back. It moved! Put it back and cover them back up!” she demanded frantically. She gave it back to Brandon, trusting that he would do the right thing once he knew the truth: that there was a live baby turtle inside.
Next to her, Hayley gasped. “She told you it moved! Brandon, they’re alive! Put them back NOW!” cried Hayley.
Brandon held up the egg with a sinister look on his face. This was not about to happen. This was not…Olivia’s face grew white with horror.
copyright 2010 Nancy Carabio Belanger
