Originally written in 2006. The formatting is messed up and I can't fix it without rewriting everything line by line, which I'm not doing.

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In the cold December night, Erik was on a walk since he could not sleep. All

at once he thought he heard a child cry out in the dead of the night.

'Who would be out at this time of night?' He thought to himself. Erik

quickly moved further into the shadows, he did not wish to be seen or

heard, for if he was it would most likely mean his death.

"Hush my little one, we mustn't be heard." The gypsy mother said in a

whisper to her child. For her child was starting to fuss and was unaware of

the dangers that lay ahead.

"If you don¹t keep your child quiet, I will throw it into the river. For

if we are heard we will be slain." A man in the darkness said.

The man had a good point if the guards who were on patrol heard the child

they would be slain. For who would allow gypsies into France? Gypsies were

said to be the Devil's right-hand advocates. Sent to destroy and corrupt the

world with their heathen ways.

"Gypsies" That one word held so much anger and hatred in it for Erik. As

a child, the Gypsies had abused him, used him to make money, and called him

'The Devil's Child'. No, he would not stay here a minute longer, he cared not

about what happened to the Gypsies on the boat. Whatever happened to them they

deserved it. And with that last thought, Eric slipped away into the darkness of

the shadows.

"Why do we have to patrol at this time of night when it's so bloody

cold?" Asked a soldier to his partner.

"So we can catch Gypsies, and burn them at the stake, sending them back

into Hell where they belong. Also did you not hear the Cardinal? He said

that God had sent him a vision of Gypsies sneaking into France at night by

boat."

"'God' You mean more like he paid someone to be his information Wait! Did

you hear that?"

"Yes, it sounded like a child crying, and who would be out on a night

like this in December? One word for you my friend, Gypsies. Let's go have

some fun, shall we?" The men rode off laughing an evil laugh.