{"id":258,"date":"2015-11-29T15:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T15:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=258"},"modified":"2015-11-29T15:00:06","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T15:00:06","slug":"the-rape-of-paula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=258","title":{"rendered":"THE RAPE OF PAULA"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE RAPE OF PAULA<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mike Walsh<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPaula,\u201d he sighed as though lost in thought; \u201cShe was born into the most distressing of circumstances and it weighed heavily upon her.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wanted to say something but hesitated. I got the impression the old man didn\u2019t want his train of thought interrupted.\u00a0 Then, as he absent-mindedly poked the fire\u2019s embers my brooding friend found the words he wanted to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill a child, she had never known what it was to have a full stomach, wear a new dress, or to know happiness. They were hard times for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine,\u201d I smiled sympathetically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no self-worth, no dignity to life, and no hope. Her family was heavily in debt. Sure, her parents worked hard. To be honest a plantation slave likely lived a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWas there any improvement in her situation?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes,\u201d the old man brightened up. \u201cSomething happened in Paula\u2019s life that changed everything. At nineteen-years of age she was gifted a brooch; upon it a symbol that changed everything.\u00a0 You know, son, she always wore that brooch and swore it brought her good fortune. From that point on she was transformed into the loveliest and liveliest creature imaginable.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrimming with confidence she owed not a penny to anyone. Paula had a great job and everything to look forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cFan ~ tastic,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n

The old man\u2019s shoulders shrunk. \u201cIt didn\u2019t last, son. Her success brought her enemies, jealous rivals who would do anything to ruin her, to steal what she had earned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d I replied but knew my friend was telling the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cRivals hated her and never missed opportunity to lie about Paula; constantly threatened and tried to harm the young woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must have had a terrible effect on her,\u201d I ventured.<\/p>\n

The old man smiled. \u201cNot really. Why should it?\u00a0 She had much more than they had so how could they harm her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they did?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Paula when 25-years old was ambushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRobbed?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, far worse than that,\u201d my old friend muttered. \u201cPaula was very badly hurt.\u00a0 Her home was attacked and plundered, her family ~ well, who knows what happened to her family?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re serious?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am afraid so.\u201d<\/p>\n

My friend smiled but bitterness tightened his lips. \u201cPaula was repeatedly raped, her clothes torn and shredded, her cupboards were laid bare, and her prospects destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sympathy for her plight must have been overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the contrary, her attackers and their accomplices, even those who hadn\u2019t benefited from her ruination applauded. Her assailants accused Paula of attacking them and claimed she had it coming to her. The poor girl was denied opportunity to defend herself. You know, all these years on and they still celebrate the Rape of Paula.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaula?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, yes, her real name was Germania.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

www.spanglefish.com\/historywithoutthespin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE RAPE OF PAULA Mike Walsh \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cPaula,\u201d he sighed as though lost in thought; \u201cShe was born into the most distressing of circumstances and it weighed heavily upon her.\u201d I wanted to say something but hesitated. I got the impression the old man didn\u2019t want his train of thought interrupted.\u00a0 Then, as he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137,138],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}