Noemi is the French variation of the girl�s name, Naomi. In the Bible in the Book of Ruth, Naomi exchanges her name, which means �sweetness� for Mara � �bitterness�. Mara is an early form of the French name, Marie. Amos� haunting a capella song provided the stimulus for this short story, a possible theory as to how Rogue�s powers were triggered. Rape is a real fear for women. Marie�s reaction is very close to my experience of one of Eve Ensler�s Vagina Monologues, �My Vagina Was My Village�. The person who delivered it was in college when she appeared in the play, younger than I was. I�d never seen her before and I don�t know if I will ever see her again, but she unlocked something in my soul with her incendiary delivery. I was in tears throughout the entire performance. I was that Bosnian woman for those four minutes. I was her mother, her daughter, her sister, the next one in line, the girl in the wrong place at the wrong time, the woman whose date didn�t listen. Nothing will ever equal the power of those moments as I wept for every woman who had ever been raped, who ever will be raped. I didn�t know it, but I cried for 750,000 American women this year alone. Even in the midst of all of this, I still have faith in men. They are magnificent, magical creatures, these Sons of Adam who are born to love us. Raise them well and they will cherish us, as they would have us do unto them. The power is in our hands.

Copyrighted � 2003 Silver Thistle Publishing.