Eve's Refusal

St. Francis knew it, Bobby McGee learned it, and Andrew Thurston meets the realization head on.

Eve is a nobody – just a dirty, mentally challenged homeless woman who stands on a street corner in her rags and "prophesies." But she knows exactly what she possesses, what most of those who pity her don't have.

Eve refuses to take advantage of the social programs and for a good reason. She refuses to submit to the medical procedure and the progress monitoring, preferring instead to keep what she has.

Eve has an important lesson to teach Andrew Thurston, Director of the Social Equity and Rehabilitation Department, who is determined to help her. And it's a lesson he learns the hard way.

"Eve's Refusal" is a Flannery O'Connor-esque short story of approximately 3,400 words.