Probably not at all what the submitter was expecting, but this one comes from Carolyn Bahm.

Title: The Withered Heart
Word: Simmering

200 words of divine wrath from the distant future.

The dirt crunches under the adjudicar’s boot. It is a good sign. The atomic blasts had fused the silica in the ground into glass. Those in the blast area without shelter would have died instantly. Those with shelter will die slowly, poisoned by radiation.

An atomic brand is the price paid by any who would dare refuse their tithe to Humanity Above.

A tug on the robes over his environment suit turns the adjudicar. A small child, head thick with brown curls stares up at him, clutching a small stuffed doll to its chest.

The adjudicator kneels down, and speaks comfort to the child. He runs a gloved hand over its head. Clumps of curls come way.

The radiation has taken its toll. This child is walking dead, its insides silently simmering. The adjudicator turns back toward his shuttle, taking pride in the work of his order.

For these people, a dozen generations trapped on this scourged planet will be a fitting penance. And when their time is up, the Angels of Humanity Above will descend again, to deliver them from their hell. Such is the nature of his order, to come offering salvation or armed with a flaming sword.

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