"I'm not mad at you. I would never get mad at you." I said. She pulled back as I reached to touch her cheek and brought her hand up involuntarily to protect herself. "I won't hurt you little one. I promise...I won't ever hurt you." Searching her eyes I couldn't think of any reason she should believe me. I went back to where Jesse was trying to clean up the little girl with the pitiably inadequate first aid kit we had brought.
"Jess, we need to get these kids back to the house and get them warm and clean. We need some help, some of these kids need real medical attention, way more than we can give them..." She interrupted me. One of the children reached over and touched my leg. She looked frightened. "Don't be mad at us." she said "We're sorry, don't be mad." I looked down at her grimey little face and got a hold on myself.
Her eyes burned with a fire from another world. "I can see it, friend," she said in a soft, high voice "...I can see...It's beautiful." There was awe in her voice. "It will be happily ever after...happily ever after. I see... I see." She started to convulse, her eyes wide open. She shook once, then again. Slowly she began to relax, a strained but beautiful smile transformed her dingy face, then she let out a slow, hissing breath and was quiet.
Jesse and I were stunned. I kept hearing her words over and over in my head as I looked down and watched the light fade slowly from her eyes. "It will be happily ever after...happily ever after." As I settled down beside her, the battered child's eyes fluttered open. Jesse and I sat back in surprise.
No comments:
Post a Comment