A Short Story...

Perhaps I should have posted this story in October since it is more of a Halloween story, but regardless, enjoy! Climb under the covers and get ready for a Spooky tale with a message of grace! Often, Halloween is seen as a dark, evil time, but I believe that our God can bring light even into the darkest moments of our lives...

~Dead Girl~

Bright orange Halloween pumpkins. Gaping sores. Cackling, costumed corpses holding bags full of sweet treasures. It was a familiar scene... especially to me. I lived in a world of death, tombstones, and flesh mangled victims. Inside of me, a darkened fire was taking over. I was deadened and numb emotionally. I could not take it anymore. Tonight with its shivering moon and ghastly gray skies, I would physically become what my insides were. Dead.

I stepped away from the scene of little children dressed as ghosts and goblins toting their sacks. I walked to the next block down and turned a sharp right. The edge of the road became a forest trail. I followed its leading, each step making a quiet, almost gentle noise. I lifted a wisp of brown hair away from my face. My eyes ached from teardrops. Every day I lived, the more emotionally, I died. I was a junior in Jacksonville High and I hated it all. Nobody there would care if I, Kerri Anne Mendill, died tonight in the middle of this forest, with my body rotting in some dank patch of earth. At least then, no one would spit in my face, shove me against my locker, flush my head in the toilet, and laugh at the underwear I wore. No one could taunt or snicker at me, and best of all, I would no longer feel anything... ever.

I came to the edge of the forest, where a gutted out precipice awaited. Below it, I could see the lights of what seemed like a thousand cars speeding by on the highway. They shot by like unbreakable rods of energy. Some guys I knew came here to make-out with their girlfriends occasionally, but no one had ever done what I was going to do here. Just one step, and it would all be over. I inched closer to the rocky edge. I took a deep breath, and put one foot in mid-air and let my body lean forward...

I fell backwards, away from the precipice. Something warm and tiny was wrapped around my arm. I landed on the hard ground with a thud. I spun around to face two wide blue eyes hidden behind the eyeholes of a child's floppy-duck suit, complete with a gaudy orange bill.
"You fall," the little boy said simply, lifting his duck mask from his round, chubby face. Dark curls caressed his head and stuck out in strange places. He looked about eight at the most, but his eyes seemed older, almost calmingly ancient.

"I intended to," I snapped back, feeling weak for not having accomplished my mission.
"Why?"

I only laughed at his innocence. He would know, soon enough. He squatted down beside me as I pulled myself up into a sitting position and held my head to my knees and chokingly tried to continue laughing. Instead, my laughs turned to sobs, deep and lonely. I felt a small hand against my shoulder, gently stroking my thick brown hair.

"I'm lost." His voice trembled. I looked up at him, my vision blurry from the stream of tears. It was not my problem, I told myself. I had come this far. I had to finish.

"Look kid," I said in a harder tone than what I felt, "I am going to die tonight, so leave me be, o.k.? Just go down that trail behind you and you’ll eventually see a road. Turn left and you'll find town."

I stood up and walked to the edge again, staring down at the stretch of car lights below. I sensed that the little boy was still there. I did not want him to see me. I had to be alone.

"Scram," I told him, turning towards him. He just walked closer to me and peered down at the traffic below.

"Are you scared?"

"No, of course not," I lied.

"My name is Ryan."

I felt impatient. I had to hurry before my resolve left. He was an unwanted delay.
"And your name is the Dead Girl, right?"

I did not answer him. His words were nothing more than childish babble.

"Why do you want to die?"

"It's too complicated to explain."

His eyes searched my face, then wandered up into the night sky. After an unnerving moment passed, he softly whispered, "I think I know."

"Know what?" I retorted, glaring at him.

"See that star?"

I nodded, looking up at the only sparkle the cloudy sky had in its rather barren crown.
"The darkness wants to kill that star."

At first, his words seemed ludicrous, but then I began to see what he meant. The gray, wispy clouds did seem to be trying to choke out the little star's glimmer.

"But the star is beautiful," he continued while bending down to tie his tennis shoe underneath his floppy duck feet.

"It doesn't think so," I replied softly, feeling a sort of oneness with the lonesome halo of light in the endless, deadened sea above my head.

"That's because it can't see what it looks like from here. It doesn't realize that it is special because it is different. It still has a purpose." He finished tying his shoe and then stood up as tall as his three-foot frame allowed, and looked me straight in the eye. "If that star gave up, the clouds would win, and nothing else would dare to stand against the darkness. But because of its courage... see what has happened." He motioned me to look back at the sky.

I did, and amazingly, there was now countless gleams staring solemnly back at me. Some seemed shy, and some bold and brilliant, but all lit the sky like sparkles on the outside of a Christmas ornament. I felt awed by their presence, and their simple beauty. My eyes searched for the first star, and finally found it surrounded by a half circlet of other winking glimmers.
"You are a light, Kerri. And nothing can steal that from you, unless you give it away."

How did he know my name? And why is this little kid suddenly turning into some sort of philosopher? I slowly turned my eyes away from the sky's mesmerizing display. My little companion was not there. I spun around, but no floppy duck costumed little boy was in sight. I began to panic. What if he had fallen off the precipice? I scrambled onto my knees and peered over. The traffic below made me feel nauseous to watch. But no limp body lay upon the ragged edges of the precipice. I yelled Ryan's name, but only a faint echo responded. I jumped back onto my feet and ran back into the woods. I ran along the path, pushing brush out of my face while calling for him.

As I neared the road I had traveled earlier, I stopped in dismay. I must be going crazy, I thought. A small sniffle- like a kitten's meow- reached my ears. The night was turning bitterly cold and I felt a shudder pass through me. I followed the sound to some bushes where something was curled up underneath. A little girl, no older than four, was huddled up, wearing only a thin white costume with angel's wings attached to the back. Her face seemed a delicate shade of blue and she quivered from the wind. I took off my weather-beaten jacket and draped it over the tiny body. I then gently pulled her out and lifted her into my arms. She only whimpered slightly but did not resist. I stood up with ease, the fragile girl in my arms seemed almost weightless.

I walked as fast as I could back to town, where a squad of police cars, concerned viewers, and a frantic woman was gathered. As soon as I came within a few feet of the group, the woman looked over at me and nearly screamed with joy. She ran straight to me and lovingly scooped up the sleepy blonde-haired girl. Tears were streaming down the woman's face as she tightly held the tiny being close to her. Several officers came to the woman's side as well as what appeared to be family members. I answered a few questions and was about to turn away when I heard the woman say something while stroking her little girl's baby soft curls. She was softly crying,

"Thank God, O thank God! My Star is safe..."

I felt a smile cross my face. I had not felt this kind of joy in a long, long time. I turned away and disappeared into the night's deep shadows. But before I started home, I glanced up into the sky. One lonely star winked back at me.

Revelation 22:16a I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.