“It wasyou, Sara. He would have taken David and I would never have seen him again. You know it. I know it. But you asked him to let me in. You could see how much I needed to stay with my brother.” Bastian reached out as if to touch me. As if physical contact would drive his point home. I dodged his grasp. I stumbled backwards, throwing up my hands as if fending off an attack.
“You need to stop talking like this. We live quietly here. With one purpose. You can’t come here messing with that purpose.” I sounded panicked.
“I’m trying to understandwhatyou’re doing here. Whatall of youare doing here. I just thought there was more to you than the rest of them. That you could seemore—”
“Please,stop.” It came out as a plea. A desperate appeal for him to keep his thoughts to himself.
Bastian’s mouth twisted as if in pain. Then he nodded. He stared at me for a long second. His blue eyes so, so sad. Then, without saying another word, he left me alone in the shed.
Left me alone with his words ringing in my ears. Drilling holes in my head with their insidious intent.
The world isn’t all bad…
There’s so much good…
It was all lies.
It had to be.
Maybe you need to ask yourself what it is that you don’t want the rest of the world to see...
The sun was finally shining. It had rained for the last four days. The Sun’s Morning Blessing had been soggy and downright miserable. Daily Devotional had been moved to the Sun Sanctuary, which provided barely enough room for everyone.
We had been forced to spend a lot of time in our individual houses, praying alone instead of all together. Everyone was experiencing some level of cabin fever.
So when the sun decided to show its face, I gathered up the children and herded them into the forest for Bible study.
“Where are we going?” Dakota asked, trailing behind Anne and me.
“We’ve all been inside for days. What better way to celebrate God’s word than being amongst his creations,” I explained.
“Can we slow down? My feet are tired,” Rosie complained, her tiny legs struggling to move fast enough.
Anne stopped, crouching down. “Hop on, then,” she told the small girl.
Rosie’s eyes lit up before climbing up on Anne’s back.
“She should walk by herself, we all have to learn to—” I closed my mouth, irritated by the sanctimonious words. Instead, I waved them on and Anne took off through the trees, Rosie squealing with delight.
“Hey, what about us?” BB Nolan whined.
I laughed. “Sorry, BB, but I think you might be too big to climb on my back.” BB was a big ten-year-old and almost as tall as I was. There was no way he was getting a piggy back ride.
He and the other kids tried not to pout, but I saw their disappointment. I put my arm around BB’s already broad shoulders. “You can read the first scripture if you’d like,” I offered. It was a meagre gesture but it seemed to mollify him.
BB, Dakota, and the others followed me through the woods silently, as they had been taught to do. The only noise came from the crunch of leaves beneath their feet. I wished I could do something more for them. Something to make them smile. But my mind came up blank.
“Come on, then,” I called out. “Let’s catch up!” I started to jog, waiting for them. The kids seemed confused. I gestured excitedly with my hands. “Rosie will get the best seat if we don’t hurry!”
Dakota and BB shared a look. Then a smile. It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen. It filled my heavy heart. Then we were all running, the sound of their laughter like music.
Anne and Rosie were already in the clearing when we arrived. Dakota, BB, and the others collided as we came to a stop. My smile slipped slightly when I saw Bastian sitting beside Rosie on a fallen log, looking at something intently that the little girl held in her palm. He was nodding, taking whatever she was saying very seriously.
I hadn’t spoken to Bastian since the day in the garden. It had been a long few days stewing over his words.
His accusations.
I didn’t like how they sat in my gut.
