A feather-soft kiss she places on my forehead and I know that I am forgiven for my sins. We all are. Those that were killed and those that killed mingle with warm hugs and reassuring smiles. Our clothes no longer wear the stains of our actions. It is as if it was all a bad dream. A dream that we are all waking up from now with each new child that appears and is forgiven by whom they harmed.
The bell rings its three sharp tones, bringing the day back to order and my friends turn, waiting on me to join them.
“What is my brave girl waiting on?” Miss Lacey asks me with her heart-soaring smile.
“I’m afraid.” My voice is tender with my fears and shame.
“What is there to be afraid of?” Her smile continues, earning my trust to confide with her.
“The monsters,” I whisper it, knowing the secret shame the words hide.
“There are no more monsters, Margaret. There will never be any more monsters here. Just us. Just your friends. Forever.” I smile at her words and the relief it causes deep inside me.
With a skip, I rush to join my friends in our new world. A world where we are surrounded by friendships and laughter. Laughter that will now echo off of pastel teal and purple empty halls that will soon decay with the lack of life another world has now.
Swings will swing as if by a breeze but it will be us. Tiny footsteps will roam the shadows in games of tag and hide and seek and it will be us. Nursery rhymes will be chanted with the clacking of a rope on the cold floor, and it will be us.
Doors will open, laughter will be heard, and it will always be us, safe in a world of our making. Horrors will wait for those that come now, but not for us. We are free. We have escaped. We were never the monsters. We were just children and children we will forever now be.
Additional titles by Marie F Crow:
The Risen: Dawning - Available now
The Risen: Courage - Fall 2013
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
The Risen (Book 2): Margaret Page 7
