The New Light of Hope Book III: Enemies From Beneath.

Chapter VII: Another Busy Independence Day Holiday.

Warning!

This chapter will contain the following:

- Topics of cancer.
- Topics of death.

Readers discretion is advised.

Summer:

Date: July 7, 2019; Lucella's Independence Day.

Another day had passed by as usual and everything was going smoothly in the Stream Echoes Division that day, though, it was no ordinary day; it was the day our country celebrated the day we declared independence. That day, I was helping DuskHeart and GrayShine out in the Den of the Healer's until Gorse –one of the newest apprentices– came into the camp with a fresh new scar on his left eye followed by RobinPelt and MinnowHeart. "What happened?" GrayShine asked them with concern. Gorse managed to meet his older sister's gaze and replied to her by saying: "We were with our trainers when a small patrol of rogues that was being led by the Shade Hunters Division's former healer, SunPelt, who is now a Fighting Captain for the Withered Souls Division had attacked us while we were out. We managed to fight them off with only a few injuries being made to me, BubbleFur, and MinnowHeart, nothing too severe or life-threatening."

DuskHeart: "Well, it's better to be safe than sorry. Now let's take a look at your wounds and see what we're dealing with here."

They let her examine their wounds before her and GrayShine grabbed a little bit of moss and garlic to apply to them. "That'll do." DuskHeart said when they finished. "Just take it easy while helping around the Division today, okay?"

MinnowHeart: "Got it. We'll be careful, don't worry."

The three then left the den and went on about their day. Once I had finished up in the Den of the Healer's, GrayShine and I left to head to the Nursery and see how MothHeart was doing. MothHeart had recently given birth to BubbleFur's pups; Rain and Echo, and both she-pups were born so weak and fragile we thought that they wouldn't pull through and survive a week or two.
We went inside to see her pups sleeping near her belly as she looked up at us. "Come in." She said calmly. We both went inside and me and GrayShine began to examine the pups. "How is everyone feeling?" GrayShine asked her. "Well, Rain and Echo managed to nurse and once they got their little bellies full, they went right to sleep." MothHeart replied.

GrayShine: "Excellent."

Summer: "Good to know."

GrayShine: "But we will have to check their faces to see if there's any goop or crust around their eyes or dried up snot coming from their noses."

MothHeart: "Be careful with them and don't drop them either, Summer."

Summer: "I won't, trust me."

She was protective of her pups like every mother would be. She at first thought I was going to bring harm to them, but I later showed her that I was careful with them.
GrayShine and I gently grabbed them to look at them to check if they had anything around their eyes or anything coming out of their noses. Thankfully, there was nothing in their faces and they were good. We placed them right next to MothHeart's belly. "Their faces are clean." GrayShine told her. "But we will keeping checking on them every day to see how they're doing."

MothHeart: "Okay, thank you."

Summer: "Anytime."

We then left the den and I went to see what else I could help out with while GrayShine went back to report to DuskHeart about MothHeart and her pups. But then a thought came to me and I went back to the Nursery to talk to MothHeart. "Yes, Summer, can I help you?" MothHeart asked me.

"I came to warn you that today is Lucella's Independence Day is today and you might hear fireworks being set off tonight." I told her. "I'm giving you a little heads-up about it so that way you'll know. I'll actually go warn Chief TimberHeart next  after this. I just don't want anything bad happening to any of y'all is all."

MothHeart: "It's all right, no one is judging you here. Thank you for the warning."

Summer: "You're welcome. Well, anyway, I'm going to leave to let you rest while I go warn Chief TimberHeart about it."

MothHeart: "All right."

I then left to warn Chief TimberHeart about what was going to happen that same night so that way he would know what was going to happen that night and then I gave the heads-up to the rest of the Division as well.

When we went home that day, I headed straight to the Silverville National Resting Place of Military Veterans –the place where my father was buried when he passed– every Father's Day, every Independence Day, every holiday, and every military related holiday, I would visit his grave and just talk to him what had happened recently –my father had diagnosed with Stage Four Stomach cancer in 2014 and he tried his very best to fight back against it via chemotherapy and praying, but it still worsened no matter how hard he tried to fight back against it. During all of this, he made plans to spend time all of us as there was no telling when he would pass on. The last time I spoke to him was on Monday, August 3, 2015, at around 9:01 P.M. the night before he had died and I hung up the phone after saying, "I love you." To him for the last time. Then, at around 1:43 A.M. on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, I called I call from my mother informing me that Father was dead because Autumn called her and told her the news as she was there when he passed. And after hearing the news, I was not the same person I was before; when my father died, it shattered me and I went on a neverending journey to bring my old self back home again. I never comfortable with visiting his grave when during the first few months prior to his death

By that point, my brothers, Philip and Adam, my sister, Autumn, along with my in-laws and nieces and nephews and the rest of our family had already visited him and now it was my turn to visit.

Once I got there, I had found the tombstone which read:

"Gen. David Maxwell Smith II"
"Lucella Army National Guard and Service"
"Nov 17, 1948 – Aug 4, 2015"
"Loving son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather"

I got to my knees and sat down to face the grave. "Father, I have come to speak to you about what has happened over the past month now." I began.
I spoke to him about what happened during June; I told him about the hardship in the Southwest Forest and the fate of the Southwest and journey to the Northeast, and the animals that had been killed that same month as a result of saving them from their own death.