The legend of friendship: Never losing faith again

Chapter 20

Meanwhile...

After having that chat with that lady, Annabelle, Madeline left her building and was about ready to call it a night. People need to start believing in God more... She thought. Then suddenly, she heard a child crying. She saw a little boy sitting on the porch of his house sobbing quietly to himself. She walked up to the kid and sat down next to him. "Are you okay, little boy?" Madeline asked softly.

"No..." The boy said. "My baby sister died of cancer. Now I will never see her again!" He sobbed loudly into his hands.

"Shh, shh." Madeline shushed, gently rubbing the boy's back. "What's your name?"

"David..." The boy said.

"Well, David," Madeline said, "you're wrong when you said you will never see your baby sister again. You will, in fact, see her again one day..."

"Not true, wolf. She's in heaven and I probably will never go there..." David said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"What makes you think you won't go to heaven?" Madeline asked gently.

"Well, I am not a Christian." David said. "I only believe in science."

"Science isn't a godly religion, sweetie." Madeline said. "Believing in God is what keeps everything going. To believe in God is to believe in the Holy Spirit himself." David looked down in sadness.

"How can I believe in a God who would take away my sister from me?" He sighed sadly. "I cannot. I refuse to..." Before Madeline could say anything else, David's Mother appeared right behind her with a broom.

"Hey, get out of here!" David's Mother snapped, pushing Madeline away with the broom. "Go on!"

"All I'm doing is chatting with your son, ma'am." Madeline cried.

"Gah!! It talks!" The Mother cried, as she pulled David back into her house. Madeline looked down in sadness. She walked up to the window of the house and lightly tapped on in, getting David's attention. David walked up to the front door and cracked it open.

"Please think about what I said, David." Madeline whispered. "Science is not a being. God is a being and he will always protect you." She walked off as David watched and lightly closed the door.

Madeline was ready to call it a night. She walked into the Inn only to run into the same bartender Arvid chatted with earlier.

"Your friend needs to see the eyes of God, young lady." The bartender said to Madeline. "He seems....................tortured..."

"I noticed.." Madeline said sadly. "Wait, you know that I can talk?"

"Young lady. In days like this, nothing surprises me..." The bartender said. He then walked off as Madeline did as well. She walked up to the door to her and Arvid's room and quietly knocked on it.

"Arvid." She whispered loudly. "Open the door. I'm back." The door slowly opened and Arvid appeared at the door. Arvid had an extremely tortured expression on his face.

"Come in, kid." He said in a quiet voice.

"Is something wrong, Arvid?" Madeline asked, walking past Arvid. "You look more upset than usual."

"Just had what we humans call a flashback..." Arvid sighed, walking up to his bed and laying on it. "My family............ When they were killed, I discovered their bodies propped up like scarecrows..." Madeline jumped back in horror.

"What?!" She cried in complete shock. "That's horrible! I'm terribly sorry, Arvid!"

"It cannot be undone, Madeline..." Arvid said, burying his face in his hands. "I should have saved them...."

"Don't despair, Arvid." Madeline said, climbing onto Arvid's bed and curling up next to him and placing a paw on his shoulder. "You did what you could to protect your family. They know you love them and they love you."

"God, Madeline." Arvid groaned sadly. "You always know how to comfort others when they are down..."

"It's a gift." Madeline smiled. "A gift from God..... Arvid?" Arvid fell asleep. Tired, are we? Madeline thought, giving off a gentle smile. Sleep well, Arvid. Sleep well... She fell asleep, deciding to sleep on Arvid's bed next to him.

Bang, bang, bang!!

"Huh?! What?!" Arvid and Madeline cried, jolting up from bed.

"Madeline? Arvid?" A very familiar voice said from the other side of the door. "We know you're both in there, my children. It's King Ridley and Madeline's Father."