Shattered Rose

PREFACE

Nothing made sense; nothing was in focus. I sat down, hoping to end the crushing pain. I didn't know who I was anymore. Everything I once valued and held true, I had discarded without any regard for the consequences. Numbness stretched over my shaking body, leaving me cold and empty. If only it would reach my mind, consumed still with thoughts of him. Thoughts frozen in permanent rewind, reminding me over and over again of how much I had failed. How did I get here? How did I let the chains get so tight they were crippling every part of my body, dragging me further and further into this pit? I heard screaming in my head, begging for me to let out its fury, but I just sat there, unable to move, trapped in a silent prison of my own making. The truth glared at me, mocking me for denying it for so long. I had become nothing...and he knew it. The bench shifted slightly and a warm hand covered mine. Looking up through my tears, I saw warmth and compassion in the eyes of a stranger. A distant voice became audible, drifting slowly in the air, and penetrated the depth of my heart. "Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."The words rolled around in my head and suddenly, deep down, I felt a spark. I had forgotten the feeling as it had been so long since I'd felt anything other than despair, but it was there...hope, just a glimmer, but hope all the same. "Dear Lord, I may not know who she is yet, but until that day, I pray Your hand never leaves her side. I pray that You sustain her when she is in the transitions of her life and guide her on the path You've chosen for her..."