Fields of Heaven

Prologue

At first there was no pain. After the crunching noise had ceased and the air returned to her lungs, Madison opened her eyes to the scene. She could see the back of her Mama's head, hanging to one side as if she were trying to shake water from her ear; she had done that a few summers ago when they went to the beach-"I've got guppies in my ear," she said, "I've got guppies swimming around in my brain!"

Mama always said weird things just to see her laugh, and oh how she laughed! They made fish faces with their lips pouting and they flapped their arms like seagulls; who knows what kind of creature they were. All they knew was the shining sun, toasting their skin like wheat bread and the sand, hiding itself in their toes.

But something was wrong. Mama wasn't batting her long lashes and making fish noises. She wasn't smiling that crooked toothy smile or talking about Daddy or Tito Jackson, their pet retriever.

Mama. Mama, wake up please? I'm scared and it's dark.

And that is when it hit her. Madison tried to move her head and she realized that she couldn't. In fact, she felt completely, and totally, upside down.

Then there was pain.

She tried once again to call out to her mama, but her voice would not project. There was a croak, and more pain, and then a funny taste filled her mouth. It reminded her of the taste that she got when she accidently sucked on a Double A battery; it tasted like metal, not cool, but warm.

Mama. Mama, its dark and I feel wet and my head hurts. Why can't you hear me Mama?

Madison tried to move her arms, but realized that they were trapped under a large piece of metal. Something was wrong.

She remembered being woken up that night, long after her daddy put her to bed. He read to her, Green Eggs and Ham, her favorite story book and then kissed her full on the lips, "night angel, don't let those bed bugs bite." She chucked, pulling the blanket over her eyes. She planned on being tucked in tight.

Then there was screaming.

Mama was screaming at the top of her lungs about something called an affair. She called daddy a loser and a deadbeat. She said other bad words that Madison wouldn't dare repeat, but she knew that they were meant to hurt him. She didn't hear daddy's voice at all. She guessed he'd left the room but when she went to peek through the crack in the door she saw them both standing beyond the dark hall way in the living room. Daddy had his face buried in his hands and Mama towered over him like one of those totem poles that she saw at the museum. Mama was an open flame; her face a combination of reds and oranges that seemed to get darker as her voiced rose with her anger.

"Mama, mama, please stop yelling at daddy!' Little Madison yelled. She sprinted across the hall and threw her small body over her daddy's shoulders.

"Madison, we're leaving!" Mama grabbed her left wrist and pulled her hard leaving an uncomfortable space between them. She could still feel the warmth of his body and smell the scent of his aftershave-wintergreen. That's when daddy picked his head up; in his brown eyes his flamed challenged Mama's.

"You won't take my little girl. We will have to work this out, but you will not take my little girl!"