Maraxonia
She was back in the forest. The same dark vines. The same eerie silence. The thorns. The pain. The presence. But this time... just above her, a faint, soft light beamed through the branches. Gentle. Still. Quiet. But there. Her eyes locked onto it. She couldn't move, couldn't reach it. But she *saw* it.
She woke up, her heart pounding, her hands clammy. She sat up, confused, her throat tight.
Why was that light there?
Later that morning, in the kitchen, Claire stood beside Sade, slicing onions. Her mind was still in that dream.
"Aunty," she finally said, voice low, "I had that dream again..."
Sade turned gently, "The same one?"
"Yes... but this time, I saw light. Just a little. Above me."
Before Sade could reply, Tolani walked in, cheerful as usual. "That's God," she said simply, reaching for a cup.
Claire stared at her.
"What?" Claire muttered.
Tolani smiled. "The light. That's God."
Claire turned back to the onions, her chest tightening.
*God?*
*The same God who let her mother die? The one who watched her suffer and did nothing?*
Why would *He* show up in her dream now?
Her thoughts spiraled, and her anger bubbled again. She didn't understand. And she hated that it was bothering her.
**"Claire Ronald was buried - not in the ground, but in pain.
Her mother's death broke her.
Her stepmother's cruelty crushed her.
Day by day, she sank deeper into sadness.
But God saw her.
And when the time was right, He said,
'It's time to rise again.'"**