Fade (31 page)
Authors: Chad West
Jonas was standing beside Angela, holding her. Lucy had her hands on her knees, breathing hard, watching them from a distance. Her eyes were swelled with tears. Cynthia hesitated, and then trudged through the sand to Lucy’s side. She lifted her free hand out to the girl and waited for Lucy to take it. Together, they made their way over to Jonas and Angela.
***
His head vibrated like a long, loud sound had finally stopped as he stared into the dim afternoon of the desert. Nothing in Jonas would let him believe this was over. It had crawled into his life like a poison ivy and no matter how many strands he had pulled away there had always been another stem crawling into some other part of his life. Then he thought of the girls.
He turned and Angela was behind him, her eyes brimming with tears. He wrapped his arms around her and she whispered low how glad she was to be back. He saw her in his head, that little girl with hair so orange it hurt to look at. He didn’t know how she had survived Aern’s attack on the shelter, but he was grateful to the point that it hurt. He’d seen enough death.
It was no comforting thing to see someone in your charge, someone in the small circle of the deep love you gave away, gone. At least if family were encased in a fine wooden box, mouth sewn into a look of tranquility, eyes appearing to be shut in sleep, there was some thin layer over the reality. But the way he’d seen death, the way most people never saw it, raw with a definite dearth of tranquility—the honest, harsh way life sometimes took itself away from you—there was no good in that. He never wanted that again. Now, and it was difficult to even think it, he might not have to.
No, dressed up or not, death was an inevitability of life. And life was just the fragrant smoke from the head of a struck match. Death was a truth, but he’d learned you couldn’t live in that truth. And that if you went too far down that road without irrevocable hope, you’d find purpose in nothing. Didn’t keep you from feeling it sometimes. Didn’t keep you from being changed by it. But now he had so many reasons to climb out of his pit of despair. Not the least of which was the little girl,
his little girl
, who stood in the sand a few yards away.
He remembered what he told Cynthia about redemption. It was true. What the war had put inside of him, he had unwittingly weaved into his own daughter’s life. Now he had to seek release from
that
so that he could offer that release to Lucy as well. It was her choice, whether she took it, but he had to offer.
He watched Cynthia take Lucy’s hand and walk toward them. He felt Lucy’s arms wrap around his waist and he took her, swelling with peace. After a moment, he looked up and found Cynthia standing a few steps behind, a way home in her hand—their real home. Whenever they were ready. He smiled, more at her than at the scepter. Cynthia’s eyes went from Angela to his and she began to smile. It was weak and tender at first, but it grew as he opened his arms and she let herself be folded into them.
Thank you for reading Fade. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer? Thanks! -Chad West
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chad is the author of
Capes: Six Uncanny Tales
, and the upcoming nonfiction book,
The Lies We Live.
He lives in Florida with his wife, no dog, and far too many comics.
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