The Beginning

A Chapter by SamanthaDarling

Just as the title says, this is the beginning of Emma's journey.

My name is Emma Grace. On my 14th birthday I had watched my mother die. The person who killed her, was my father. I tried to stop him, but I was so young, so innocent. What i did changed my life forever, and turned me into a monster.

Everyday of my life i had felt as if God had forgotten me. I felt as if he didn’t really love me, but I guess he did, because in the end, he loved me enough to bring me home.

Past

My mother once told me, that our hearts are made of glass. Just like mirrors, if someone were to drop them, they would break; I have come to notice, that the people in this world are not aware of how breakable we really are…

“Mother, why are you crying? Has someone hurt you?” I asked my mother. I was seven years old when i began seeing my mother cry. To my surprise she smiled.

It was a smile full of sadness…

“Yes my child, someone has hurt me, but don’t worry about it my love. God will take care of us, you know he always knows when we are hurting.”

“Yes mama, i know.”

“Well did you know he can feel your pain? And he can feel our hearts breaking? He sees our tears, and he wipes them as he lifts us onto his strong shoulders. Emma, God will protect your fragile heart, he will keep you safe my dear.”

I gave her a hug. But then I was confused, “Mother, if God protects us, then why do people hurt all the time, why do hearts get broken… why would he let that happen?”

“Well, I don’t really know the correct answer, but I think He lets that happen, so that we will become stronger and then we can protect the ones we love. He won’t ever put you through anything he thinks you can’t handle.”

My mother was so smart. She always had a response to my questions.

Emma age 12

“Emma, you should get in your room now.” My big brother Zack had said to me sternly. He sounded scared.

“I want to say goodnight to mother and father, I’ll be in bed soon” I said as I walked towards my parents bedroom. I stopped. I heard yelling. With curiosity in my heart i tip toed over to their door.

Pressing my ear against the cold wood i hear more shouting.

“IF THIS IS SO BAD THEN LEAVE!” My father yelled. I imagined the veins in his neck sticking out as they usually did when he got angry.

“No! Derrick I wont leave. I love you, you are the father of my three beautiful children. We can make this work! Please!” Mother was always so calm and so forgiving. Even to the people who hurt her, and broke her.

I heard a smack, and a thud. The wall shook as if something had been thrown against it.

My father continued to yell and hit my mother.

She was sobbing.

I couldnt take it anymore so I gently knocked on the door. The smacking and yelling became silent. Then the knob turned, and my father was standing there, his belt hanging limp in his hand.

“Mother?” I whispered.

He stepped out of the way and i walked towards their bathroom. My mother was leaning over the sink and blood was dripping from a cut above her eye.

“Are you alright mother?” I whispered as she picked me up and set me on the counter.

“Yes Emma, I’m alright.” She said as she began to brush my tangly brown hair.

“Mother why does he hit you? Doesn’t he love you? Aren’t you supposed to protect the ones you love?..”

“Hmm. Well, yes, but it’s hard to explain dear. I do not know why he hits me. And yes I do believe he loves me, but his heart has been broken. As a young boy, your father was hurt by his mother and granddad, so when he was little he had no one protecting him.”

“I just don’t understand! Mother! So love doesn’t protect anyone? God loves us, and yet he doesn’t protect us. You say father loves us.. and yet he hurts you! Why do these things happen!” I cried.

“Shhh Emma, it’s alright.” She thought a moment before answering. “The way God showed us he loves us, was by sending his baby son Jesus to this pain and sorrow filled world. Jesus felt our pain; he went through things we’ve been through. Don’t forget, he was beaten, spat on, nails were dug into his hands and feet, and he was hung on a cross. No one cared to stop it. Most people did’nt believe he was who he said he was, and others didn’t want to. The point is, we show love by kissing or hugging but God sacrificed his only son. God gave Jesus so that Jesus could die in our place, I don’t know about you but I think that is epic love. In the end he is protecting us. He’s protecting us from judgment day, when we are all judged and the evil is thrown into the pit. He will bring us home, the ones who believe, to live in his protection for eternity.”

That night I laid awake in bed going over everything my mother had told me. Zack came in, and like always crawled into bed with me. He held onto me. We both listened and could here baby Josie making soft breathing noises in the crib next to us.

“Zack, you know how the bible says we all have gaurdian angels?”

He nodded.

“Well I think I was accidentally given two.”

“What do you mean Emma?”

“Well, God gave me mother and you.”

He hugged me tighter and rested his mouth on my forehead. I fell asleep not too long after; I had felt so safe in my angels arms.