Title: Hope
Summary:Bethany has lost all hope that she will ever be a surfer again and doesn't know how to deal. On a last resort to find some comfort, she goes to someone unexpected.
Written by: tr1xx777
" Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. That's one of my favorite verses from Philippians 4:6." Sarah Hill, the youth group minister said as she read from the Holy Bible. "Does anyone want to try and explain what it means?"
Bethany Hamilton tuned out as she stared down at he lap. Her right hand lay on her knee as she traced a scar she got when she crashed her surfboard into some rocks when she was eleven.
Bethany wasn't really paying attention to the scar though, she was just thinking of how if she hadn't gone surfing that day, then maybe she wouldn't have lost her arm. Maybe she would actually be listening during bible study instead of trying to overcome the horror of losing her left arm to a shark attack.
"Bethany?"
The blondes head snapped up to see everyone's eyes staring at her. "Uh, I'm sorry I must have gone blank for a second there."
Sarah nodded with understanding and a flash of sympathy shone in her brown eyes. "It's fine. If you need to take a minute to clear your head...?"
Bethany nodded, "I'll be back in a minute." she excused herself and quickly rushed out of the crowded room. Once she was outside, Bethany took off running down the beach and into the water before collapsing, waist deep in a pile of sobs.
Bethany didn't know how long she stayed there, how long she let the clear tears flow down her face and landing into the endless ocean.
"I'm sorry for all the pain you're going through."
Bethany jumped and looked behind her to see a young girl, about seven or eight, wearing a white dress and bare feet. Her dark brown hair fell to her mid back and her nearly black eyes were wide with understanding.
The girl would grow up to be as gorgeous as a supermodel if it weren't for the long white scars littered across her tan face. The scars continued to her neck where they disappeared under her flowing dress.
"Everyone says that but nobody knows how I feel!" Bethany sobbed. She knew that she sounded selfish but she couldn't help it. "I feel like my entire world is collapsing and I can't do anything!"
The brunette girl didn't say anything and just curled up next to Bethany as the teen spoke, "I feel like I'm drowning and no matter-"
"no matter how hard you try, you can't get back to the surface." the girl finished. "You feel like you're stuck in a straight jacket and the key was thrown into the ocean."
"How do you know?" Bethany sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"My cousins took me tubing and the rope got caught in the motor. They jumped off but I got pulled into the propeller and-" she motioned to her face.
Bethany couldn't get over how mature the girl sounded, especially for being so young.
"Everyday, people would stare and point. One boy at school even told me I wouldn't need a mask for Halloween anymore." the Hawaiin native said sadly and her eyes filled with tears.
"How did you cope?" Bethany whispered. "I feel like everyone is moving on while I'm stuck here. I feel like even God has abandoned me."
The little girl shook her head. "God hasn't abandoned you. He's the one soul in this universe who won't give up on you. He was how I coped, I turned to him for support."
"But how can I do that when I feel like he's given up on me?" Bethany whimpered softly.
"Ask him for strength to get through this. Have faith in him; he knows what he's doing." the girl smiled comfortingly, there was so much wisdom behind her words like she truly knew the secrets of the world. "Think of Jeremiah 29:11."
Bethany but her lip as she tried to remember the scripture. She closed her eyes as she sorted through the chapters and verses but she just couldn't remember that verse.
"I can't rem-" Bethany frowned as she looked around to see she was alone. The girl was gone, leaving no evidence that she had been there at all. But her words lingered in Bethany's mind as the blonde stood and starting walking out of the water.
Bethany looked to the church to see everyone was filing out. The blonde waved to Sarah and smiled reassuringly to tell her that she was fine and just needed time to sort her mind out.
It felt like a weight had been lifted off Bethany's slim shoulders as she started walking back home. Her faith was restored in Jesus all because of one little girl who she hadn't gotten the name of.
Bethany tapped her fingers on her right hand against her desk as she waited for the Internet to load. She couldn't get the little girl out of her mind and Bethany thought that maybe good old Google could give he some answers.
[girl pulled into propeller] Bethany typed into the search engine. A news report for five years ago came up and she clicked on it.
'Yesterday morning, Layla Keinkers, was pulled inher the propellers of her families motor boat when she went tubing with her cousins. Everyone else managed to jump off before they were pulled in as well but frozen in fear, seven year old Layla, was pulled in and killed before she could get to safety.'
Bethany gasped in shock as she read and re-read the paragraph over and over. This couldn't be right. Bethany had just seen Layla less than an hour ago!
'Layla was severely bullied at school and came home crying nearly every day. Her mother, Sandy Keinkers, recalls the time she had to keep Layla home for an entire week after a boy told Layla 'that she was so ugly, she wouldn't need a Halloween mask this year.'
'"Layla didn't deserve the abuse and she certainly didn't deserve the way her life ended so abruptly." Sandy mourns for her only child. "She didn't do anything wrong! She prayed every night before bed, just asking for a better life."'
'We will all pray for Layla up in Heaven, and we know she's watching over us. Rest in Peace, Layla Keinkers.'
Bethany was frozen by the times she finished the article. At the bottom of the computer screen was a single paragraph that to many meant nothing, but everything to Bethany.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans for you," declares The Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."