She walks to school with a lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holding back;
Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday,
She hides the bruises with the linen and lace;
Oh
The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask,
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask;
Bearing the burden of a secret storm,
Sometimes she wishes she was never born;
Through the wind
And the rain,
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above;
But her dreams
Give her wings
And she flies to a place
Where she's loved
Concrete Angel
Somebody cries in the middle of the night,
The neighbours hear but they turn out their light;
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate,
When morning comes it'll be too late.
Through the wind
And the rain,
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above;
But her dreams
Give her wings and
She flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete Angel
A statue stands in a shaded place,
An angel girl with an upturned face;
Her name is written on a polished rock,
A broken heart that the world forgot
Through the wind
And the rain,
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above;
But her dreams
Give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel
"Hi Lily," I said, as she walked out the front. Lily smiled and waved half-heartedly.
"Hi Aurora," She replied, grasping her lunchbox tighter.
"Did you pack your lunch again?" I asked. She nodded and bit her lip.
"Did you want a lift to school? It's not good to keep walking." I said. Lily shook her head and looked down at the ground.
"I like your dress." I said.
"It's the same one as yesterday." She replied.
"You can wear one of my dresses if you like." I offered. Lily was my best friend and everyone at school judged her. We were only five but we knew it was happening. Lily shook her head again and pulled down her dress sleeve but not before I saw the big purple mark on her shoulder. Another bruise to add to the collection I had seen before.
"See you at school," She whispered, walking off to school by herself.
"Daddy, can I walk to school with Lily one day? I don't like her walking by herself." I said. Dad looked up at me and frowned.
"No, you can ride with me or Mommy. Lily can too, tell her." Dad said. I nodded and hugged him.
Lily and I walked into the classroom together when the bell went and I saw our teacher look at us. Her eyes ran over Lily and I knew she was wondering about this girl. No-one knew what was happening with Lily, not even me. She kept herself so guarded.
"Mommy and Daddy were playing wishes with me, Murphy, and Hunter last night. You wanna know what my wish was?" I asked, sitting down. Lily sat next to me and shrugged.
"What was it?" She asked timidly.
"That you were my sister too. Then you would be happy all the time, my family's the best." I said. Lily nodded and sighed.
"What's a wish that you want?" I asked her.
"I wish I wasn't born sometimes." Lily whispered. I frowned and just pushed it aside.
"Are you coming over for dinner tonight? Mommy and Daddy invited you, just like always." I said. Lily looked up at me and I could see hurt in her eyes.
"Um I might, I'll ask my Mom when I get home." Lily replied. I nodded and we started our work.
"Lily, what are you doing out here sweetheart? Come in before you catch a cold." I heard Mom say that afternoon. I ran to the door and saw Lily standing out in the rain not moving. I ran forward and grabbed her freezing hand with my warm one. I pulled her inside the house and took her up to my bedroom.
"Here you go, you can wear these." I said, giving her a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of track pants.
"Thanks Rory," She said. She dropped her lunchbox and went over to our bathroom. I opened her lunchbox and saw a piece of paper. I opened it and saw a picture she drew of my house. Out the front was my family and Lily was there too. She came back in the room and smiled at me slightly.
"I like it here." She said. I nodded and put the piece of paper back into the lunch box.
"So what, they heard it but they just went back to bed?" I heard Mom say incredulously. It was the next morning and I was wondering where Lily was. She must have gone home.
"Well that seems to be what happened. We were wondering if we could talk to Aurora, she seemed to be Lily's only friend." An unfamiliar voice said.
"She doesn't know yet." Dad said.
"Well, I suggest you go tell her." The voice replied. I opened my door and walked out into the lounge room.
"By the time the emergency services were finally called, which was this morning, there was no way to revive the beautiful five-year-old girl. The little girl that obviously had more troubles than anyone knew, as she was covered in sickly bruises all over her body. At the current moment in time, Police are questioning the neighbours about this unusual case of abuse that no-one knew about. All that is left to say is that if someone had noticed it earlier, maybe Lily Jayne Brennan would still be here on this earth."
Not Lily, not my best friend. No, no, no. She was still alive. I ran to the door and opened it. Out the front of her house were police tape and a lot of police cars and a single ambulance. I watched with big eyes and felt arms lifting me up.
"Lily's really gone?" I asked. Dad nodded and I started crying.
"No, no, no, no!" I cried. I felt wetness on my shoulder and knew Dad was crying too.
"Was there any strange behaviour in the last couple of weeks?" The Police officer asked. I looked up at Mom and she nodded.
"Ever since her Mom started dating her new boyfriend, she started acting strange. She would be standing in their front yard through the wind and the rain. She would just stand there all alone. Damn, I can't believe she's gone she was like a daughter to me." Mom said. The Police officer looked at me and smiled.
"Did she ever tell you any of her dreams?" He asked softly. I nodded and bit my lip.
"She wanted to be my sister and live here. She liked it here; she liked Mommy and Daddy and even Murphy and Hunter." I said. The officer nodded and handed me a piece of paper.
"I think she would have wanted you to have this." He said. I nodded and held it tightly, not wanting to open it.
"I love her Mommy." I whispered.
"I loved her too but now, she's our angel. We will be with her once more, once we're done here on Earth." Mom said. I nodded and walked up to my bedroom.
Eleven Years Later...
On the 11th Anniversary of Lily Jayne Brennan's Death
I walked forward in the cemetery and arrived at the familiar place. There was a statue of a pretty little angel that looked exactly like Lily. My Mom and Dad had paid for this; otherwise there wouldn't have been anything for Lily. No-one from her family stepped forward to pay for her funeral. I bent down in front of her gravestone and ran my hands over the polished rock.
Here lies Lily Jayne Brennan
A beautiful angel, gone way before her time
A beautiful little girl and a wonderful best friend
In our thoughts every day,
We love you.
No-one else except me visited now. I could tell because only my flowers were ever there, and I was here every Sunday afternoon. I took care of this place, especially for Lily. Everyone had forgotten her, but not me. I would always remember my little broken-hearted friend. I would always remember that night, the last night I had ever seen her. I had almost found out. Found out why my best friend would rather have stood through the wind and the rain than go inside. She couldn't have ever risen above that world. Her dreams wouldn't have ever happened, unless we had found out. Now however, she had been given her wings and had flown to a place where she would be loved.
I dropped to my knees and ran my hand over her picture, a tear running down my face. The picture was of the two of us and now I could see how sheltered she was. I could see the pain in her eyes. Yet she had tried for me. She had her arms wrapped around me and her smile... it looked genuine. I stood up and sighed.
"I love you like you're my sister Lily. Now you're just... you're just a concrete angel." I said.
My concrete angel...