The Road Home
Chapter 5
Author's Note: I really hate to start this way, and I hope I don't step on any toes or turn any readers away, but I have to do this. I have been in a quandary about this fic for some time, since the reviews started coming in after the last chapter. A lot of readers questioned Ruthie's behavior, when she chose to get in the car with a stranger flashing a wad of money. I alternate between ignoring the reviews and forging ahead and scrapping the story altogether.
I have decided to go ahead with the next chapter and see what kin of response it gets. You see, grief is a wicked thing, because of the event that causes it, and because of the things grief does to a person. I dare say everyone reading this has said or done something, sometime, that was completely 'out of character', grief induced or not. In Ruthie's case, her grief, her fear of the future, and her sense of overwhelming loss has left a void in her that affected her in ways she can't even begin to understand.
At this point, dear reader, you have two choices. I hope you will stick with me and see this story through. Or you can scroll up, hit the back button or the X to take yourself out of this story. If you do that, you will miss out on a great story, because I have a lot of big plans...So please give it a chance. I'll do my best to make sure you're not sorry...
And now, drum roll please, time for the commencement of the story, The Road Home, chapter 5...
(Lucy)
I sent Simon to the airport to pick up The Colonel, Grandma Ruth, Grandpa, and Ginger because it gave him something to do, something to keep his mind off Mom and Dad and Ruthie. I told him not to say anything about Ruthie if he could help it, and we prayed that she would be home before he got back. She had to come back, she simply had to com home. Today. I had just lost my mother and my father, I couldn't bear to lose my little sister too, not like this.
Thank God for Kevin. I wouldn't have made it through the night without him. He was like my rock, my tower to lean on. I needed him to help me keep my head above water because it would have so easy to let go, to give up, to drown in the sea of grief and pain.
We slept on the sofa, his arms around me, with Simon and Happy curled up in the char across from us. I'm not sure any o us really slept, but we took some comfort from being together. At least I did. I felt safe in Kevin's arms, and I prayed my baby sister felt safe wherever she was.
I think we all believed we would find her tucked up in her bed, and she was never really gone. Or if she left, if she thought she had to get out for whatever reason, she would have come home. She just had to. She was too young to b out there on her own, all alone...She had to come home...
I kept myself busy with the twins after Simon left for the airport. Sam and David didn't seem to care that Mom and Dad were gone. They laughed and played and sang their silly little songs as if nothing was wrong.
"You be the daddy," David told Sam. "I be the mama." He beat on his chest like Tarzan.
"I can be the mama!" Sam argued and mirrored David's chest beating.
David shook his head. "I mama. You daddy. You go church." He pointed at the door.
"I want be the mama!" Sam yelled.
I walked away, left them to play in their room alone. I couldn't listen to them anymore, with their child-like innocence. They had no idea Mom and Dad were gone forever, even though I had told them they went up to heaven.
I wanted to be a kid again, innocent like Sam and David, and because if I was a kid Mom and Dad would still be alive and they would have several years to live. Why did they, two beautiful God-loving people, have to die? It wasn't fair.
The front door opened and I rushed to the stairs hoping it would be Ruthie. "Ruthie?" I called out her name.
"No, it's just me," Mary's voice called.
I ran down the steps to see her. Tears welled in my eyes and slipped down my cheeks. I never thought I would be so happy to see Mary again. But she was there, whole and alive and warm. I hugged her, held on to her, cried into she shoulder.
Robbie came in a moment later and put his arms around both of us until Kevin coughed from the living room doorway. Robbie broke off and shook hands with Kevin. I still held on to Mary, and I didn't ever want to let go.
Chapter 5
Author's Note: I really hate to start this way, and I hope I don't step on any toes or turn any readers away, but I have to do this. I have been in a quandary about this fic for some time, since the reviews started coming in after the last chapter. A lot of readers questioned Ruthie's behavior, when she chose to get in the car with a stranger flashing a wad of money. I alternate between ignoring the reviews and forging ahead and scrapping the story altogether.
I have decided to go ahead with the next chapter and see what kin of response it gets. You see, grief is a wicked thing, because of the event that causes it, and because of the things grief does to a person. I dare say everyone reading this has said or done something, sometime, that was completely 'out of character', grief induced or not. In Ruthie's case, her grief, her fear of the future, and her sense of overwhelming loss has left a void in her that affected her in ways she can't even begin to understand.
At this point, dear reader, you have two choices. I hope you will stick with me and see this story through. Or you can scroll up, hit the back button or the X to take yourself out of this story. If you do that, you will miss out on a great story, because I have a lot of big plans...So please give it a chance. I'll do my best to make sure you're not sorry...
And now, drum roll please, time for the commencement of the story, The Road Home, chapter 5...
(Lucy)
I sent Simon to the airport to pick up The Colonel, Grandma Ruth, Grandpa, and Ginger because it gave him something to do, something to keep his mind off Mom and Dad and Ruthie. I told him not to say anything about Ruthie if he could help it, and we prayed that she would be home before he got back. She had to come back, she simply had to com home. Today. I had just lost my mother and my father, I couldn't bear to lose my little sister too, not like this.
Thank God for Kevin. I wouldn't have made it through the night without him. He was like my rock, my tower to lean on. I needed him to help me keep my head above water because it would have so easy to let go, to give up, to drown in the sea of grief and pain.
We slept on the sofa, his arms around me, with Simon and Happy curled up in the char across from us. I'm not sure any o us really slept, but we took some comfort from being together. At least I did. I felt safe in Kevin's arms, and I prayed my baby sister felt safe wherever she was.
I think we all believed we would find her tucked up in her bed, and she was never really gone. Or if she left, if she thought she had to get out for whatever reason, she would have come home. She just had to. She was too young to b out there on her own, all alone...She had to come home...
I kept myself busy with the twins after Simon left for the airport. Sam and David didn't seem to care that Mom and Dad were gone. They laughed and played and sang their silly little songs as if nothing was wrong.
"You be the daddy," David told Sam. "I be the mama." He beat on his chest like Tarzan.
"I can be the mama!" Sam argued and mirrored David's chest beating.
David shook his head. "I mama. You daddy. You go church." He pointed at the door.
"I want be the mama!" Sam yelled.
I walked away, left them to play in their room alone. I couldn't listen to them anymore, with their child-like innocence. They had no idea Mom and Dad were gone forever, even though I had told them they went up to heaven.
I wanted to be a kid again, innocent like Sam and David, and because if I was a kid Mom and Dad would still be alive and they would have several years to live. Why did they, two beautiful God-loving people, have to die? It wasn't fair.
The front door opened and I rushed to the stairs hoping it would be Ruthie. "Ruthie?" I called out her name.
"No, it's just me," Mary's voice called.
I ran down the steps to see her. Tears welled in my eyes and slipped down my cheeks. I never thought I would be so happy to see Mary again. But she was there, whole and alive and warm. I hugged her, held on to her, cried into she shoulder.
Robbie came in a moment later and put his arms around both of us until Kevin coughed from the living room doorway. Robbie broke off and shook hands with Kevin. I still held on to Mary, and I didn't ever want to let go.