Chapter 2
Thomas Ford stepped up onto the podium and placed his shaking hands on either side of the wooden lectern. He looked over at the mass of faces, the sheer mass of people, young and old, who had known his wife, Caroline. Now it was his turn to speak, to clear his conscience and to say a final goodbye. His eyes strayed to the left and landed on the morbid shape of the coffin. A tear formed in the corner of his eye and he quickly looked away. His eyes landed on his mother and the tiny bundle that lay on her lap, his daughter, Constance. He straightened his back, raised his head and prepared to speak.
"It's sad really. We hadn't talked for so long, I don't even remember her voice. I tried so hard to remember it, to remember that smooth, airy voice. The voice of an angel a newspaper once said. The voice of an angel…" He trailed off, falling into the recesses of his memory. A slight smile darted across his face and Constance wriggled restlessly in her blanket. His eyes refocused and he continued. "The night I heard the news, that Caroline had died and that Constance had been born, I thought about a lot of things. Fate mostly. Whether it really was Caroline's time, whether she had fulfilled her part in God's plan. I believe that the answer is yes, after struggling for so long why else would she have given up that night if not that she had fulfilled her part in the plan, to bring Constance into this world. My daughter." He stopped for a second before adding, "Our daughter."
He looked across at the faces, taking in each one, meeting them eye to eye until he came to his daughter. He blinked a tear from his eye and finally added. "Everyone has a part in God's plan and Caroline fulfilled her part. The best we can do is honour what she did in her dying moments and be happy that from her death came life. A phoenix from the flames." With this he stepped off the podium and walked over to the coffin.
"Goodbye my love. And thank you." He continued past the coffin to his seat, took the bundle of blankets that held Constance from his mother and began to weep.
Constance sat in the darkness, shrouded in shadow, shaking from fright. This was the third time she had been in this place, the third time she had curled up, petrified by the darkness. But this time it was different. She could hear a voice in the distance. It had been growing gradually louder for what seemed like an age until Constance could finally make out what the voice was saying. It was her name.
"Constance…Constance…" the airy voice repeated, untiringly searching for a reply.
"Hello?" came Constance's' startled reply.
"Hello, Constance. I've been searching for you, searching for a long time. Were you asleep?" the airy voice asked inquisitively, genuinely interested in where Constance had been.
"No," came Constance's startled voice once more.
"Ah, then you were awake." The feminine voice chuckled as she stepped out of the shadows showing herself for the first time. The endless shadows morphed gradually into a gleaming white aura as Constance finally saw whom the voice belonged to. The woman wore simple white garments and a beautiful smile across her face. "Such a beautiful girl" she said looking down at the girl before. Totally normal in every way. "Have you met your father?" she added.
"I think so…" Constance replied having not really understood her ventures into that world. Her time spent engulfed in the shadows had dominated her thoughts during her.
"Good. Constance?"
"Yes?"
"Now you must tell me the truth, Ok?"
"Yes," came Constance's slightly confused reply.
"Am I the first person you have met here?"
"Yes."
"Then you haven't met him yet?"
"Met who?" Constance asked with a slight inquisitiveness in her voice.
"I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough," the woman replied, "and when you do, you must promise me something. Make sure you ignore what he says. He will try to use you, try to use you to do bad things. Don't listen to him Constance or your mummy will be very cross. I'll tell her if you're naughty. Be good Constance and remember, don't listen to him." With that the woman strolled away back into the shadows leaving a small light lying next to Constance, making sure to dismiss her fears before she left her to be alone once again. As soon as the woman was gone she lay down next to the soothing light and awoke.