The eerie sound of laughter rang across the landscape, incongruent amidst the ruin
and devastation. Marie stopped and listened to the hideous noise of joy. The futility
of struggling to survive pressed against her heart. The storm that raged only
days ago had taken her last morsel of hope.
She pushed aside a two-by-four, torn from its
structure and roughened by the
wind's fierce onslaught. Beneath a sludge-encrusted sheet, she found the box,
still taped shut. A score of memories flooded
her soul, yanking at her spirit, refusing to allow her slow descent into
despair.
Her mind rewound the day she stuffed all of Sadie's
toys into the packing crate and sealed it with a kiss. So much anticipation.
One more day. Just one. And they would have been on the road to a new home and
a new life.
She yanked the tape from the box and tossed toys on
the still wet ground. At the bottom, she found Sadie’s teddy bear. Gulping back
her tears, she pushed it against her chest--a vain attempt to keep her heart
from leaving her, never to return. For although she had lost Sadie to the storm, she refused to lose her memory.
Read more Theme Thursday at http://www.theme-thursday.com/
Read more Sunday Scribbling at http://www.sundayscribbling.blogspot.com
