Free The Ravine by Robert Pascuzzi

long, white hair, who seemed to be very excited and then suddenly gave Harold a big hug. I like Harold and all, but, well, he was filthy, and I would never have even shaken hands with him, let alone hug him. But there she was, treating him like a long-lost relative. She was clearly a very spiritual person.”
    Danny now figured the guy for a religious nut who imagined he had seen the Virgin Mary or Mother Theresa on the street in Chicago, and he figured he knew where this was going. Kevin started to remind him of the sort of sucker who gets pulled into a church and winds up giving away the family jewels.
    “So, I was just walking on past them, and I gave Harold the wave and nod I usually gave him, when he called out to me and said, ‘Kevin, this is Joanna. Slow down, man. She wants to talk to you.’ Then the woman turned to me and said, ‘You must be Kevin. Harold has told me about your sadness, and I see it in your eyes. I have to tell you one thing. Let go of your anger. Give it to God. Go home tonight and pray for the men who hurt you. Do it every day, and really mean it. Speak out loud to God. Pray that these men you hate will be happy, and one day free, and pray for God to allow you to forgive them, because that is the only way
you
will ever be free. And, one more thing: your plan for tonight is a very bad idea.’” Kevin continued to speak, but tears started to run down his cheeks.
    “You see, when I met this woman, I was heading to my car to take all of the pills I had brought from home that morning. I planned to just sit in my car and die. I couldn’t see all the wonderful things I had to live for, like Missy and my son, my parents, my friends, and everything else in my life. I hated the way I felt, and I was filled with so much hate for the two of you, and for myself for not being a man that night, that I couldn’t even see what my death would do to all the people who loved me, and how much I had to live for.
    “Then this woman gathered me into a circle with Harold, and the three of us prayed. She gave me this very intense stare, like she could see into my mind, and I went weak in the knees and almost fell over, but Harold held me up. Finally, when she was through praying, she held my hands and looked even more deeply at me, and then she touched my cheek. It was so gentle, like a mother touching her child. And then she just walked away.
    “When I got to my car, I looked at the bottle of pills, but instead of swallowing them, I prayed out loud like she said to do. I even prayed for you guys to have good lives, and I prayed to be able to forgive you, and I prayed for forgiveness for myself. And then the most amazing thing happened. I started to feel free. I felt God come into my life and I knew I had been blessed.”
    By now, all three men were weeping, and they just naturally reached out their hands and touched one another. The officer struggled to hold back tears. He knew this was a moment of grace like none he had ever seen before.
    Kevin asked if it would be okay for him to say a prayer, and the brothers both nodded. “Lord, thank you for bringing the three of us together today,” he prayed. “Help us to forgive one another, and help our wounds to heal. Please give my brothers, Tony and Danny, happy, productive lives with all the freedom your world has to offer. Amen.”
    They all leaned back in their chairs. The time limit had expired. The police officer took off his cap, put both palms flat on the table, cleared his throat, and said, “Gentlemen, I’m afraid our time is up. Mr. Grant, I’ll escort you out.”
    He broke protocol and turned his back while the three men hugged at the door.

    A battle raged inside of Danny later that night, when he was alone back in his cell. The voice threatened, screamed that Grant was just a kook, and that Tony hadn’t really had any sort of conversion. But Danny could not deny how he had felt the moment they held hands and said that prayer. He also had a vision