Free The Risen: Remnants by Marie F Crow

know is back.
    Her flippant demeanor will not take this moment from me. I watch my daughter lost in her joy. She has lost her father, her friends and her way of life, but she has never given up. She has fought and killed to survive to stand here today. We have spent nights huddled together, our stomachs a pit of dread and starvation, praying to make it through to the morning.
    We have watched houses burn and people kill each other for something as simple as a box of crackers. Never, never has she given up though.
    My cheeks grow wet with my tears as I watch them whispering and embracing, lost in the miracle of finding each other. Alicia and I had become better friends in college than we had our whole lives. We were both lost and out of our league at the local university. For both of us, college was something of a dream for our family. It was a fantasy and a threat of bankruptcy to our middle class life-style. We had both earned scholarships and worked part time jobs to make our dreams come true, determined to live better lives than our parents. With as much as we had in common, we also had apart.
    Alicia, with her cluster of Daddy issues, seemed to like men who were unobtainable. The harder the romance was to reach, the harder she burned for it. Where as I, a Dear Diary of my own “Daddy” issues, preferred men who were safe and secure and ones who were almost boring. It always started the same for me. A few romantic dates would soon simmer, resulting in us reaching the “friend zone”, before finally ending with our false promises that we would keep in touch. I never kept in touch and the colder my flames became the hotter hers burned.
    We stayed close after we crossed that stage. She was my Maid of Honor when I married Charlie. She was the first person in the hospital room after Genny’s birth. She was the supplier of cookie dough and chick-flicks when the divorced was settled. There has not been a day when I have not prayed that she was safe somewhere. I guess someone is still listening, after all.
    Their eyes turn to me and I go to them. We don’t speak. We just embrace in our gratitude for finding each other, a small part of our souls heal from the suffering we have faced.
    “All this time…,” Alicia’s voice is soft with wonder, “I kept hoping I would find you. I kept looking, but after all this time. After all this time I just gave up.” Her voice cracks. The guilt and grief she has been holding inside of her is too much for her to not convey. “I went by your house,” she continues, “but it is was all gone. The whole street looks as if it fell to madness or bombs. Hell, maybe both. Houses were burned or gutted; just destroyed. It was unbelievable.”
    “I was hoping you had stayed on your trip far away from here.” I say to her. “Maybe on some tropical island with a nice umbrella drink. Dancing with the dark-skinned, male natives.” I smile at her but my resolve is breaking with my sister’s strength faltering beside me. I’m not alone anymore and that realization tears down the false strength I have been hiding behind.
    “I wish.” She tries to smile but her face slides back into the creases her frown leaves. “I came back the day it happened. If you think flying was bad before, you should see how long check-in lines become when people start dropping.” She means it as a joke, but the laughter doesn’t reach her eyes.
    “How did you find us?” Alicia asks. She is still clutching Genny to her, refusing to release her, too afraid of her vanishing like the ghost of a dream. It is evident in the way she strokes Genny’s hair, leans her cheek against the top of Genny’s head and whispers soothing words to her in-between our conversation. Which is why when Genny tells her how we made it here, she explodes.
    “He tried to kidnap me.” Genny volunteers. All of the energy is gone from her voice and her eyes stare blankly like those that belong to a painted doll from today’s stress at the