PaperFresh Shots

River Red

"Daddy," A small child called out, their hazel eyes looking up at the giant before them. "What was Mommy like?"

The man smiled, but his eyes never showed that happiness. Though, he did love his child.

"Why, she saved so many people." He murmured, lifting the child into his warm, strong arms.

"How?" They whispered back.

The man smiled again.

"By taking away their pain. She let them cry and tell her their sorrows, she loved them as family. She held their griefs, helped them get better, then... Then, she let their sorrows leave her body in a river of red.

"She always wore long sleeves and cheerful smiles, her mismatched eyes always shining. All those who met her were saved. She took their darkness and sin, letting them become part of her before she drained it away in the river red."

"Did Mommy ever cry?" The child murmured, the same worry in their eyes as the mother's.

"Yes. She told me all the troubles, all the hate, and all the sins she alone fixed. She showed me the marks on her skin when she had to cut the poison out. She let me heal her, but in the end the world still needed to be fixed. So, she worked and worked for ti. She wanted you to live in a world of peace, of happiness and all things good."

Slowly, the child looked around, confused. If Mommy was doing that, then why was she never  home? Why did she never come home like Daddy?

"Where's Mommy, Daddy?"

Tears lightly fell from the man's eyes as he gazed at his child, the child that looked so much like their mother.

"She gave life and finally let the poison inside her go in that river red... She told me that she would see us when we take our final rest... That she loved us."

The innocent child only smiled, not understanding the pain in their father's eyes... Not until they say him take his final rest, his arms feeding the red river.