A Girl Called Tess

Tess felt a calm descent over her whenever she would walk the streets, a peace separate from the fear and abuse she had always experienced; it was more like a peace that fed her unhappiness.

As if in a trance, she slowly held out her hand, and a kind lady took it and led her in a gentle help off the ground. 
She suddenly made a run for it, through the tangle of trees and through the residential streets. 
She was everyone’s princess; a superwoman with no superpowers.

All she had was an intense desire to stay alive and have a decent life like her parents would have wanted her to have. 
She had to get away; she had to survive and get out of the street life. 
Her parents were counting on her, and her friends were praying for her.

She stopped to get her breath; a stranger picked her up and put his hand over her mouth. 
He wore leather gloves, and they dug into her face. 
She tried to twist away, but he was too strong. 
Even though she kicked and fought with all her strength. 
His hand forced her eyes partially shut, but she could still see that it was not a familiar face. 
She passed out and kept drifting in and out of consciousness. 
She felt she was flying, but she didn’t know how that could be.

First, it was dark behind her eyelids, and then a little light peeked through; then dark again, then a bright light. 
She hung onto the light, and became aware of her surroundings and cried out to confess her sins to Christ. 
The strange man was suddenly gone. 
She cried and prayed for many hours on the ground, and she started slowly getting up and was greeted by a regal lady wearing all white. 
The lady looked at her and nodded with understanding. 
Tess smiled back, held her hand, and they began to walk. 
Tess looked up, and the sun suddenly looked so bright, and the sky has never looked so blue.