Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

You changed my life at this time eight years ago. I told you then you were gonna save me, and I still believe that. I really, really do. You're gonna save me, right, baby?” I didn't know what she was talking about. I was only eight years old. I was just a kid, and I wasn’t Superman. How was I supposed to save anybody?

I wanted to beg her to never stop loving me despite it all because if she did, there wouldn’t be a single shred of love for me left in this entire world.

She had to know I was serious. If she had given me the word, I would’ve barged through that door and physically removed whoever the fuck was terrorizing her and her son.

I wanted him to know that, as long as I was around, I’d do anything to protect them—him and his mom.

“I know what to do with pain, Ray,” I said, keeping my tone barely above a whisper. “Give yours to me. Let me carry it, so you don’t have to anymore.”

I’d mark my entire body if I had to. I’d lay down my life. I’d run to hell on my bare feet, harness the Devil, and force him to kneel in submission. All to be certain that the bogeyman she knew and feared never laid a hand on her or her son again.

I couldn’t begin to imagine what my life would be like without books. Where would I be now had I not had those fictional friends to hold my hand and imagination captive?

It was always meant to be her.

“That you might not have killed someone intentionally back then, but for her … you would in a heartbeat.”