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How quickly we trust someone when the life of a loved one is threatened.
Lord, who was crouched across the raft, unfazed by any of this.
passengers of anything. We are souls adrift. I
wonder if this is what dying is like, Annabelle. At first, you are so tightly connected to the world you cannot imagine letting go. In time, you surrender to a drifting phase. What comes next, I cannot say. Some would say that you meet the Lord.
There is no one left. Forgive me my sins. I love you, Annabelle DeChapl—
Jean Philippe says little now. He is grieving his wife.
“Survive until tomorrow.”
know!” Lambert bellowed. “That yacht was top shelf. Every last detail was looked after. There’s no way it sinks on its own. Somebody sabotaged it!”
Just then, I noticed the Lord putting his hand over the side of the raft. It dangled in the water. I found that strange.
“Save the stuff!” Lambert yelled. I grabbed the flare gun and the bailer, and I saw Mrs. Laghari raise up to retrieve the binoculars, which had tangled with her blue gown and fallen into the water. The raft jolted wildly, and she lost her balance and toppled overboard.
Laghari
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I caught a glimpse of the Lord, who held little Alice in his grip. He turned my way as if he were looking right through me.
The Lord...... Something suspicious..... Can't place it yet but very contrived.
Even as I write the words, I cannot believe it. What’s happening to us?
Geri repeated.
“Stop this! Stop it!” Nina yelled. “We have to say something about Mrs. Laghari! We can’t talk about what happens next without saying goodbye to her! What’s the matter with us?” Everyone went quiet. The truth is, none of us knew Mrs. Laghari well. We don’t know anyone well. I was aware from our conversations on the Galaxy that she had come from India and had two children and that her work involved cosmetics.
“Worry is something you create.” “Why would we create worry?” “To fill a void.” “A void of what?” “Faith.”
canopy
“Benji
Nevin?”
bashful
“Why, Benjamin?” he asked, leaning forward. “Is there something you want to tell me?” I glared at him. “Get away from me,” I said.
Annabelle,
Benji,”
Dobby
Jason Lambert’s boat.
“I am here, Benjamin,” he said. “Whenever you wish to talk.” * * *
So I carried that love, searching the world for a place to lay it down, but never found anywhere or anyone until I found you. I have been a poor man in many ways, Annabelle. Perhaps, upon reflection, even an unlucky one. But I was lucky in the most important way. That night after the fireworks, you told me your name and I told you mine. And you looked at me with your eyes wide open and you said, “Benjamin Kierney, would you like to take me out one day?” I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t answer. I think that amused you. You got up, smiling, and said, “Well, maybe one day you will.” The rest of
...more
You will never escape. I will have you all.
Sometimes that’s what life feels like.
You feel stuck and seem like the world is against you.
—— FIJS03——
Laghari
Nina.
Forty-four
And what are the chances that a raft could make it all that way across the
Two left now,
Rom.
“I knew someone. On the Galaxy. He was my cousin.”
Dobby.”
“I am the Lord,” she said. “And I will never leave you.”
LeFleur felt as if a character from a book had come to life. He knew things about this man that the man himself had not yet revealed. He had to be patient, draw him out.
“What about the army?”
He didn’t notice, in the guesthouse’s second-story window, the small round lenses of the binoculars that Dobby watched him through.
For some reason, he found himself thinking about the last scene in Benji’s story, the little girl in his arms, and what that little girl might have looked like. He pictured her as Lilly.
He pictured her as Lilly.
He thought about the words of the little girl in the notebook: I will never leave you. But Lilly had.
“Lemme grab my camera,” LeFleur said. He reached slowly around his side, took a breath, then pulled his gun from its holster. With both hands holding it steady, he aimed the barrel straight at Dobby, whose eyes widened in shock. “Now,” LeFleur said. “What did you do to the Galaxy?”
“Benji thought Lambert was his father.”
That’s when I shared what my mother had said. I blurted it out. He just stared at me, dumbstruck.”
“Alice?” I whispered. “Why do you call me that?” she said. Her voice was childlike, yet clear and precise. “We had to call you something,” I said. “What’s your real name?” She smiled. “Alice will do.”
“An angel I spoke through.” “Why did he ask for food and water?” “To see if you would share it.” “Why was he so quiet?” “To see if you would listen.” I looked away. “Lambert killed him.”
“Was Jason Lambert my father?” She shook her head no.
“When someone passes, Benjamin, people always ask, ‘Why did God take them?’ A better question would be ‘Why did God give them to us?’ What did we do to deserve their love, their joy, the sweet moments we shared? Didn’t you have such moments with Annabelle?”
