• A young girl stands
    in the midst of the firelight
    and watches as her home
    burns to the ground

    Her family screams,
    trapped in the fiery ruins
    She hears her mothers screams of pain
    and she hears her fathers curses

    Wide eyed, and ash in her hair
    she watches as the roof and walls collapse
    and with the rumbling boom
    her family's screams are ended

    She stands there
    as if rooted to the ground
    Her tears evaporating in the heat
    and the ash drifts like snowfall from her hair

    A shadow moves in her vision
    and comes to stand beside her
    it looks at her for a long while
    and than turns and watches the flames with her

    She finally turns from the flames
    and looks at the figure
    The shadow shaped in human grab
    Darkness crafted into form

    It turns to her
    and again studies her in silence
    for long moments of time
    they face one another in quiet serenity

    Then it kneels
    and wipes the ash from her hair
    it wipes the tears that have long since dried
    in the heat of the almighty flames

    But the motion itself is comforting
    and the intent even more so
    and the girl found herself relieve
    by those warm hands made of darkness

    Standing again
    the figure reaches out a hand
    and after a few moments hesitation
    the young girl takes it
    Together
    they make their way away from the flames
    away from the ashes of girl's past
    away from all the pain

    from the ashes of the mother that beat her
    from the remains of that father drank their lives away
    from the arrogant rest that simply sat back
    and watch in silence from a far

    And thus
    the shadow leads her away
    away from the past
    and the house of pain

    The house of pain
    that the girl so despised
    the house of torture
    that the girl herself burned down