God's Gift

A heavy tear slides down her cheek, the words of a prayer etched inside as it follows the lonely path downwards.

Her heart is weary, the dust on her feet weighing her down like they were dried in concrete.

The hopes of her dreams die and shrivel like a flower cut from its stem and left in the sun too long.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," she whispers as the remnants float away like specks of dust in the wind.

The human promises of lasting love had left her heart-broken and disappointed.

So many times she'd spent crying over what should have been, placing so many hopes on everlasting love that didn't come true.

The bitter cold of the late December night only freezes what remains of her heart.

A heart without a home, a soul without faith.

This is what life had given to her.

The barren winter landscape beyond the glass only intensified the bleakness inside her.

Tired of trying, tired of struggling.

All she wanted was to disappear and forget all the sufferings of her heart.

The frosted window gave no warmth as she rested her head against it.

The desire to be something, someone, had fizzled out like the fire in the hearth.

Just like the coals, her failures burned red and deep in the bottom of her heart, scarring the already scarred flesh there.

Happiness was a thing of the past, and all she wanted was to leave this world.

The tear, halfway down her cheek now, became bigger as it gathered more moisture;

The prayer inside it growing substantially as it continued its downward trek.

Beyond this realm, God looked at His beloved child and felt her pain.

As the girl's tear reached her chin and started to fall, He caught it upon his finger.

In His presence it glistened with the light of a thousand suns.

The prayer inside the tear He read with an understanding heart.

With a magic only He possesses, he blew on the tear, causing it to break apart into a shower of stars and sparkles.

The windowsill is flooded with tears and the girl stares at her stark reflection in the mirror.

With a sudden cry she watches as stars streak across the sky, the North star glowing ever brighter all the while.

"Don't give up." A warm voice whispers into her ear.

Shaking with awe she looks down at the windowsill she hadn't realized she'd been clinging to.

The place where her liquid sorrows had landed, there sat the most beautiful white feather she'd ever seen.

Fingers reaching out slowly, the downy softness of the feather filled her with a warmth and love she'd never felt before.

Despite all the hardships and hurt, suddenly she knew that everything was going to be ok.

All thanks to a single tear, a prayer that God Himself had seen to answer.

Filling a young heart with a hope she'd thought lost.