Love and Redemption (Completed)

Sunshine

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee." Isaiah 60:1

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. It was the first time in as long as I can remember that I woke up feeling this wonderful. I had a smile on my face, and I wasn't frightened to face the day. I went about my morning chores humming and smiling, which I think freaked out a lot of people, but they didn't say anything to me about it. 

After I finished I went back to the cabin as the rest of the girls were beginning to get ready for the day. I opened my chest but as I looked through I became a bit discouraged. None of the black clothes felt right. I finally gave up and looked over at Molly. We looked about the same size...

"Hey, Molly?"

"What's up?" she asked, her voice a bit muffled as she was in the middle of brushing her teeth.

"Do you have anything I can borrow to wear today? I'm... not really liking my all black choices," I chuckled.

Her eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly. She put up a finger to tell me to hang on a minute, then she rushed back to the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth. When she came back out her blue eyes were sparkling and it seemed like she already had an outfit idea in mind.

"Did you have anything in mind?" she asked me started looking through her own clothes. 

"Surprise me," I chuckled as I closed and locked my chest then sat on the edge of my bed. After a moment Molly came over with a yellow sundress that had buttons down the front and little white flowers on the bottom edge. 

"I thought this would go better with your hair color than my white or blue dress. Or I could get you a shirt and pants outfit.." she trailed off. I figured she was talking to herself at this point.

"This is perfect. Thank you," I said as I stood up to take the dress from her. I put it on as she found white flipflops to go with it. Before we left for breakfast I gently grabbed her arm to pull her aside as everyone else was leaving. She looked at me questioning.

"Molly, I um..." I looked at my hands for a moment before looking back at her, "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you all these weeks. I've been so mean and awful and you've always been so nice..."

"It's okay," she cut me off gently, "I forgave you a long time ago. I've prayed for you all this time and I knew God was working with you. It's okay."

I smiled as I felt the tears welling in my eyes. This girl was so sweet and I didn't deserve it. I gave her a big hug and she squeezed back harder. 

"You look absolutely beautiful by the way. I know someone who is going to love seeing you all dressed up and your hair down oh so pretty," she teased me as she wrapped her arm around mine and walked out the cabin towards breakfast. 

I couldn't stop the blush that brightened my cheeks, nor could I keep the smile off my face. She was such a doll. We walked together towards the main cabin and were soon joined by others too. I noticed Pastor Mike at one point before I lost him in the crowd. I really wanted to give him another hug, but all in good timing I guess. 

We went inside and were greeted with the smells of breakfast. I smiled a bit, as I already knew what was for breakfast since I helped make it, but it still smelled amazing. Molly and I got in line and began making our way towards the scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and fresh fruit. I was piling my plate with everything. My appetite was back and I was starving. After Molly finished getting the food she wanted we began to look for a table. 

Once we were seated Molly looked at me with a question in her eyes but she quickly looked down. I grinned and stabbed a piece of egg.

"What is it, Molly?" I chuckled as I shoved the egg in my mouth. 

"Um," she took a small sip of orange juice and swallowed before continuing, "what do you want to do today?"

"Whatever is on your list today," I responded. I didn't know her smile could get bigger. I wanted to stick with her mostly because I didn't trust myself to be alone. Though I felt saved, I knew that darkness was always lurking, daring me to stumble. Plus, her smile was contagious. 

"So, today I have planned a Bible study in the gym, followed by some water activities on the lake, attending the concert tonight, and finally ending the day at the bonfire," Molly said.

"Sounds perfect," I said with a smile, but I let it trail off my face, "except the lake stuff. I think I'll skip on that for now."

Molly nodded and gave a small smile. "I understand. Maybe you can work on your tan?"

"Yea, that sounds good," I said as my smile came back.

Molly grinned again then turned back to her breakfast as I also finished mine. We turned in our dirty plates and silverware to the dishes bin, then left to head to our first activity. I was nervous as I got closer, but Molly's encouraging arm around mine helped me keep going forward. As we entered the gym the blast of cold air reminded me of when Noah had tried to take me to one of the Bible studies here. I felt the shame returning at the thought of what came after that incident, but I tried to not let the dark thoughts enter again. I was determined to start my life again, and I didn't want to fall into the dark pit was had begun to climb out of.