Blurb Book

Reapers

"Hi sweetheart, can you come with me?" I asked.

The little girl looked up at me, curiosity and fear coloring her young face. "Mama?"

I was always Mama to young children. I was usually Mama far longer, even to adults. It was something about the way that most mothers cared for their children that made them revert to their mother whenever they were afraid.

"Yes, it's Mama," I lied.

The little girl began to sniffle. "Mama, my legs hurt."

"I know baby but you've got to come this way. Can you walk?"

She shook her head, once bouncy curls now matted with blood. "Legs hurt. Up? Mama, up?"

I sighed. Carrying them was hard. I already knew about this little girl. Zoe Jennings was four years old with one older brother, William, and a little sister named Amanda who wouldn't remember this day. Her parents were good people, Sarah and Daniel Jennings, that loved her with all their hearts. I knew, deep down the way I always did, that they would never recover.

"Zoe, I need you to walk to me," I repeated.

She began to cry, a keening wail that pulled on my heartstrings even though I had heard it a dozen times already today. I couldn't allow her to cry so I stepped closer and picked her up, cradling her in my arms.

"Mama, I'm scared," she said, holding on to my neck.

"It's okay, baby," I assured her, the same way I did to everyone I met. "You won't be hurting much longer."

It wasn't Zoe's fault that the driver hadn't noticed her family's sedan. It wasn't Zoe's fault that her father had cut the wheel to the left instead of the right. It wasn't anyone's fault that she was in my arms and I was taking her away. No one's fault yet it was happening anyway. I hated taking children.

"Mama, where are we going?" Zoe asked.

"It doesn't matter," I insisted.

"Where's 'liam?"

"He's with Daddy."

"Where's Mandy?"

"She's with Daddy?"

"Where's Daddy?"

"Zoe, stop asking questions."

Zoe began to squirm in my arms. It wasn't difficult to hold her. She was only four and I was much older. I had been dealing with this for some time. I understood her reasoning. She was scared and wanted to see her family. By this point, she had probably realized that I wasn't Mama, that I wasn't Mrs. Sarah Jennings. I only looked like her.

"Mama!"

"Zoe, please," I begged.

"Mama!" How her voice didn't hurt or give out astounded me. She would have made a great cheerleader if she had made it to high school.

"Sweetheart, I'm taking you home," I told her. "It's a shortcut. Mandy and William will be there for you. Don't you want to see Mandy and Liam?"

I carried her up the steps to a house and placed my hand on the doorknob. That's when I heard another scream. Zoe heard it too and twisted to look. Her mother was holding her on the side of the road, rocking and crying. The lights of an ambulance blinked in the distance and I knew I had to move soon. If I didn't she would stay in a coma. Sure, she might technically be alive but she would never wake up. Zoe began to scream again so I pushed the door open and walked through.

The door wasn't connected to the house when I used it. Instead, the world Zoe had known floated away and my world came crashing into its place. Zoe froze.

"Mama, where am I?"

"You're home, Zoe, you're home."

I set Zoe down and she tottered away. The trust of children was a beautiful thing. I knew that the hallway would lead her where she belonged.

The point of this is that reapers look like whoever you love/trust the most.