Thirty-Eight: Save pt 2.

RAFAEL.

Then came a few years later while I was hunting with Gerald, I saw her again but this time from the foot of the hill that held up her packhouse. She looked so much older now, tendering to the flowers in her garden and I took a picture. From one picture, to two and to three.

Each time I was around there, I would search for her and wouldn’t leave until I saw her—until I was sure she was safe. But then came a night that I happened to be close to her and saw for myself, the treacherous ways they treated her like she was worse than an animal.

There was a man who pushed her to the ground and struck her sides with the heel of his shoe. It took everything to restrain myself from saving her, even as I saw her struggling to breathe. I could hear her cries and I could feel it even inside of me. It was like an unexplainable bond which ignited my need to save her from them.

I knew with the way she was treated, it wouldn’t take her long to try to kill herself again and what if I wasn’t ar