Eve of Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page B

where he stood, and there it stopped. At first, nothing happened. Then, gradually, the light grew brighter. He saw a shape begin to take form, short and kind of square. As his eyes adjusted, the figure grew more distinct. Then the light flashed brightly, and the smiling face of the little girl from the park stood before him. Her outstretched hands held the light, but Burke could not tell its source.
    “Hi, John Burke,” she said.
    Burke blinked. “Who…who are you?”
    For a moment, her smile faltered, and then popped back on her dirty face. “Are you happy to see me?”
    Burke didn’t know what to think. He was in a very bad way all because of this little thief, and she was asking if he was happy to see her? He licked his dry, swollen lips. “You stole from me. You’re nothing but a thief.”
    Her smile faltered, and for a moment she looked as though she might cry. “No, John Burke,” she said softly. “I am not a thief. I saved you.”
    “Saved me?” Burke shot back. “Saved me? You stole from me. I got beat up because of you! What are you doing in my house?”
    Her dirty little face looked so innocent, so naive. She tried to put the smile back on. “But John Burke, you must be saved.” She sounded so certain of what she said, like it was just a common fact.
    Burke felt all his energy leave him, as though an invisible plug had been pulled. He fell to his knees and sagged back against the wall. “What if I don’t want to be saved?” he whispered. The loneliness and despair he had carried for so long welled up in his heart. He knew he had let his family down. He’d failed to protect them, and now they were gone. Sadness like he had never known gripped him. He thought again of the gun in the pawnshop. One bullet and his misery would be over.
    “Do you really think that’s the answer?” the girl asked.
    “What would you know about it?” Burke hated the weakness in his voice. He hated the guilt, the hopelessness…and most of all, himself.
    “Poor John Burke,” she said. “I will help you now.”
    Burke felt a light touch on his forehead. The touch was cool at first but grew warm, then almost hot. The heat spread through his body. He felt the tension he had carried for so long drain from him. The heaviness in his chest lifted, as did the depression that had become his constant companion. For the first time in years, his soul felt clean.
    “There,” the girl said triumphantly. “How do you feel now, John Burke?”
    He didn’t know what to say. Not only did he feel better, but the self-hatred was gone. He looked up into a blinding light. Putting one hand before his face, he blinked his swollen eyes. After a moment he could see that she was pointing a flashlight in his face.
    “Where did you get that flashlight?” he asked, surprised at the strength in his voice.
    The girl rolled her eyes. “I’ve had it all along. You saw it when I came down the stairs.”
    Burke shook his head. “No,” he said as he reached up and pushed the light from his face. Now he could see that she held a four-cell flashlight. It was so big that she had to hold it in both hands to keep it steady. “No, that’s not the light I saw on the steps or through the windows. What light was that?”
    She shrugged her tiny shoulders, causing the sack she was wearing to lift and fall. Burke pulled himself up so he could see her better. Even sitting on the floor he was as tall as she. She looked exactly as she had in the alley that morning, barefoot and wearing only a burlap potato bag as a dress. He looked up at her dirty face, into deep green eyes, which grew very large. Keeping the flashlight pointed at his chest, she leaned her face close to his. A smell like cinnamon penetrated his clogged nose.
    “You look terrible, John Burke,” she said. “Does it hurt?”
    Burke sighed. “Yes, it hurts. Can you fix that?”
    The girl looked puzzled. “Why would I fix it?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. You fixed…the