ALONE

Mandy drove up to the cabin and parked. She set and stared at the cabin, as hundreds of memories flooded her mind. The tears began to fall, her world had come to an end a week ago. She had nothing to live for so why live. She had decided the cabin was the best place to end it all. Mandy had always been a christian and she knew suicide was wrong but she really didn’t care what God thought anymore. He had taken all her reasons for living, so now she would take her own life.  

                    Mandy opened the car door and exited her blue forerunner, David  had bought  for her birthday. She couldn’t think about that day now or the tears would come again. She walked up the steps, unlocked the door and walked inside the cabin. The quiet was eerie. She should be hearing laughter or Amy and Jamie yelling “ mama we’re hungry.” 

She could still hear their voices in her head if only she could talk to them, hug them and hold them. She sat down in the closest chair, David’s favorite, He would sit there telling the kids stories from his childhood for hours. O,  how much she would love to hear one of those stories now. She leaned back, closed her eyes and thought about how she planned to end her life. She had a bottle of pills in her purse, she planned to take them tonight. It should be easy to just go to sleep and never wake up. As she lay thinking and listening to the quiet, something slammed against the front door. Mandy jumped up, who or what was at the door?  What should she do? Slowly she walked to the door and listened. She could hear someone breathing and then she heard someone whisper,

“Help, please help me” 

It sounded like a woman's voice. Carefully she opened the door. On the porch lay a young woman. Mandy bent down. 

“Who are you? Are you hurt?” 

“Please help me, I've been shot.” 

That was when Mandy noticed all the blood. It was all over the young woman's left arm. What could she do? How could she help her? Mandy figured she had better get her inside, it had been snowing when she drove to the cabin and now the snow was getting deep. The temperature was dropping too. The only choice she had was to drag the young woman into the cabin, she wasn’t strong enough to pick her up. After Mandy got her into the cabin, She covered her with a blanket. Why did she have to come here? Mandy didn’t have it in her to help anyone. She  couldn’t help herself. How could she help this young lady? Mandy knew she had no choice but to help her as best she could. She had better take a look at her arm. The woman hadn’t lied she had been shot. Mandy got a towel and began to wrap her arm, she knew she had to stop the bleeding. What would she do if she couldn’t stop it? She had no cell phone signal and from the looks of the snow there was no way she could drive for help. God please help me? She couldn’t believe she was praying to God after what he had done to her and now he had dropped this woman on her doorstep.  The young woman began to moan.

“Where am I ?” she asked.

“You're in my cabin. I am Mandy Summers, who are you? Who shot you?”

“Stacy Andrews and my husband shot me, we were arguing about the baby. He wants me to get an abortion. I won’t kill my baby. He became very angry and picked up his gun and shot me. I ran out of the cabin we were staying in, I was so scared. I just ran until I saw your cabin. Please help me?” She said as tears ran down her face.

“I’ll do my best, I don’t know much about wounds. I think I have the bleeding stopped, so you should be fine. Can you get yourself onto the couch?” 

“I think I can,” she answered. As she pulled herself up Mandy helped and she made it onto the couch. 

Mandy looked at the young woman and realized she couldn’t carry out her plans to end her life. She would have to help Stacy and find strength somewhere to do it.

“Are you here alone?” Stacy asked.

“Yes I am always alone these days.” 

“You are not married? She asked. 

“I was married for twenty years, had two children but God took them away from me and now I am all alone.”

“What happened to them?”

“My husband was a detective for the police department.He was working on a case that involved the mob. He was getting close to arresting some really bad people, when they shot him. My son and daughter were with him, they killed them too. So now I am all alone and have nothing to live for.”

Stacy began to cry “I am so sorry. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“What do you mean?”

“My husband killed your family!” Stacy cried.

“WHAT! What are you saying?”

“I know my husband killed a policeman and his children a week ago. I am so sorry.”

“It is not your fault. It is God's fault for letting it happen. He could have stopped it if he wanted too.” She shouted. 

“O, no it was my husband’s fault. He is evil. Please don’t blame God. God loves you.” she pleaded. 

“How can you say that? He let your husband shoot you?” Mandy asked.

“He led me to you. I need your help and I have a feeling you need mine.”

Mandy took a deep breath. She felt dizzy. Had 

God sent Stacy to keep her from killing herself? Stacy was right she needed Mandy and Mandy needed her. Mandy went down to her knees and began to cry.  

“O, Stacy I have been so wrong, God does care, he does. I was going to kill myself tonight but he sent you to stop me,”

Stacy took her hand and said “Let’s pray for God’s help tonight and to thank him for bringing us together when we needed someone.”

“Yes, lets pray.”

AND they did.