Invitation from a Friend

An adolescent girl, aged 14, stared in the mirror with anger. She blamed her father for the freckles and her mother for the thunder thighs. “Grotesque,” she whispered under her breath. With a disdain-filled heart and a broken, trembling soul, she made the first small slice across her wrist. A crimson drop splattered to the floor. The voice of a friend wisped through her tumbling curls.

“Little girl, my precious girl, please come to me and rest.
For my plans for your life surpass your wildest dreams.
Please take my hand and let me lead, my darling, sweet child.
I am your Father, your Daddy, your One True Love. Stick with me and I will give you strength.”

The same young girl, four lonely and confused years later, accepts a party invitation from the senior football player at her university. She does not drink. She has not had sex. Yet. Her only desire? Acceptance. To feel beautiful. “Only this once,” she justifies as he slides her jacket off her shoulders, dropping it to the floor. Mr. Suave knows what he is after tonight. From the backseat of his car, that old friend softly speaks.

“Little girl, my precious girl, please come to me and rest.
For my plans for your life surpass your wildest dreams.
Please take my hand and let me lead, my darling, sweet child.
I am your Father, your Daddy, your One True Love. Stick with me and I will give you value.”

Now a grown woman with her MBA, she rapidly climbs the corporate ladder. Her conscience has long been shredded and entirely disregarded. For the promotion, she lies. For the bonus, she steals. Money and fame have buried her under a woolen blanket of loneliness and greed. Alcohol never lets her down. She returns to the bottle night after night, to soothe her aching, lifeless soul. From the darkness, she hears,

“Little girl, my precious girl, please come to me and rest.
For my plans for your life surpass your wildest dreams.
Please take my hand and let me lead, my darling, sweet child.
I am your Father, your Daddy, your One True Love. Stick with me and I will bring you success.”

The solemn silence settles in the immaculate hospital room. No husband, no children. She lies along, dying. Questioning eternity or the lack there of, the nurse knocks and enters. She smiles warmly, bringing a blinding burst of sunshine into the icy room. Routine. It is time for vitals. The nurse gently clasps the woman’s soft, pale hand and gazes deep into her eyes. She does not have to speak a word.

“Little girl, my precious girl, please come to me and rest.
For my plans for your life surpass your wildest dreams.
Please take my hand and let me lead, my darling, sweet child.
I am your Father, your Daddy, your One True Love. Stick with me and I will give you rest.”

The woman, no longer able to verbally communicate, slowly nods her head in complete acceptance. With her last breath, her tired eyelids curtain her eyes and the tension in her muscles subsides. The nurse knows. She is at home with her Father, her Daddy, her One True Love.