A Thanksgiving Prayer... Part One.

He had not had a decent meal in weeks. Sneaking through trash bins to try and survive simply was not going to work any longer. Maybe it was the town he was in. Perhaps some different scenery would make his luck change. He gathered what was his and packed it in his Army bag. It wasn't much, but it was his. The rain falling on his head only served to remind him of where he had come to. He had to stop and think sometimes about where he had been. Car after car passed him as he walked the dark lonely highway. The lightening, the dark purple clouds that he was sure separated Heaven from this Hell he was in, lit up the night sky. He swore he could see the heavens right through the clouds when the lightening sparked and sent it's furious electricity to the ground. The ground shuddered beneath his worn out boots when the thunder crashed above him. Sad, lonely, tired and hungry, he walked the road without a clue where it would take him. Perhaps if he had known, he may have decided to have one more meal from Kentucky Fried Chickens well stocked dumpster.
Mark had not always been the man that walked the road this night. there was a time that he was a somebody. He was a father two times over. He was a husband that loved his wife more than anything else in the world. He was a son and an Uncle that was very adored by all he knew. A compassionate man tat wanted only to live his life with his wife and children. Not to much to ask for...or was it? from where he was to where he walked today, one would think he had asked for to much. And today, watching the clouds come lower to the ground, hearing the loud crashes of it's powerful strength, Mark... hated God.
He found an abandoned barn and took cover in it as the winds and rain cut through his exposed cheeks like a knife wielded by a Samurai warrior. The barn was open on one side, where the wall had given way. Mark found a small corner of the barn and sat down,leaning against the wall and remembering. His mind drifted back to that last day and though he tried to fight it, the memory won again.
"Hey baby, I have all the winter gear and skis loaded up. Tara an Elizabeth will be out in five minutes." Mark cried out in his sleep as the voice of his beautiful wife crept into his dream. Callie... the most beautiful woman in the world Mark would say. Her long auburn hair fell over her shoulders like a fleece an hung way below breasts. Her green eyes danced as if they had tiny fairies in them. She had a medium build that suited her perfectly. When she walked in her Levis, it was like watching a beauty queen taking the runway and making it her own.
"Alright then it looks like we are ready to go, Cal. Girls" he called out... "Let go! We want to beat the traffic on the long mountain trail."
"We are coming Dad, don't stress." It was now the voice of Liza that echoed through out his mind now. He reached out to the empty air as if he were hugging her. tears exploded from his eyes and he tossed around recklessly, trying so desperately to wake up. His body needed the sleep and was not going to let him wake this time.
Liza, 17 years old and a full fledged tomboy, she was the image of her mother. Her green eyes smiled at Mark and she flashed him her pearly whites. Teeth that had cost more than their new explorer. She was slimmer than her mother but had all of her mother's spunk.
Tara came bounding right behind Liza..Even when going to an outdoor event, she was dressed to kill. She looked like Mark, her dirty blond hair and huge blue eyes drawing people to her. Her smile was intoxicating and she seemed to more glide across the grass than walk. Mark smiled in his sleep for only a moment. Suddenly, his smile was replaced with a frown. Tears ran down his cheek again and he half lifted off of the floor in an attempt to stop the madness he knew was about to begin again. "No", he called out into the barn. "We can't go! Tell me you want to stay home, please! God, no, Stop it! She didn't do anything to you! Let her go!"
Mark could see her face, hear her voice calling out to him. "Daddy please, don't let this happen! I don't want to die! Please save me daddy. I am begging you!"
Mark saw her beautiful face, it's beauty changing from pure preciousness to the horror he saw when next he saw her. Tara, Liza and his beautiful Callie all were gone. Taken to heaven far to early, while he was forced to stay behind and relive the terrible ordeal that had now brought him to this barn in the middle of no-where. None of them guilty of anything more than living life and loving it. The thunder crashed outside again and a streak of lightening lit up the inside of his haven. He snarled at it as he woke fully. How dare it try to come inside the only safe place he been in for a very long time. He grabbed his duffel bag and went back outside , the rain still strong enough to sting his face. At this point, Mark really didn't care.