7 - THE CITY'S ESCAPE

The bath lasted for a few minutes, and Marcia left the girl under the water more time than she needed. She realized she was enjoying the warmth and the movement of the bath foam that was cleaning her.

Sometimes, the girl smiled, and the woman felt like she was the luckiest person in the world. She knew she would have to find her parents the next day, but just tasting the feeling of being a mother, caring for a child, was enough for the moment. Tomorrow would be another day, and she would appreciate those moments as much as she could.

She took the girl out of the shower and dried her. She led her to her bedroom where she rummaged the wardrobe looking for warm clothes. Everything was too big for the girl, but she didn't think it would bother her. She would be warm and safe inside of a house.

And then she was awakened from her cocoon of love and passion by her husband. He rushed inside the room, opening the door with a kick.

—Are you crazy, Bruno? Look what you did to the door.

But he didn't answer. He stared at his wife with hatred in his eyes and a foaming mouth.

—What's wrong with you?

The man took a step forward.

—Get away from here, you asshole. You're not going to hurt this girl.

And the girl spoke for the first time since she'd come into the house.

—It's not me he wants to hurt. It's you.

The woman looked at her with doubt and fear.

—What do you mean?

The girl took the woman's hand tenderly.

—Don't worry. I will not let him hurt you.

Her voice was loaded with such an adult voice, that for a moment, Márcia remembered that movie where the parents adopted a girl who turned be a much older woman who looked like a child in the end. And for the first time since she'd found her, she felt afraid. And the girl also felt her fear.

Don't be afraid.

And then she hugged the woman.

And like magic, Bruno turned his back on them and ran out of the house.

—What was this? Why did he give up?

—I'm not a child. I am something beyond that I don't even understand yet. My nature is to clean the land from bad people, and save the good ones. And you showed me what pure love is. Loving the other

Márcia was unbelieving and started to walk away from the girl. She smiled.

—I understand your fear but rest assured that you will live today. And you will be a mother, as you desire. This feeling of yours needs to be shared. And I'm here to save you.

The girl took her hand once more, and led her out of the house. Marcia didn't feel cold, even though she knew the temperature should be under zero.

She was scared by the scene her eyes could see when she got very close. She almost tripped over a lifeless body lying in the middle of the road.

—Oh my God, what happened here?

—It's the cleaning. They were evil. They didn't deserve to live. Your husband was evil too. Have you ever wondered why you never got pregnant?

Marcia stopped walking.

—What do you mean? The doctor said my uterus was too weak to have a child.

—He lied and helped your husband with an abortion pill. I read it all in his mind. He didn't want to have a child, and this was the way he found to end your maternal desires.

The woman started to cry, remembering the three children she lost, and the three children who could be with her if that didn't happen. Could she believe the girl? In a way, she thought so. Even if it all seemed like a terrifying and unreal story, she believed her words.

—Then it means that I can be a mother - this was all she could say, and then tears began to stream down her face, and collide with the icy ground.

The girl hugged her once more, and she felt that loving feeling again.

Clarity was beginning to take over from several points, and she could see through the snow curtain where the place was clearer.

Fire.

—Oh my God, the city will burn. Everything will be reduced to dust.

The girl took her by the hand and took her inside once more.

—Tomorrow morning, there will be only ashes left. Residents' remains can be found along with the houses and trees' ashes, but I don't think anyone will ever look for them. It will be an unresolved mystery, and I am sure you will not talk about it. I need to come out of nowhere and leave in the same way.

And then the last ordeal came through the girl's head. It would be the final test to see if the woman was everything that she appeared to be.

The room's window shattered, and an insane woman stepped inside. The same foam that ran down the mouth of Marcia's husband was present in the stranger.

—Is she one of yours too?

The girl denied.

The woman stepped towards the child with hate in her eyes, and her hands outstretched trying to reach her neck.

Márcia was faster than she ever thought she could be. Her maternal reflexes were there. Before the stranger could reach her protégé, a ceramic vase struck her on the head, leaving her lifeless on the floor.

Marcos' mother was dead.

Márcia had passed her final test without even knowing it.

***

—Are you sure you do not want to come with me? Forget your nature, and enjoy a life free from all this killing?

—I do. My nature tells me that's what I should do. He raised me for that.

—Who is he? God?

—A kind of God, yes. Maybe an envoy of the very one you call God. And I feel like he's here. I need to stay, and maybe find some answers.

The woman nodded. Before getting in the car, she wrapped the girl in his arms for long seconds and then kissed her on the forehead.

—So take care. And thanks for everything.

—Go in peace. Maybe we'll meet again, and you'll introduce me to your real children. There are other worlds, Márcia, and perhaps I can introduce you to them when everything is done here.

The woman smiled. She got into the car and turned the key in the ignition. She didn't know how she got out of that white curtain and streets full of bodies, but in deeply, she knew the girl was leading her. She was happy.

Finally, the motherhood hope was present. She could be a mother, and it wouldn't be in a distant future. She would be the mother of hers, and those abandoned by their parents. Her love was so great that she wouldn't be content with just her children. She needed to show the ones who were abandoned that life could be good.