Chapter 3, The First Miracle.

Summer had passed and spring had now come. For a small while words had got out about a white English girl having gone missing in the United States. The hello kitty girl she was called by many, but not so anymore.

Instead the nation's attention had been quick to turn to other matters, namely the Murder trial of O. J. Simpson seemed to now be on everyone's minds, especially as the trial seemed to be starting to come to a close.

So little by little with no new and exciting findings coming out of the missing girl case. Plus with very few photos and even less videos of the girl to be shared to help with the search and keep the media interested, Lili was quickly forgotten by most.

And though her parents didn't want to go, with another baby on the way the couple decided with a heavy heart to go back home. Although promises of coming back to search again at another later date were still made.

***

In the town of Stowe, high in the mountains, between two mountains there was a sizable lake that from space seemed like a deformed half-moon. With water coming down to the lake from the tallest mountain peak in Stowe, and the lake hidden further in the mountains where a certain girl hid, the sizable lake was kept fed with water.

The girl had not failed to notice the lake's existence and the many tasty fishes that hid within the lake's depths. But not only were the fishes to the girls interest, but it was also an extremely beautiful place.

With the lake being surrounded by mountains on all but the eastern side it was nicely hidden away from the world at large. But the problem was that there on the Eastern side was a larger home, a large wooden manor in fact with 5 inhabitants.

Still hidden away behind the trees the girl had for a while now been sneaking to the lake to try her luck at fishing. With a pink bandana with a cat face in the front, a pink shirt with a cat there and the sleeves ripped off, a pink armband on her right with a cat face, pink pants that were pulled up, and no shoes, the girl stood within the water and by the pure might of her spear tried to catch the fish.

Long, she waited, and in time the fishes came to nibble at her bare feet. Then she pulled back her spear, and sent it down on the nibbling little things, she hit one, but the spear merely grazed its scales.

"AHH, not again."

She complained as once more her fishing had bared no results for her. Though with plenty of her newly found forest berries and ants in her stomach she still had energy to try again. And so she waited, standing knee deep in the water, totally unmoving like a prehistoric statue of a primitive hunter with a kitty cat pink bandana and clothes.

Though her concentration was disturbed by the loud yelling coming from the manor on the far end of the lake. She couldn't see it from behind the trees at the arching part of the lake, but she sure could hear them.

***

In the manor surrounded by fields of tomatoes and strawberries an argument had began. The five had been gathered around their sizable table with plenty of food there to eat, although the oldest of them was not looking pleased.

Because of his medical condition he could not eat meat anymore, besides his teeth were no good anymore, the doctor was constantly telling him to get implants, but he refused. He refused his sickness, his old wrinkly age, he didn't want to be old and frail, it just wasn't fair.

Still his sickly wife sat beside him, saying grace before eating as if everything was alright, as if saying grace would help with anything. Right now they were in their young friends families home enjoying dinner with a young couple and their boy, as they were his and his wife's bosses and friends. But they weren't their family, they weren't their blood for his wife could not give birth to any, and yet she seemingly was alright with this.

They were old, they were close to death, and yet they had nothing to leave behind on this earth. All they had was this nice family that room care of them, as they had always done, while they did the same in return.

But now as he listened to them thanking the lord, and thanking Jesus Christ for blessing them, something snapped within him. He didn't feel blessed, not at all.

In anger he smashed his old wrinkly fists as hard as his old 75 year old self could do at the table.

"Bang."

In shock all 4 looked to him, as he stood up weekly, her right leg hurting as he did so. Then through gritted teeth he ranged madly and yelled.

"Yes Praise Jesus, Praise Jesus! Thank the lord for what? What is he going to do? I'm sick, I'm going to die soon, I know it! And for all that I have done there will be no salvation for me, no place in heaven! God damnit, fuck this!"

Ludwig, the father of the boy, and the husband to the young woman sitting at the table then stood up and snapped at the mad old man.

"Enough with your shit Eric! I will not listen to your mad ramblings at my table, not again! Now sit."

The old man Eric smirked and spat at the table in disrespect as he said.

"Fuck you boy. You might be my superior and a General by rank. But I'm still your senior boy! I have fought in more wars than you, and done more than your little plane has ever done! You ought to show me some respect, boy."

Ludwig snorted at these words in rage and was quick to walk before the old man with heavy steps that made the wooden floor creek, and sent shivers of fear within his boy and the women who all stood in silence. And with force he grasped the smaller, and older man's collar and growled out hars words.

"Get, out, now, and fucking get a grip of yourself old man."

The old man Eric merely smirked at his words, though his old wife named Kristy was quick to protest.

"Please no violence in front of the child, for god's sakes you two."

Hearing this Ludwig was quick to let go of the old man. Though Eric once more merely spat on the table again and said.

"Oh, don't worry woman. This is but a civil conversation between men. Violence in itself is a whole another ball game, for men can do the most horrendous things to another man when it truly comes to violence."

For these words the old man merely gained no words, merely a glare of warning was seen on the tall man Ludwig's face. Old man Eric said nothing, turned to the door and slowly limped to it, and with calm he opened the door to the outside, but stopped, looked to the table and said.

"You can have the soup, I'm not hungry anymore."

And with that he left out the door, making sure to slam in behind himself as he did so. In rage, and frustration of his own life he limped onwards.

After years of constant wars, and scars gained from those wars, his old body was now scarred. On the beaches of Normandy he had been a sniper, and there as he had been retreating further within France he had shot in the leg for the first time.

A hole had come to his tight, but he recovered. He continued to fight, he saw many horrors, killed many men, and then he had fled back to his home land in the north.

After that acme Korea where he fought on his former enemies side, and after that Vietnam where he met Ludwig. And for all his services to this nation, what had he in the end really gained?

Well he didn't regret it, not really. Though there were of course many things that he would have most definitely liked to change. But no, what he really wanted was more time. More time to serve, leave something meaningful behind. And more than anything he wanted to finally fight within a war that his side would emerge out of as victors.

Like his great Viking ancestors before him, he wanted to conquer and bask in the glory of victory within war, and all the things that would follow from it. For he was a true warrior at heart, and it was all that he truly was good at, not this farming business within the mountains.

Lost in his thoughs Eric walked along the lakeside. Walking on the well maintained grass he then went into the little forest at the curve of the lake. And there past the small forest between the arch, he could see his usual grassy spot surrounded by the forest on all sides except on one where the lake was.

With blurry eyes he took in the sight of it, but there on the shallow part of the lake his hazy old eyes seemed to catch a glimpse of something. A girl in all pink it seemed to be, with a sharpened wooden stick, and a kitty cat pink bandana.

Though her deep blue eyes seemed to quickly take not of him, as she then ran within the forest. Her long light blonde hair fluttering behind her as she did so.

Eric felt confused, he didn't believe his eyes. A girl in all pink within the woods? How, why? No, he must have been just seeing things, right?

Shaking his head, Eric stumbled out the forest and onto the grass, as he then sat down and took in the sight of the lake before him. The scenery here as always was so beautiful, but his hazy eyes did take a lot out of it now, plus his legs hurt now after all that walking.

Laying down on his back, Eric looked to the clear sky above and thought back to his past, all the good, all the bad, the loss, the sacrifices, and that what could have been. A bitter smile came to his face, tiers came to his eyes, as he muttered to himself.

"I'm at my limits, so this is it then, soon it will all end. Old sick and full of regrets, so pathetic."

Eric knew his death would not be now, but deep within himself he could feel it close. Soon it would come, just as it had come to most of his childhood friends by now.

But then light steps, so quiet that they were barely audible from the light wind that rustled the trees was heard approaching. And then a voice so soft, so sweet that it sounded like that of an angels came to him.

"End you say, but yet, you still wish to be here? Don't you?"

To Eric the answer to this question was something that he did not hesitate to say.

"Yes of course. Of course if only I could, I keep living till I am satisfied and ready to leave this earth."

Then a shadow fell upon him, as a small thin figure came to loom over him, as it spoke again with that sweet voice of it's.

"Then let me help you, and let's see just how long you can keep on going till you're end. That is if you really do wish for it, if you wish to be a winner as some would say, hmm?"

Eric felt at a loss, but hopeful as well. Maybe, just maybe this was it, God had finally come to answer his prayers, and so he with hope yelled.

"Yes, yes please, I'll do anything, please bless me."

And then the figure kneeled, and its all so soft, and small of a feminine hand came upon his eyes, and it said.

"I understand your pain, now let it be gone."

Eric knew not what then came upon him, but it was warm, it was comforting, and it felt addicting. It was like he was back within his cradle as a baby, and his mother was there looking down upon him, as she tucked him in under his warm little blanket, and placed her warm comforting hand upon his head.

This was heaven, this was a miracle. His head and vision found itself consumed within a brilliant white light that did not blind him, but brought him strength. It was like time began to move backwards, but it wasn't time in itself but his mind and his body that did.

From stumbling down those stairs, to being hit by a grenades fragments in Vietnam, to being blinded and for a time coming unable to hear because of that explosion in Korea, to all the times within the second world war. Slowly it all seemed to vanish away, the pain, the nightmares and most of all the scars he could feel doing so as well.

He knew not for how long he was within the light, until it finally pulled away and left him there stunned. Untill finally the shadow, now lightly heaving for breathe pulled back, and then it softly asked.

"All better?"

Coming back to his senses, Eric pushed himself into a sitting position, and indeed he felt all better. Dressed in his farmer's outfit he could immediately see that his hands seemed young again, there were no scars, and there were many healthy looking veins on them. His legs also moved on command, and without any pain, no pain from his wounds, and no knee pain, zero.

Eyes wide Eric looked at himself for but a moment, until he remembered something, and then quickly turned around and went to his knees, to then see her.

She was small, even while being on his knees she barely came up to his head level. Her skin was so smooth looking, face cute like nothing that he had ever seen before, full lips, long eyelashes, big deep blue eyes, beautiful eyebrows, and just a perfect beautiful face overall. Her hair was long and light blonde, it went down to her butt level, and her pink kitty cat outfit only enhanced her cuteness even more.

Seeing her, with that little wooden spear in hand looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Eric's heart melted at the cute sight of her. She was a true goddess in his eyes, not after what she did, she indeed was a goddess, was she not, and without further thought Eric muttered out his next words in utter astonishment.

"The Goddess of cuteness."

Lili hearing this was confused, as she then pulled out a light stone from her pocket and tossed it to the man, who was quick to grab it.

"It's warm, what is it?"

He asked, as she then explained.

"If you wish it to do so, then it will heal you over time and keep you well. But you must ask, you must believe, and you must not think of doing harm to me. If you break last of the rules or even think about seriously breaking it, then it will turn red and I will know your intent, and after that it will never help you again. Do you understand?"

Seeing the white crystal within his hands that seemed to be pulsating out light like a heart at regular intervals, Eric was in complete awe. Looking back up at the girl, he the. quickly as if realising something fell to all fours and pressed his head into the ground, and thanked his new found Goddess.

"Thank you Goddess, I will be sure to cherish this gift of your forever, and keep it close to me as of it were my own flesh and blood. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Lili hearing the word Goddess again felt taken aback as she corrected the man, and gave him her new thought up name.

"Its Mary, just Mary ok. That's my name. Now please stand up already, I just healed you a little as all. Now since I healed you and gave you one of my stones, I would ask something of you as well."

Eric did not dare to stand, but he did get to his knees again as he looked to her and said with reverence.

"Anything, my god DDD, I mean Mary."

Eric breatha sight of relief almost having called her a goddess of cuteness again, but at the last moment he manged to honour this holy being by calling her by her real name. When she then spoke out her wish.

"Mmm, well I saw that you had some tomatoes and strawberries growing within your fields. Well if it's alright, I was thinking that I would like to have a few of them. Just a few, if that's ok?"

Eric's eyes were wide, he could not comprehensive why a goddess would ask for such simple things, but who was he to question a higher being.

"O o o, of course. Have as many as you like. We aren't financially dependent on them at all, we just grow them as a hobby here and sell them within the town as all. Please take as many as you want."

Hearing this Lili was overjoyed. She could hardly believe it. Her plan had seemingly worked, after changing her outfit little, and gaining a bit lighter of a hair colour due to her strengthening her cor and body connection, along with her new fake name of Mary had been enough to not be recognised here.

This man could not identify her as Lili anymore. Maybe finally with this her luck would change finally. And not just that, but her intake of food would become better as well. Life was finally starting to turn around for her it seemed.