Prologue
The rats were awake and skittering around on the young girl’s bed. She could feel the little ones playing in a manner much like a puppy going around and around. It must be trying to get its tail again was the thought that came to mind.
The young girl opened her eyes to a light shining in her eyes but she still could see only a little of the room she was kept in. It was still damp and dark with dirt floors until it turned to mud in the far corner of the room. She could see the water dripping there from the ceiling of her chamber.
There were shelves along the other wall covering an old brick wall which was crumbling with age. The mortar between the bricks was so brittle it could be picked with her bare fingers. The other walls were mad of dirt with large stones trapped within.
She was afraid to explore any farther in the dark room. The one time she did she touched the sticky spider webs and felt the spiders crawling all over her for days. She hated spiders after that as they made her itch.
She looked up at the door. The man should be coming in soon as he usually did when the light shone into the room. She hoped he would as he always brought her something to eat. She was very hungry. Once in a while he would stay and talk to her but not often.
It was getting hot again and the puddle was starting to get bigger. That usually meant that the loud noises from outside would start soon. Those noised always scared her but not as much as the lights which flashed.
She hoped it would never be as bad as the one time when the roar was so loud and the lights kept flashing outside. It was so bad that even the room started shaking. All she could do was to curl up on her straw mat and wait for it to end.
At last she could hear the rattling from up the stairs and the thumping. She knew the man was coming to see her. When the door opened light flooded the room. She could smell the sweet aroma of the food on the tray he carried. It made her mouth start to water.
He looked at her with those watery blue eyes behind the wire rimmed glasses. “Going to need a new dress soon,” he said more to himself than to her.
She just looked at the tray in his hand expectantly. He nodded and said, “For what you are about to receive may the Lord make you truly thankful. Amen” He set the tray down beside her and went back up the stairs. She tore into the food.
