He had hidden in the forest waiting; the knife caressed and the strikes calculated … attacking savagely until Annabel’s blood drenched the silent earth beneath her favorite oak tree.
He had known she would escape … felt her slipping out of his control even as he stabbed more savagely.
The oak tree shuddered at the brutality. The birds and squirrels quietly came forward. All breathed a sigh of relief that the presence was gone. The animals and birds gathered to look at their sweet friend then turned their heads in an agony of sorrow. The huge oak tree raised its branches in homage of the tender life now lying silent before him.
A figure in glistening white came and leaned over the body of Annabel and a single teardrop fell from bright brown eyes …
Lifting Annabel to her feet, the figure gently touched her face and supported her until she looked into His eyes. Ever so gently – their mouths touched - as Yashmea breathed life steadily into His friend.
She slowly straightened and with a graceful movement took Yashmea’s hand. The broken bloody body lay on the forest floor as Annabel, in her new body, walked next to the white-cloaked figure and out of the forest.
Sharp intakes of breath could be heard all around …
And so … death is swallowed by grace.