6Changes
Scott made sure that Rachel had a good room
at the HtW compound and gave her the twenty-five cent tour of the facilities. She
wondered why he was being such a concerned host, but was too tired to ask. The
first thing she did in her room was charge her phone so she could call
Franklin. That had to wait until the next day; because she slept all evening
and all night. She didn’t feel much better in the morning, but decided to drag
herself out of bed anyway. She unplugged the phone and dialed Franklin.
“Franklin! It’s Rachel, I’m in Miami right now,” she said after he answered.
“Oh, are you coming back here?” he asked. “No, no, we are just taking a little
break from traveling to recharge our batteries,” she said as she glanced at the
power cord. “We got in yesterday and we will be going to Nicaragua in a couple
of weeks. What is new with you?” she asked. He told her he was trying to find a
way to retire, but at least he got to work from home. He hadn’t seen anyone
from her family in months. He wanted to know if she had a boyfriend yet. She
thought for a second about mentioning Scott, but decided against it. “Nope,”
she said. They chatted for a few more minutes and then hung up.
She sat on the bed wondering what her
family was doing. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. She answered and
it was Scott. “Want some breakfast?” he asked. She smiled and nodded. They went
to the cafeteria and ate a good old American breakfast. “Mmmmm, that was so
good,” she said with her eyes closed and her hand on her tummy. Scott winked at
her and led her out of the cafeteria with his hand on her back. “I need to take
care of paperwork and I was hoping you could help me,” he said with pleading
eyes. “Of course,” she said. Scott had a
small dark office with no windows. He turned on the lights and started to pull
wads of receipts out of his backpack. “It’s going to take us a while to sort
these,” he said with a sigh. She sat across the desk from him and they got to
work. She kept feeling his eyes on her as she worked and nervousness began to
take over. She was still too afraid to let feelings dictate her actions. She
tried to crush them with thoughts of self deprecation. “A man like him would never in a million years choose a girl like me.
I’ve got such a weird past that nobody will put up with me,” she went on
and on with these sorts of excuses in her mind. Yet, every time she looked up
he smiled at her and his eyes sparkled with emotion. It was an
I-like-you-more-than-just-a-friend kind of look. She just had no idea how to interpret his
look; so she focused on the receipts. They finished sorting and went their
separate ways for the rest of the day. Rachel was so confused. She felt at war
with her own self while trying to sort out her feelings for Scott. She felt
ashamed; and at the same time knew she should not be. Love was part of the
fabric of being human, but her intensive training had suppressed that part of
her humanness. She wondered if he knew the struggle going on inside. She could
not think about it anymore. She found a book to read and dove in.
The days leading up to their departure for
Nicaragua flew by. Rachel felt ready to tackle the new assignment. She was
excited to be on her way to working again. Sitting around the HtW compound gave
her way too much time to be tortured by her thoughts. A woman from the office
drove them to the airport. They juggled bags and tickets as they jumped out of
her car in the departure drop off area. The Nicaragua team met them at their
gate and everyone was accounted for. Rachel found herself breathing a sigh of
relief that there were no girls like Lisa on this team. It was a good group and
they were all anxious to do their assignment. The long flight went well and
they were soon arriving at their destination of Leon, Nicaragua. They were
building a school for elementary age children. Rachel was in love. The children
were just precious and came to watch them work every day. They were overjoyed
at the prospect of having a brand new school…albeit a one room school. They
built the structure out of cement blocks in two weeks’ time and then used the
rest of their time to paint and decorate. Rachel spent time in the afternoon
with the children playing and singing their songs. Scott thought his heart with
explode watching her interact with the children. He kept his professional
attitude, however, for the rest of the assignment.
She didn’t want to leave Nicaragua, but she
was beginning to feel that way about any new place she visited. Everything was
exciting compared to Platzville. Rachel and Scott took their team to the
airport and said good bye. Then went to a bus station and rode a bus all the
way to San Salvador, El Salvador. She wasn’t sure why they were taking a bus
and Scott didn’t explain either. Perhaps it was because they had an extra day
before their new team would arrive in El Salvador. It was a very long, bouncy
trip in the bus. Rachel was tired, but couldn’t get comfortable. Scott had
claimed the window seat, as he always did. He could tell she wasn’t
comfortable; so he leaned her forward and put his arm around her. “Rest against
my shoulder,” he told her. Her butterflies moved into high gear, but she did
what he asked. She was soon at ease enough to rest and drifted off to sleep.
She woke after an hour or so, and was amazed his arm was still around her. “Is
your arm asleep?” she asked. He winked and said, “No, it’s fine.” She blushed
and laid her head down on his shoulder again. It felt so good to be close to
him.
When they arrived in San Salvador,
everything was business again. They took a taxi out to the airport and hired a
tour bus. Their team was waiting in the lounge for them and Scott commenced to
push everyone out the door to the bus. The small bus took them to San Miguel
where they were to rebuild some church camp cabins. They stayed in some of the
better cabins while they worked on the dilapidated ones. Rachel thought it was
nice to work with wood for a change. Most of their other jobs had used cement
blocks and mortar. Wood was scarce in El Salvador, but they were doing their
best to use recycled wood from other projects. It was a beautiful setting and
she loved to just pause and look at the scenery. One day as she was watching
the trees and grass move slowly with the breeze, she glanced over to a cabin
and saw Scott staring at her. When he saw that he had been caught, he winked at
her and got back to work. She knew her face was every shade of red and had to
give herself a moment before joining her team. In the two weeks that was
allotted for this assignment they completely refurbished four cabins. The
owners were so thankful and gave the team a huge feast on their final evening.
Rachel hadn’t seen a whole pig roasted before and it fascinated her. She knew
these people probably couldn’t afford the pig in the first place, but they had
shown their gratitude by sacrifice. She was deeply moved and knew this was not
a lesson she would soon forget.
Scott and Rachel flew back to Miami with the
team. He had grabbed her ticket from her at the airport in El Salvador to
ensure he could get their boarding passes together. She just laughed and rolled
her eyes, but internally was wondering what his deal was. She was beginning to
see that he was in love with her, but had no clue how to react. He was very
cozy with her on the plane and she was glad that he wasn’t someone else. They
bid farewell to their team; since most of them had connecting flights to catch
and they would be staying in Miami. They were picked up by a friend from HtW
and taken to the compound. Rachel was exhausted and told them, “Um, I’m just
going to go to my room and go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Scott looked a
little disappointed, but nodded and smiled.
That night as she lay in the dark, her mind
would not let her go to sleep. She was beginning to feel that she needed to do
something with her life other than HtW. “I
can’t depend on Franklin for the rest of my life,” she thought. She decided
the next day she would start looking for a job. That seemed to put her mind
mostly at ease; although, there was a subject she didn’t want to even go
near……Scott. The next day he found her in the cafeteria. She started to tell
him her thoughts from the night before and the color left his face. “Rachel,
Rachel, no, listen to me. You are doing so much good here. You are a huge asset
to HtW and we can’t do without you. Look, just stick it out here a while longer
until you know for sure what you want to do; or something, maybe, might come
up,” he was holding her hand as he finished his speech. She wasn’t sure if he
just wanted her to stay for himself, or if she truly was an asset, but she
decided to stay. He was relieved and became his normal self again. Later, she
was talking to Nancy, the woman from the office who was always their airport
shuttle, and told her the dilemmas she was facing. Nancy suggested that she
work on her education. “There is a community college three blocks away and they
have night classes for people like you to earn their GED. You could work for me
here in the office during the day and take the classes at night,” she informed
Rachel. Rachel’s eyes got big as she
exclaimed, “That is perfect! Thank you so much!” She skipped around the rest of
the day with a happy heart. That evening she saw Scott again and he wondered
why she was so happy. She told him Nancy’s idea and how excited she was. “So
this means I have to go on the next few assignments without you?” he asked in a
pouty voice. “Yes, but you know how much this means to me. I don’t want to be the
ignorant country girl anymore. I love learning and this is a perfect
opportunity for me,” she explained. He hugged her and wished her luck. She
wasn’t sure if he was still pouting because she wouldn’t be with him anymore,
but she had to focus on the task before her. Early the next morning Nancy took
her to the college and they enrolled her in the GED classes. “Six weeks of classes, I think I can handle
that,” she thought as they walked back to HtW. Scott left on his next
assignment the next day and she had to admit that she missed him already. She
was used to being with him constantly.
The night of her first class she was
pleasantly surprised to see that she was not the oldest person in the class.
She now dreaded any situation in which she was the odd man out. Here she would
fit in just fine. The whole lesson was so exciting to her that she forgot to
take notes. She realized her mistake at the end of the class and quickly found
someone who would let her copy their notes. She found she could remember the
entire lesson when reading over the borrowed notes, and even more than what
this person had written. She hurriedly copied the notes and then walked back to
the compound. She felt like she was walking on air. The whole experience was
more fun than she ever imagined. She thought probably most people would think
she was nuts, but having been deprived of learning half of her life she now
welcomed this opportunity. She had classes four times a week; each class was a
different subject. She loved history and social studies. These were areas of
which she was the most ignorant. In a controlled environment she and her
siblings were only taught the history which played along with their doctrines. She
studied every spare moment and took her books with her to the office. She would
quickly do what Nancy gave her and then work on her homework.
On a hot day in May, she was at her desk in
the office studying some science homework. She had already completed the tasks
that Nancy gave her and she was devoting her afternoon to study. Her study was
interrupted by the sound of Nancy coming down the hall with a man. It sounded
like she was trying to laud him by every means possible. Another office worker
leaned over and whispered, “That’s Sam Wells. He gives millions to HtW every
year. So we have to keep him happy.” She had never met a rich person before and
was quite intrigued. He came into the office and seemed to zone in on Rachel.
“Who is this lovely, new woman?” he asked. Nancy skittered over to his side and
replied, “This is Rachel. She has gone on lots of assignments with us and now
she is taking a break to take some classes.” Rachel was glad she hadn’t told
him she was getting her GED; it was so embarrassing at her age. “Rachel, I wonder if they have given you a
tour of Miami, yet?” he asked. She shook her head and said, “Well, I know the
airport very well.” She grinned at her own humor. “It’s settled then, Saturday,
ten o’clock, I will come pick you up,” he said as he turned to go out the door.
“Did I mention he wants a young wife?” her co-worker asked. Rachel rolled her
eyes and returned to her studies.
Saturday morning she had forgotten all
about Sam. She was sitting in her favorite spot at HtW. The courtyard was a
large area between the dorms and the offices. It had some trees and benches
that wrapped them. It was breezy and Rachel loved sitting under the trees to
read. He came into the courtyard with Nancy in tow. He was dressed as a typical
Miami resident. Rachel was trying not to laugh at his pink shirt and white
pants. As he walked quickly her way, she remembered that he was here for her.
She looked down at her favorite light blue sun dress and decided not to change
just for him. “Rachel, dear, Sam is here to take you out,” Nancy said with a
sing-song tone. “Let me just put my books away,” she replied. She wondered if
this would be a good time to disappear, but she didn’t want to disappoint Nancy
so she stayed. She returned to the courtyard wearing some sandals and carrying
her old ragged purse. He took one look at her purse and said, “Hmm, we might
need to do some shopping today!” She was embarrassed, but didn’t say anything.
He took her by the elbow and escorted her out to his convertible Mercedes. He
sped off toward the city, talking constantly. He wanted to make sure she knew
how much wealth he had and had fully described it by the time they arrived at
his first destination on her tour of Miami. He spent some time teaching her
about Miami architecture and then took her to a super fancy lunch. She had no
idea how to act or what to eat. It was all so fancy. She finally ordered the
only thing on the menu she could understand and a glass of water. After lunch
he asked her, “Could you imagine dining like this every day?” She tried her
best to smile politely and said, “Actually, no.” He took her shopping at some
fancy stores and when she wouldn’t pick anything out, he started picking things
out for her. He bought her some clothes and purses and jewelry. “Please, you
really don’t need to buy me anything. Don’t feel like you need to, really,” she
pled with him. Her attitude seemed to excite him even more. He had never met a
woman like her. “I’m doing it because I can. Just be a dear and take all my
gifts with a smile,” he replied. She was extremely embarrassed when she
returned to HtW with her arms full of bags. She thanked him as cordially as
possible without giving him any ideas. He seemed to be oblivious to her reserve
and told her, “I’m flying to LA tomorrow, but I will be back in time to take
you out again next Saturday.” He kissed her on the cheek and then ran out to
his fancy car before she could object. She wished that Scott had been there to
rescue her.
The next week she worked hard on her
studies every day and had once again forgotten about Sam when Saturday rolled
around. She was wearing shorts and an old t shirt. “Go put something nice that
I bought you on and I have a surprise for you!” he exclaimed. She groaned as
she walked to her room. She wished that she was better at telling people no,
but she didn’t want to offend Nancy or anyone else at HtW. She put on a pink
dress that he had bought her and dumped her purse out on the bed. She picked
out the necessities and put them in one of her new purses. She pulled her hair
back into a pony tail. “He is going to have to be happy with that,” she told
her mirror. As he guided her out of the compound she saw a long white limo
waiting by the curb. She felt like everyone at HtW was watching her, but no one
was saving her from this eccentric person. He saw her old sandals completing
her otherwise sophisticated outfit and moaned. He instructed the driver to stop
by a certain shop on the way to his surprise. They pulled in front of the shop
and Rachel saw a dozen pairs of high heeled shoes in the window. “They probably cost enough to fund a whole
assignment,” she thought as he led her into the store. A very zealous
salesperson seemed to know Sam and was eager to help him. Only fifteen minutes
later, they walked out with five pairs of shoes. Every pair was a style that
she had never worn in her life and she teetered as she walked out to the car in
a pair that matched her dress. Her ankles began to ache immediately and he
assured her that she would get used to them soon. The driver sped down the
freeway to a private airport. “I’ll bet you don’t know this airport!” he
gloated. They left her packages in the limo and boarded a small jet. The plane
carried them to Atlanta, where Sam owned a restaurant. They were treated like
kings and Rachel knew this was not the first time he had flown a woman to
Atlanta to show off the restaurant. She sighed and picked at her food. She
hated this. She would rather eat on a dirt floor than listen to him try to woo
her with tales of his wealth. Rachel tried her best to be polite and she could
tell that he was getting frustrated with her. The things that worked with most
women did not work on Rachel. She was so guarded and mysterious. This made him
more determined. Every weekend he took her on ultra luxurious excursions and
during the week he sent her flowers. She drew the line at phone calls. She had
absolutely no interest in talking to him on the phone while she should be
studying or working. Every time he called during the week she made excuses why
she could not speak to him. She was realizing that she needed to be extremely
blunt with him and tell him to stop seeing her. That was the opposite of her
character and she prayed for a good way out. In the meantime, she had to study
because her test was that Friday.
The following Saturday as she was enduring
through further description of his ego over lunch, Scott was arriving at HtW.
He asked Nancy where Rachel was and she told him the whole saga. She made a
point to tell him that she didn’t think Rachel cared for Sam at all, but that
she was just being polite. He was enraged by Sam’s selfish agenda and that he
was taking advantage of Rachel’s sweetness. Even though he was exhausted from
his assignments and travel, he waited outside the compound for Sam’s return.
Rachel was shocked to see him leaning against the wall waiting, and even more
shocked at the angry expression on his face. “Rachel, good to see you. Can you
give me a moment with Sam?” he asked without even looking at her. She gladly
hurried inside because she didn’t have to give Sam a salutation. Scott walked
over and got in Sam’s face. “Look, I know that you have done a lot for HtW, but
that doesn’t give you the right to come in and take what or who you want.
Rachel has been through a lot and she doesn’t need you dragging her out every
Saturday. She is too sweet to tell you that you don’t have a chance in the
world with her. She will sit and smile and be so polite while you get
absolutely nowhere in your objective. Do her a favor and stop seeing her. Just
leave her alone and let her move on with her life.” He wanted to say more, but
knew it would only serve to make him angrier. Sam stood quietly for a moment.
He started to argue with Scott, but knew that it was useless. “I suppose that
you are right. I’ve tried everything in the book to get her to love me, and she
won’t even blink at me. You win. I’ll go find someone easier since that is what
I’m used to,” he said with a sigh. With that he got in his car and left.
Scott ran his fingers through his hair and
tried to calm down for a few minutes. When he went back in, he found Rachel
sitting under her favorite tree reading. She was a vision of beauty with her
hair gently blowing in the breeze. He swallowed hard and then went to sit next
to her. “Sorry about all that. Now, tell me how you are and what you’ve been up
to,” he said. She put down her book and turned toward him. “Well, let’s see.
I’ve endured weeks of torture putting up with that guy and I kept hoping you
would show up and rescue me.” He perked up when she said that because it meant
she had been thinking of him. She continued, “Oh, and I passed my GED top of my
class!” “Wow! That is awesome!” he exclaimed. He was suddenly so overwhelmed
with her that he had to do something or risk internal combustion. “Rachel, I
need to sort receipts again. Will you come with me to my office and help me?”
he asked with hope. He knew she would say yes, because she was Rachel. She
nodded and picked up her book. They went to his office and he shut the door
behind her. She was a little confused when he did that, but soon knew his
reason. He took her book from her and put it on the desk. Then he wrapped his
arms around her and whispered, “I missed you so much,” before kissing her. This
was her first kiss ever, and it was a doozy. Her head was getting light and her
knees were buckling. His kiss reached into her soul and unlocked the feelings
that had been long forbidden to surface. She moaned slightly as if the feelings
had been released by a physical exertion. He pulled away from her and touched
her face. “Are you alright? I just can’t help it. I’m so in love with you. May
I please kiss you again?” he asked. She was completely speechless, but gave him
a smile that told of her approval. He kissed her for a long time and then said,
“I think these receipts can wait until Monday. Let’s go have dinner together.”
Rachel kept putting her hand over her heart. She could still feel the moment
she had been freed to love Scott. He noticed and asked again if she was ok.
“I’m more than ok. For the first time in my life I’m in love and I don’t have
to feel guilty about it. I am free to express my feelings of love to you
without shame. I am so very happy, Scott.” She had tears in her eyes as she
finished speaking.
They sat down to eat dinner, but neither
had much interest in eating. Scott put down his glass and took her hand.
“Rachel, I need to tell you something about myself. I hope you will still love
me after I tell you.” She couldn’t imagine what he was talking about, but hoped
he wasn’t a criminal. “My dad owns several large companies in New York and he
has been waiting on me for three years to come back and work with him. I was
the rebellious kid who didn’t want to work with his father and decided to do
humanitarian work to stick it to him. Anyway, I guess lately I’ve been seeing
how selfish I’ve been to ignore him. Mom died ten years ago and so it’s just he
and I. I haven’t even seen him since I came to HtW. So, I’ve decided to go back
home in a couple of weeks to be with dad.” He finished his revelation and took
a drink. She certainly understood needing to leave parents in order to find
oneself, but apparently his exodus had been for other reasons. “Well, you are
in luck. I still love you,” she said. At the back of her mind, however, she was
wondering why they were starting a relationship at the very moment he was
telling her he was leaving. The following morning she knocked on his office
door. She heard a faint “Come in,” and went inside. Scott was working on his
papers. They both looked at each other for a moment trying to decide if the day
before had been real. Huge smiles broke out on their faces and they knew at
once that it had really happened. He stood up and was holding her and kissing
her in seconds. She managed to weakly say, “I, uh, left my book in here yesterday.”
He laughed and kissed her again. The next two weeks they spent every minute
possible with each other. He had to handle all of the disappointment at HtW
over his resignation. Everyone was asking Rachel what she would do now, as if
her future was significantly tied to his. “I’m going to get a degree,” she
would tell them. She began looking up universities online and trying to figure
out what she wanted to study. She thought of all the people groups she had
encountered on her travels with HtW and how she was fascinated and excited by
each one. She had an epiphany that she loved to study people and so she would
study anthropology. She had no idea where or how, but she was going to do it.
Three days before Scott’s departure, he
found her reading under her favorite tree. She was happy to see him, but
uncertain about their future. Before she knew what was happening, he was
kneeling in front of her. He took both of her hands in his and began his
proposal, “Rachel, I think I have loved you for so long; I only regret that I
did not tell you sooner. You are the sweetest woman I have ever met in my whole
life. I had never met a woman that I would want to spend the rest of my life
with, until I met you. I know I’m crazy to ask you to go to New York with me,
but I don’t know how else to keep the love of my life with me. So, will you
make me happy and, hopefully, make yourself happy and be my wife?” He watched
her face with hope. She felt so relieved. She would not have to be alone in
Miami wondering why he left her. She smiled and replied, “You know I love going
in airplanes with you.” He pulled a box out of his pocket. He opened it to
reveal a large diamond ring. It sparkled in the light coming through the trees.
He put the ring on her finger and then kissed her. “I’m so happy. I thought I
might just have to put you in my suitcase anyway, if you had said no,” he
laughed. They discussed their plans and he revealed that he had already bought
her plane ticket. “But, where am I going to live? I mean, it wouldn’t be proper
for me to live with you before we got married, right? I know it’s a norm these
days for couples to live together and all that, but I am just not ready for
that. I still think it’s a good idea to wait for, you know, that,” she said
with her eyebrows furrowed to express her worry. He smiled and stroked her
face, “I know, sweetheart, I won’t make you do anything you aren’t ready to do.
My dad owns an apartment building and there is an empty unit. He says you can
live there rent free until we get married. You can start working on your degree
and I can get acclimated to being an office rat.” She laughed at the mental
image of him as a rat. “Ok, I guess that means I have some packing to do!”
Scott
had some errands to take care of, so he left her alone. She rose and went to
her room to think. She decided to call Franklin. The phone rang several times
before he answered. “Franklin, it’s me, Rachel. How are you?” He seemed to take
a moment to reply, “Oh Rachel, I’m a little under the weather, but glad to hear
from you.” She told him about everything that happened that day. “I’m moving to
New York in less than three days. I really wish you would come see me there.
I’ll be studying anthropology, but I don’t know where yet.” They spoke for a
while longer and then Rachel had a crazy thought. “Franklin, I would really
like to talk to my brother, David, the one who used to drive me to town. I’m
wondering if he still visits the hunting shop owner and if he does, maybe I
could set up a time to call him there. Do you think you could find out for me?”
Franklin was excited to have a mission; he had been so bored since she left.
“Of course, girlie, I’ll be happy to. I’ll give you a ring back when I find
something out.” They hung up and Rachel liked the thought of having a
connection with her family. She prayed that Franklin would find out something
good. The next day she was packing up her beloved books when her phone rang.
She answered quickly, “Hello, Franklin?” He chuckled, “Yep, Franklin here. I’ve
got good news for ya. I went to Smitty’s this morning and asked him about
David. I reckon he must have taken over your rabbits; because he comes in to
sell some to Smitty every Friday morning at ten a.m. He said you could call him
at ten-fifteen and he’d let ya talk to David.” She was so happy! “Oh my
goodness, that’s great! Thank you, Franklin, what would I do without you?” He
chuckled again and they soon hung up. “I
can talk to my brother tomorrow!” she thought with glee. Scott came in to
see her glowing and asked what was going on. She told him about her
conversation with Franklin and that she would be speaking with David in the
morning. “Are you sure you want to do that? Your family is not exactly anxious
to talk to you. I don’t want you to be hurt,” he said. “I’ll be fine because I
have my wonderful fiancé to comfort me if it doesn’t go well,” she said and
then kissed him.
The following morning she was up with the
roosters. She ate early, checked the charge of her battery numerous times, and
made sure the signal was good in her room. She paced the floor until ten and
then sat staring at her phone until ten fifteen. She slowly dialed the number
Franklin had given her. “Smitty’s Hunting Goods,” came the answer on the other
end. “Um, yes, this is Rachel. I’m calling for David Muller.” Her voice was
shaking from the fear of the unknown. The owner mumbled something and then
there was lots of noise as he passed the phone to David. “Hello?” the familiar
voice said. Rachel tried to speak calmly, “David, it’s Rachel! I’m so glad I
can talk to you!” He was silent for a moment and then said, “Where the
tarnation have you been? Dad says you are dead, but I was worried about you.
That was my responsibility, ya know, to take care of you. Well, where have you
been?” She smiled and told him, “Believe it or not, I’ve traveled around South
and Central America building schools and homes and helping people. I speak
Spanish now. I’m going to move to New York, though, because I’m engaged. What’s
going on with you?” He retorted, “Hold on, missy, you ain’t getting’ off with
that short of a story. Well, I guess you can call me next week, right?” She
told him that she would call him gladly and so he answered her question. “We’ve
been the same as always. Hatin’ people
and bein’ alone. I’m just glad I’ve got Smitty here; he is my only friend in
this world. Well, I guess now I have you again. I’m takin’ care of your
stinkin’ rabbits now; ‘cause I convinced dad that I could make some money with
‘em. Call me next week, Ok?” She assured him she would call him and then they
hung up. Scott came through the door as soon as she had put the phone down. He
had been listening from outside. “Well?” he asked. “Um, I think it went well.
He was glad to know that I wasn’t dead like my father is telling them. He sells
my rabbits in town to make some money. I’m just so happy I got to talk to him,”
she said. He winked and hugged her, “I’m glad it went well, too, but I was kind
of looking forward to comforting you.” She smiled and said, “Sorry about that.”
The next day was their departure day. They
would be boarding a flight to New York that evening. She pulled out a piece of
paper and a pen and sat on her bed staring at it for a few minutes. She took a
deep breath and started writing.
Dear Dad and Mama,
I sincerely hope you all are doing
well and you are prospering. I am writing to make some explanations and tell
you what I’ve been doing. You cannot tell the family that I am dead anymore. In
fact, I have never been more alive. First, I must tell you about my reasons for
leaving. Anna was right when she told us to learn how to love people. All we
did was hate and isolate ourselves. I just don’t think it’s good to cut off
everybody and make yourself more important than everyone else. You are saying
that what you think is right and no one else in the whole world knows what is
right. There is no way you can say that. Sure, there are bad things going on in
the world, but there are also lots of good things and you are missing out on
them. I have been to five different countries in Central and South America. I
have helped to build schools, homes, and a church camp. I have learned Spanish
and been so touched by these Latin people. I have found that I love to help
people. I will go anywhere that people are in need. Through the humanitarian
aid agency that I was serving with, I met a wonderful man. He and I are
engaged. Don’t worry, we have a pure relationship. We will be moving to New
York today. He works with his father and I will be going to school. I love
learning about people and the world. There is so much in life that helps us
become more well-rounded people.
I miss you both and my siblings. I
wish so much that you would welcome differences in your home. You would find
happiness instead of anger.
Love, Rachel
She finished
her letter and stared at it for awhile. She knew her father would read it; if
nothing else but to criticize and dissect her words. She didn’t want David to
get in trouble for knowing where she was; so she had decided to tell them. She
folded the letter and stuffed it in an envelope. She walked it to the office
and asked one of her friends there to mail it for her. The act of her
explanation to her parents felt like closure to her. She could now move on to
the next chapter of her life without regret.
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