Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!
First Impression: This one's quite the little tale here. I think it does almost a full circle of twists there going from a prayer that may not work to one that seems to work then the devil and yet a wholesome ending.
Anyway let's get right to it,
Harriet Madison stroked Jack Madison’s soft, black hair, the only part of him that was not weak.
His eyes couldn’t open. They were closed shut as if he were soundly sleeping, but she knew better. His body was a withered husk, his skin an unearthly yellow, the yellow of rot. His chest moved, but his breath came out broken.
“You know he doesn’t have much long.” Eugene Madison said gently. He stood at the doorway, not bearing to go near Jack‘s decaying body.
Harriet didn’t look up. She wouldn’t turn away from his face. She stayed silent, stroking his hair. She listened to the sounds of Eugene’s boots as he walked away.
Hmm well this is quite the little start here. There's definitely an air of decay to things and a bit of a melancholy state but with just that little undercurrent of something that's a bit more comforting and I think that sets the tone really quite well.
Then, she kneeled down on the side of Jack’s bed and prayed. She prayed for his health. She prayed that he would be saved. He didn’t deserve it. It was Christmas Eve! He had been so kind. So good.
Why was it happening to him?
If she prayed, maybe the angels would take her instead. Jack would miss her, but at least he would be alive.
But then, why was she praying for her death? Jack’s fate was the divine will of God and Harriet was going against His will.
Hmm this is quite an interesting situation to present here. IN this worlds of demon clowns and such I'm sure there are in fact angels, so this definitely has quite a bit of extra meaning here as Harriet is trying to save this person offering to sacrifice their own life too in quite the powerful move here.
Yet, Harriet couldn’t help but seethe with anger from within. Why a child? Why him?
They’re taking him away. Your son. He doesn’t deserve to die. Let them take you. Let them take you away, so long as he lives. Harriet thought, clasping her hands together tightly with the broken heart of a mother.
Harriet shut her eyes, blocking the burning tears from falling down and with a shaking voice, continued her prayer.
“You may open your eyes now.” A melodic voice said.
Harriet opened her eyes.
Ooooh well that's quite the interruption here. I mean given how things were going I was half expecting something a little harsher and more sudden but instead we're seeing a bit of a more soothing experience here. Well this is certainly a rather pleasant little surprise here.
A beautiful and blinding golden light shone in his room. She wanted to run away from it, but stayed where she was. It was an angel. She didn’t need to fear angels.
“Which angel are you?”
“I am Lucifer, a fallen angel.”
Harriet stood up. Her heart quickened. She asked for an angel. She didn’t want The Devil.
Why was The Devil in Jack’s room?
“Lucifer?! Lucifer?! You…betrayed God! Why…why…I-“
Oooh. Well that's quite the twist. We have a golden light unlike what you'd normally expect and then of course the devil shows up. Well, perhaps this is going to go the way I expected it to after all or maybe there's an even greater twist in store here.
“There are many stories about me, but trust that I am good.”
“You-“
“I was once an angel, working for God. I have fallen from His Grace, but I work for the people now. I want to help. Let me help you.”
His words sounded so sweet. His light was like the sun on a summer day.
He was an angel.
“Can you save my boy?”
Hmm as much as I love to believe in the idea of some sort of redemptive arc here I cannot shake the feeling that this is simply just some textbook manipulation that's going to leave things in a terrible situation anyway.
Lucifer laughed softly. Harriet smiled. His laugh was just as joyful as Jack’s, before the sickness came.
The sickness that God sent.
“I can give him a new body. A body that will never know pain, fear, or sickness. A body that will know only endless joy and freedom. I can give him a new life, one where he will play with a boy just like him, forevermore.”
“But the cost would be his memory of you and this life. You must let Jack die, so that I may take his soul and make him anew. He cannot remember this. It would not do for a new body and a new life.”
Well there we go. Even if this does manage to properly save the person it looks there's going to be quite the hefty price to pay here. It is after all basically a death in practically all but just the name.
“A new life?”
“A better life, with a better body. A freeing body, a freeing life.”
“It all makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Yes. It did make sense. It all made perfect sense. Jack would flourish under the light of Lucifer. Lucifer would take Jack from her, but it was all for the better.
Harriet nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
“He will be safe?”
“He will be safe.”
“Take good care of him.” She said.
The room got warmer even as the light was beginning to dim.
“I promise.”
Hmmm now that's an interesting point to end on, leaving us on something of a cliffhanger with just enough hints that it leaves us with a few doubts especially given all the consequences but there's just enough hope that things were all light and fluffy too.
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
Overall: Overall a powerful piece and honestly even though this is longer than that previous story I reviewed this one also just leaves me with well first a lot to try and speculate about but also just wanting to know what happens afterwards.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Kate
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