No Business Being Here

There was once in my mind, a courtyard, a courtyard that looked very much like the one that they tortured Jesus in. There appeared to be hundreds of soldiers there and they all look like they were torturing someone. I looked closer at this person and much to my horror, this person was me! I grew very frighten and alone. My hands were bound together and I looked like a mess. I was so full of guilt and shame. I have done wrong they said. They were right. They felt like I needed to be punished. Then I looked in one of the corners of the courtyard. I saw a tiny, little girl curled up in a ball and crying uncontrollably. She looked so frightened, so scared. She looked familiar to me. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't get to her. The soldiers continued to beat me over and over again. For a long time, I couldn't tell who they were. After a while, I  caught sight of their faces. They all had my face. The horror I felt grew and grew. This was truly a nightmare. Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a man angrily walked into the courtyard. I have never seen anyone as angry as this man was. He looked like he was going to destroy something. He was so furious. I heard him yelling. "You have no business being here!" He screamed. "You have no rights torturing my daughter, you have already tortured me and even put me to death! You don't need to do this to her, I paid the debt for her, I already paid the price! I demand that you stop!" The soldiers all looked at this man. Sheer horror came over their faces. They dropped their swords, chains, and whips. The shame was written all over their faces and they ran out of the courtyard. The man tenderly looked over at me. Tears were running down my face. He walked over to me. He slowly reached out to touched my face. "I love you. I love you so much, my dear sweet beautiful child. There is no need to worry. No need to be afraid anymore." He untied my bounded hands, touching my wounded body. He kissed my tears away and smiled at me. "Come with me now. I'll take you to a beautiful place where we can be together for all times." I looked over at the little girl in the corner looking over at us and wondering. I suddenly recognized who this tiny little girl was. "Go and bring the little child with us," the man said. I walked over to the little girl. She backed up even further into the corner, She didn't trust anyone, not even me. I spoke to her softly. "It's all right now. They're all gone. The soldiers are not here anymore," I told her. They won't be back." She didn't believe me. "I'm fine now. I'll take care of you." She still didn't believe me. She curled up more tightly into her ball. I put my hand out to her. "I love you," I told her. She slowly lifted her head to look at me. "I love you." This little tiny girl reached out her arms to me. I gently picked her up and hugged her, holding her tightly. The little girl looked all around and pointed at me. She began to clapped and played with her fingers showing me what she could do with them. "You're so cute. You are beautiful. I love you." The tiny girl hugged me. "See that man?" I said. "He wants to take us somewhere, somewhere beautiful and nice. I'm sure you can play there." The man walked over to us. He kissed my cheek and smiled. "I love you so very much," he said. "Come, let's go to that place I told you about now." He took my hand and we all walked out of the courtyard together. Suddenly, I heard the most beautiful sound. It was the sound of the tiny little girl's laughter.