Was she dreaming? It was too much to hope for. Louise noticed a slight resemblance to her daughter, and saw the rounded belly. It was true! Shanata would be so happy to know her mother was alive and that she would have a sibling. Tears began to stream down her face—tears of loss, joy, and hope regained. Everything she held dear was embodied in this woman; her child, her son, her grandchild. They each had taken something precious from the other, and given something back. All were victims with lives reclaimed. Like a forest after a fire, it was a time for new beginnings.
Wordlessly, Louise reached for Ehta's hand, pressing the necklace into it. Ehta cried when she realized what it was.
"Tell her Shanata is alive. This is a present to her mother."
Ehta embraced her, then Gilbert, smiling through jubilant tears of gratitude, then whispered into her husband's ear.
“She said that she thought she'd lost everything in that fire. And now she sees she was left with nothing but a scar.”
Louise smiled. “Tell her, so was I.”
The End
Distant Fires Page 22