Pain can be felt as she sees the memory repeat itself.

She headed to the backyard to check a lock, to see things were cleaned up,

Confusion about a messy hedge clipper that in the end would not matter, for she felt fear pumping through her veins as she caught unusual noises from the front of the house,

Running at the sound of footsteps and sinister laughter-.

She breaths heavily while waking up from the nightmare,

Letting her breath slowly return to normal while she looks around her room,

A room that is kept aggressively clean to ensure no specks of dust may creep in on days she cannot move once she gets home.

Grey and blue are the colors of this room,

A bookshelf set to one side of the space, full of tips she had gathered through her years of working as a Hunter,

to the rest holding a countless number of Stew Recipes,

Down to the few items she could collect from her old home before fleeing.

She gets up tentatively once the world returns to its usual grey, waiting to hear a voice she will never hear again.

When she does not, she walks into the hallway, hearing nothing but droning silence within her house.

She enters the kitchen and then works to make a simple breakfast for herself.

A quick and dirty one, as the time to enjoy a meal can be used to help others.

She stares at her meal and while she looks back to her years of work,

The power to create any stew within her sight and to control its movements down to a dime,

Along with the power to soften or harden every ingredient within,

On its face value, it's quite a fairy tale trick that boils down to a simple view.

The power to feed, to let others live for another day,

Quite an ironic power to have, especially with the brutality she had found with it.

But if that is what is required, to harm the vile and to feed the meek.

That was a duality she was prepared to accept if she was to make it up to them.

Though that within itself, may be a dream.

As she cannot tell them she was apologetic for the people she would like to apologize to,

They are no longer present in this world, likely already beyond the river Styxx.

She finishes her meal, as her thoughts continue,

Cleaning up her mess and putting her dishes into the sink,

She gets dressed for the day as she heads out.

Before continuing to her usual routes,

She glances to the side, seeing the neighborhood children play, laughing with joy as they play a game of tag together.

Even with her sorrowful mood, she cannot help but smile as she continues, reminded that the world can still be a bit happy.

Thoughts of 'Refuge of Strength'