Aftershock

A girl's journey wields an unexpected sight.

Describe to me
what you had seen during the night.
"Well, I had seen a car wreck, a snowball effect."
I looked into her sweet brown eyes, and I knew that moment she was
quite traumatized.

She says to me,
"But that's not all I got to see.
From a car had rolled a man like a butterball,nude.
He had been beaten, abused in ways I don't want to try to guess.
It was painful."

"My God," I choke.
Then I look at her swollen face.
She's crying, a paintball sized lump in her throat that
restrains her breath, nearly making her choke; it's hard for me to watch.
What do I do?

I hold this girl,
who trusts me enough to share her
worst nightmares; this sadly is no nightmare, as she
watched someone die a slow death while she headed out for some hiking.
Never happened.

This accident has changed her forever.
As I cradle her quaking form, I pray for guidance in comforting her.