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Please Come Inside

Sarah pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. She released the seatbelt buckle, but she didn’t get out.

“What’s the point?” She sunk down in her seat and cried herself to sleep.

“It’s not my place to say, Ryan.” Greg cruised the town’s main street.

“Really?”

“What?”

“You drop a bomb like that and you can’t explain?”

“What I was trying to say is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Sarah seems conscientious, busy, happy…”

“It’s a smoke screen.”

“Basically.” He shrugged.

“Alright, without telling me, try to explain how I fit into whatever is bugging her.”

“I’m pretty sure you scare her.”

“I picked up on that. She’s like a spooked cat around me. Puts me on edge.”

“Self-fulfilling prophecies are the worst. She’s scared of you and her reaction to you makes you even scarier in response.”

“Well, what’s she so scared of? I have no reason to hurt her. I don’t even know her.”

“Fear doesn’t have to be rational.” Greg turned into the church parking lot. “It almost never is.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

“For now, give her a lot of space. Meghan is going to check in on her later. Are you seeing Marta tonight?”

“Not sure. We didn’t plan anything, but she said she might drop by.”

“We’d better clean the place up.” Greg parked and jumped out of the truck.

Meghan pulled in behind Sarah’s blue coupe. The sun was low on the horizon, casting a blood orange stain across the sky. She huddled into her coat as she hurried to Sarah’s side door. She knocked, but nobody came.

She tried again, to no avail. She pulled out her phone and dialed Sarah. There was a faint glow from inside the blue car. Meghan wandered down to investigate.

“Sarah?” She knocked on the window.

Sarah stirred. It was so cold. The chill had crept into her bones. She moaned and squirmed in her seat.

“Sarah, honey, open the door.”

She opened her eyes, searching for the voice calling her name. “What?”

Meghan hurried over to the driver side door and knocked on the window. “Sarah, please come inside with me.”

Sarah rolled away. “Just let me die.”

Meghan tried the handle. ‘Not locked. Thank God.’ She opened the door and leaned in. “Sarah, please come inside with me. Let’s get warmed up. Okay?”

“Who cares? Nobody likes me anyway.”

“Sarah MacInnes, I care and so do a lot of other people. Come inside with me and we can talk.” Meghan caressed her shoulder.

“I’m a terrible person, Meghan. Nobody would miss me if I just went to sleep and didn’t get up again.”

“Of course, we would. Please, come inside.”

“I messed everything up. That’s all I ever do.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. Carol said you’re a lot of help to her. She couldn’t do what she does without you.” She tugged at Sarah’s arm. “Let’s get you inside. Okay?”

“That should do it.” Greg surveyed the living room. “Go ahead and shower up. I’ll start some snacks.”

“Are you sure?”

“Better safe than sorry, buddy. Go make yourself presentable.”

Ryan headed up to his room as Greg went to the kitchen. He was searching through the fridge when the phone rang. “Lutheran Grace Fellowship, Pastor Greg speaking.”

“Greg, Sarah tried to…” Meghan’s voice was shaky.

“How bad is it?”

“I got her to come inside and warm up, but she needs help. I’m afraid to leave her alone.”

“You’re right. She needs community now. Fill that house with love as quickly as you can. Be sure to invite someone who can perform an evaluation. If she needs to be admitted…”

“I hope not, but I know some people who can help just in case.”

“Okay, do what you can. I’ll be praying for her. Let me know if I’m needed.”

“Love you.”

“You’re my greatest blessing.” He smiled, but it faded quickly. ‘Poor kid, rattling around that house all by herself.’

Carol stepped outside with her overnight bag in hand. Phillipe got out and hurried around to the passenger door.

“I’ve got it nice and warm for you.”

“Thanks, Phillipe. I appreciate the ride home.”

He closed it behind her and hurried back to his own seat. “So, how are you feeling? Was Becca able to help you?”

“It seems to have gone away on its own.”

“It did? How curious. Did she share any thoughts on that?”

“As best as I could follow, it seemed as if the chaos energy that Paul had transmitted to me was less a case of poisoning than a temporary charge that ran out.”

“You’re very fortunate. I’ve never seen that before.”

Carol’s phone rattled in her pocket. “Wow, I’m a lot more popular than I thought.”

“People missed you, did they?” Phillipe smiled as he drove under the strangely arched portico in front of the Institute.

“Yeah, my voicemail is full and my text queue is in triple digits.”

“I imagine you have quite a bit of catching up to do.”

“Seems like. Oh, gee.” Her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Carol, it’s Meghan. I’m so glad I was able to reach you. Can you come to Sarah’s house? We’re gathering to show our support.”

“Support? What happened?”

“There was an incident this afternoon and it would be best to see she has company tonight.”

“Phillipe, how long will it take us to get home?”

“It’s about an hour and a half to get to Sentinels Station from here. Mary can open a door for you once we’re there.”

“Thanks.” She returned to her phone. “Meghan? I’ll be there in about two hours. Is anyone there with you?”

“Yes, Maggie and the entire chorale came over right away.”

“Good. Thank you for looking in on her, Meghan. I’ll be praying for her.” Carol hung up and scrolled through her texts.

“That sounds worrisome.” Phillipe got onto the parkway. “HEARTH, please drive us to Sentinels Station.”

“Gladly, Doctor.” The steering wheel compacted and vanished into the dashboard.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“If you don’t mind praying with me for a while. Sarah is a sweet girl, but she’s been through so much.”

“It’s a shame that people have to come to a point of crisis to discover how much support they really have.”