Jared watched the small girl sleep. He could tell that the nightmares had stopped and she had entered a dreamless state. He knew that he should be fast asleep as well, but the small girl had a way of captivating him. When he had seen her sitting on that rock, it was almost as if he had known that she had needed his help. Something about her demanded his attention, it seemed, even when she was sleeping.

He puzzled about the future of this girl. Jared’s whole world was centered in Harrock’s Mill, and he tried to imagine a life away from it. Nothing came to mind. It was the way for all of the children of these small towns: they grew up playing in the streets, protected by the eyes of their caring parents, they fell in love with the girl or boy that lived across the street, or the childhood playmate that they played tag with in those hot summer afternoons when there was nothing better to do, and they in turn watched their children grow up from the windows of the comfortable little houses that had belonged to their fathers and grandfathers. When it came their time, they quietly passed surrounded by friends and family and were brought to rest in the country churchyard. They in turn rested with all of their ancestors. No one left Harrock’s Mill, and Jared thought that anyone that left would feel bereft and alienated without the surroundings of the familiar town.

Marina stirred in her sleep again. He thought that it must be the same way for Marina. What would life be like without her town, the only home she had ever known? Jared had visited Kingsford once; it was similar to Harrock’s Mill in many ways. It was a nice place to visit, but a place in which he would never feel at home. The blacksmith shop was in the wrong corner and the children playing by the street looked so very different from the children he was used to. How would Marina adjust to a different town? How would she adjust from being surrounded by friends and family to suddenly having not a friend in the world?

That is not exactly true, Jared thought. She will always have me.

The light streaming from the open door was suddenly obscured. Jared turned around and saw his mother in the doorway. She had come to check on Marina.

“Jared, you should be sleeping,” Jared’s mother whispered.

“I am worried about Marina. Do you think she will be okay?” Jared asked.

Jared’s mother walked beside the bed in which the heartbroken girl lay.

“She has been through much strife. It will take her some time to come to terms to the change. She may have gone through much, and have many more trials ahead of her, but I could tell by the way she shook my hand at our meeting that she has a lot of strength left yet. She has a strong will. She will be more than okay, she will thrive. And if you are to thrive in the morning, I would suggest getting some sleep.”

Jared gave his mother a sheepish look. “I suppose that that would help me play ponnoball with my friends tomorrow.”

“Indeed it would.”

He got up from his crouch beside her bed and walked to the door. Jared’s pace slowed as he reached the light, and he turned to look once again at the small girl lying on the bed. His mother was adjusting her covers. Marina looked so small and he once again thought of how it would feel to be lost, without a home or a cause.

Jared had not been scared, as a normal boy of his ten years would have been, when he found a stranger on his rock. He had been excited and thought that he had made a new friend. Unlike all of his friends, he had always dreamed of what was outside. He may not want to live there, but he at least wanted to know what was out there. Marina was who he had dreamed of meeting for years. On his visit he had been too scared to talk to anyone, people around here didn’t really talk to strangers. But as scared as Marina had been, he had treated him as an equal. Jared would never forget that feeling.

With one last look at Marina, he turned and left the doorway.