Destiny's Child

With her last breath, Destiny gave one final push! Depleted of its natural resources, the body that she had become accustomed to was finally shutting down, although she had somehow found the strength to carry this new one until it was ready to breathe life into the cold, dark world that she called home. The life that she had lived, up until about a year ago, anyway, was one that would seem all-too familiar to many of us; the busy schedules, the stress & the quick, easy meals ( usually fast-food or out-of-the-box ) had taken their toll on Destiny's body, already well-worn by the passage of Time!

Life, in this day & age especially, was not easy! Destiny had, by her own choice, moved half-way across the country at a fairly early age & so, had been forced to face many hardships & trials on her own. Oh, she had made some friends along the way, but too many of them were fair-weather friends, so when those trials & hardships set in, those 'friends' that Destiny had hoped to be able to count on were not to be found! When she seemed to be on her last legs, so to speak & was looking up at life from the bottom of an oak barrel, her knight in shining armor had appeared & as she was going under for the last time, gently grasped her hand & pulled her back from the verge of the abyss, setting her back on her feet & granting her a new lease on life.

For maybe the first time in her short life, Destiny finally felt happy! She had been so used to relying on herself that when Chris came along, it was like a breath of fresh air; she had purpose again, thanks in part to him. When Destiny found out that she was pregnant, she was hesitant, at first, fearing that this might spoil  the happiness she had so recently found. Finally gathering the courage to tell Chris, she was pleasantly surprised when Chris responded in a positive way, joyously telling her that he had been looking forward to the day when he might father a child. With such a response, Destiny was supremely happy! Having waited a lifetime for such a divine purpose, Destiny felt accomplished & what's more, she looked forward to the time when she would hold this new life in her arms & nurture it in such a way that the child might enjoy a better existence than she had, at least, up till this point.

Chris was a police officer; that's how he had found her: she had taken refuge in the bottom of a bottle & he had gently pulled her from its grasp & carried her out from its cold comfort to a more sure foundation. He showed her a better way, that it was within that we must seek our way, our purpose, even our own happiness! Destiny had lived her life, up to this point, with the understanding, the belief, that we must look outside ourselves for salvation from the hardships & trials of life, or even for our happiness. Chris ( short for Christopher ) had made her realize that, though he made her happy, it was her own choices that had kept her from this bliss for so long!

With a child on the way, Destiny began to see that the life she had led before her knight in shining armor, her salvation, had come along, was not the best one she could have chosen. She had gone the way of the world, getting caught up in the business of life in this day & age, swallowing the American Dream, hook, line & sinker. Too late now, one might say, realizing the toll her former choices had taken on her body, Destiny began to pursue a more healthy avenue. She began eating better, taking time to care, not only for her own body, but for the new one she was growing inside! Thanks to her husband, her protector, she was able to leave the rat race & focus her time & energy on caring for the new life she had been granted.

Destiny's life seemed to finally be on the right track; she had been restored to love, she was finally happy
& carrying within her own body a new life, with the promise of a fresh existence, free of many of the hardships & trials that she had experienced in her own relatively short existence. However, it seemed like the bottom had dropped out when the startling & most unwelcome news came one day; she would have to persevere on her own once more! It seemed like Life had taken one of those twisted turns & she was alone again!

Once she had gotten over the initial shock, Destiny, bolstered by the promise of a new life & a fresh start, determined to uphold the child growing within. She shouldered her responsibility, her love for this new life & with the comforting realization, thanks to her protector, that true happiness comes from within, Destiny made the choice to, if need be, give up her own life in this plane of existence that the child within might have the chance to better experience this blessed existence we call Life!

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Opening her eyes for the first time, Sarah experienced a sudden rush of deja vu, as if somehow, she had been here before! Although she was not quite certain if she was ready to leave the comfort of her warm & cozy shell, she nonetheless welcomed this new, though familiar experience. Already aware of her surroundings, she startled those who had helped deliver her from her mother's womb, by gazing, almost surprisingly alert, at her surroundings, barely uttering a sound, as she seemed to calmly take it all in!



Charles Haddon Shank