"My mother died a few years ago.” Charlene stared straight ahead as if in deep thought. “She loved me… she understood…I would tell her I wanted to be her little girl…and she always told me, ‘You ARE my little girl’. I would crawl up in her lap and she would hug me and love me…”

“How was school today?” asked Lizzie Jane asked she reached over from the driver’s side, opening the door of the rusty pickup. Charlene climbed in with a slight “Okay, I guess.”

“Anything happen today unusual?”

“Well, a boy winked at me. I didn’t know what to do, so I just looked away from him.”

Lizzie Jane smiled. Charlene was a pretty girl and she could see why a boy would find her to his liking. “Just smile back, be friendly, but watch for any advances. Right now, we need to be careful, you know.”

“I know,” said Charlene with a sad smile. “Wish I were a real girl — instead of make-believe.”

“Charlene, you are a real girl. Just not complete in certain areas.”

Charlene could not hold it back any longer. She suddenly burst into tears. Lizzie Jane stopped the truck and pulled off the road as much as possible in a shady area.

“It’s your daddy, isn’t it?” asked Lizzie Jane.

“Yes, I wish he loved me. But, the night I left, he kicked me and opened the door...and…” There was a pause while Charlene tried to regain her composure, but no use. The tears flowed that much more...“he told me…to get out and…never come back,” sobs coming between the phrases.

“He is all I had. My mother died a few years ago.” Charlene stared straight ahead as if in deep thought. “She loved me… she understood…I would tell her I wanted to be her little girl…and she always told me, ‘You ARE my little girl’. I would crawl up in her lap and she would hug me and love me…”

Lizzie Jane replied,“I lost my mother, too...when I was nine years old. I never knew my daddy. He left momma before I was born." While speaking, tears also came to her eyes, remembering and cherishing the sweet moments as she shared a similar experience — different mothers, but both losing a loving mother when a child.

Realizing each other’s sorrows, they embraced with a hug that lasted for a few quiet moments. That day, the two hearts bonded with eternal cords that cannot be broken.

Releasing the hug, Lizzie Jane held Charlene straight out by the shoulders looking at her with tear-stained cheeks. “Charlene, I know I am supposed to be your foster mother, but I did not have a sister. I will always think of you as that sister.”

Remembering that she had adopted Carol as her sister, too, she thought, ‘Now I have two sisters.’ She did not mention that to Charlene, but she smiled at the thought. (Carol was the waitress Lizzie Jane met during the time Lizzie Jane has lost her memory.)

“Feel better?” asked Lizzie Jane as she reached to turn the key in the ignition.

“Yes — a little.”

Lizzie Jane pushed the big starter button with her foot and the starter went 'wheee wheee'.

“Oh, that Jake and his truck! Won’t crank! Oh, let’s get out and push.”

Lizzie Jane put the floor shift gear handle into neutral and, with the doors open, the girls began to push on the door panels. With the wheels rolling a little over 5 MPH (causing the girls to trot), Lizzie Jane jumped into the cab, put the gearshift into second, let out on the clutch. The truck bucked a couple of time and the engine went ‘voood, voood’ with Lizzie Jane patting her foot on the accelerator pedal.

“Okay, hop in,” she said as Charlene climbed into the passenger seat giggling as other girls. “Some day when I get the money, I am going to buy a truck load of batteries. This ‘pushing’ has got to stop,” said Lizzie Jane.

Lizzie Jane saw Charlene smiling. It is a miracle how much an old truck or car can change feelings while trying to operate one. Sometimes, it will bring giggles as it did to these two young ladies, but, often as not, it can cause a man to use words that he didn’t learn in Sunday School.

“Oh yes,another thing happened today,” said Charlene. “Linda helped me in school. I never learned to read and she had me reading sooner than you can shake a cat’s tail.”

“Yeah, she is pretty smart. She surprised Sally with things that Sally didn’t know.”

The conversation changed to girlie things as the old pickup jostled down the dusty road. Charlene did not ask any questions about Linda. Linda had already told her about coming from the future and how different things were.

That night, after Charlene had gone to bed, Lizzie Jane told Jake that she wanted to sit for awhile.

“I will sit with you,” was Jake’s response.

“No, please. I need to sit and think — mediate on something.”

Jake assumed it was about Charlene, so without argument, he bid Lizzie Jane a good night and went to the bedroom.

Lizzie Jane walked outside and looked at the starry sky. It was a clear night with a half moon, but enough light for Lizzie Jane to see as she walked down the long dusty driveway. It seemed to be past time for rain, but that was the farthest thing from her mind.

As she walked, she prayed.

“Dear, why are you so sad?” came a soft feminine voice. Lizzie Jane turned and, from the sound of the voice, saw what she had expected — her mother, clothed in her usual white robe, sitting on a stump where a large oak had grown, but the years had taken its toll and had to be cut down. Although she had usually appeared in a dream, Lizzie Jane’s mother had been seen visually a few times. Lizzie Jane well remembered the first time — when a huge man had saved Lizzie Jane from a hungry panther after being warned by a strange woman clothed in white.

Lizzie Jane wasn’t afraid. Her mother was not a ghost, but a messenger that had some words of comfort sent from Heaven. Lizzie Jane always welcomed her, either in a dream, or in a vision as she must be seeing now.

“I don’t like to see Charlene so sad,” said Lizzie Jane. “She has had a rough time and I don’t know how to help — what to do,” replied Lizzie Jane.

“All of us have a set time on this earth — some longer than others. We need to help those who do not have much time to find peace with God. You, Elizabeth Jane, have been called to a special work and that is why you have been chosen to help Charlene.”

“You mean Charlene doesn’t have long to live?”

“That is predetermined, of course, but it is not for you to know. Charlene was born for a purpose — to be a forerunner of those who will come behind her with the same sorrows and desires as she possesses. Whatever happens, God will be there with all his love and mercy. Sometimes it takes a lot of pain and suffering for mankind to find out God’s ways are better.”

“Please tell me what is going to happen to Charlene.”

“I have already told you it is not for you to know. For now, she needs your love and direction. Elizabeth Jane, I came to tell you to abide in your calling for, if you do, you will not regret it. Goodbye for now. Just remember. I promised to never leave you and I will be with you through all that will come your way -- and Charlene will have a special angel to help her accept what may come her way.”

“No — wait,” cried Lizzie Jane, but to no avail. Suddenly her mother was gone.

Lizzie Jane fell to her knees. “Please God — protect Charlene. She is so young and has the whole world before her.”

A voice came from somewhere. Was it an audible voice or was it in her mind? “My grace is sufficient” was the message — from wherever it came.

Again, the night was still. The stars still shone bright as before — maybe brighter. The leaves in the bushes and trees began to rustle as a cool breeze began to fill the air. Lizzie Jane turned and walked toward the house, uncertain what the message meant that was sent to her.

Abide in her calling — that, along with “My grace is sufficient” -- controlled her thoughts.

‘Yes,” she said to herself. ‘I will abide in my calling. I just hope I can know what that calling is when the time comes’.

--To be continued

Copyright 2008 by Billie Sue Pilgrim