Golden Box Book Publishing One Picture: Thousands of Words | Page 66

With a few grunts and groans, a man of fifty hoisted himself out of
the portal and collapsed at her feet.
“Daddy?” she whispered, “You're alive!”
He nodded, hoisting himself up on to shaky legs. Then he wrapped
his arms around his daughter.
“Yes,” he whispered in her ear. “I never lost hope that one day you
would find me and set me free.”
“When I found out what mother had done to you,” she began.
“It's all right,” her father said, stroking her hair. “The need to
defend and protect has coursed in your veins since you were a baby.
That's how we knew you were the one to take my place.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” he replied. “It's also the reason your mother imprisoned
me in the ring. Even with all her beauty and power, she was still
jealous of a little child.”
She pulled back slightly, keeping her grip on his faded green coat.
So much of her childhood made perfect sense now. Even when
mother was loving and caring, there was something else lurking
under the surface. Something rotten. There were so many
opportunities for her mother to kill her. Her young life flashed before
her eyes, as wave after wave of close calls began to surface from her
subconscious. She shuttered.
“Ugh, enough!” she cried, pressing her palms to her eyes.
The faded images drifted on, leaving behind a clean slate.
“Daddy,” she said, lowering her hands, “what just happened?”