The walking has been slow, we should have already gotten to St Louis but we are still about another days walk away. We, it has been a long time since I used “we” in a sentence. Quite little Hope has slowly come out of her self a little each day. She walked so sad at first, her little head hung low as each step seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. Our first few days together she stayed right up under me, like she was afraid I was something she had made up or that I would disappear at any moment. Now I think she knows I will be here, so she is beginning to relax. I wonder why she can not talk. She can hear find and understands that I call her Hope; she has not offered to correct me. She makes no gestures or sign language, she speaks with her eyes. I know when she’s hungry, sleepy and when she has to go to the bathroom, other than that I guess she has nothing to say. She is an enigma to say the least.We found a couple of stores along the way and have been able to outfit her with all she will need to walk beside me. I found her a little girls dress, (kind of a frilly thing, that she will not take off), and she found a hat to wear, it makes her smile. I guess she should wear jeans, but the dress and hat seem to make her happy. I am well stock up on bug repellent, so I keep it on her as much as she allows (she doesn’t like the smell) any way it’s getting later in the year
and the bugs are not as bad. We found a pond to bathe in the other day (I was well pass due), so we cleaned up. She takes to the water like a duck and finds much joy in splashing me. She treats me like she has known me forever (like a soul I have encountered before). After bathing her and knowing how trusting she is of me, I don’t think she had ever been abused. I was a little worried about that, not knowing the history of what actually happen with her mother. But it seems she has lead a normal little girl life (as normal as it can be in this world).I have decided to try and find the Amish and see if they will take her in. I think it would be her best chance at growing up and having some what of a life. I am too old for her to stay with me, my time could come and she would be alone. I’m going to turn onto I-64 and head towards Kentucky and on to Pennsylvania, where I have seen them before. I just got to remember the town.
I had forgotten the joy of a child, how they can brighten a day. As we walk along she skips down the road in front of me like she is dancing on the wind. She pulls flowers from the grass and looks at them as if they were jewels. When a bird takes flight after we have scared it from the brush, she
points and looks back at me like she has discovered the moon. At night her eyes sparkle by the fire light as they get heavy with sleep. When I put her in the tent at bed time she looks at me, eyes filled with a child's wisdom, she wraps her arm around my neck as if to say thank you, if not, I love you. She goes to sleep in peace.To be a child again, maybe that's what heaven is like…………..
Go to Day 1025
