There is a place, like a dog pound, but for people. I’ve been there. When you run away and you don’t have any I.D., and you won’t tell them where you come from, you go there. They keep you there for 2 months. I f your parents are either to oblivious or don’t care enough to come get you, you get leased out like a freaking lawn mower. You go to one family, maybe, where your sole purpose is to clean everything. A couple weeks later, you go to another where they lock you in “Your” room and unlock it only to give you bread and water, because it’s against the law not to. Yeah, been there, done that, burned the t-shirt. Then that goes on until you run away and start the cycle all over again. For me, that was years ago. My memories have started to leave holes, no matter how much I mentally scream at myself. One thing, though, stands out, clear as glass. The Blue Lady.
Go into any “Homeless Shelter”, any at all, and around 8 o’clock, when the adults have resigned themselves to being here another night and the children are beginning to yawn and blink slower and heavier, you will see a group of kids gather in one corner. Big brothers will carry half-asleep sisters in their arms, and toddlers will get curious and come over, whispering quietly among themselves. The oldest girl in the shelter, always a girl and never older than 16, will sit down, take one particularly spellbound child in her lap, and start to tell the story.
“Once upon a time, in a place called Heaven, there lived one of Gods archangels. She was God’s favorite, because above all things, she loved children. She would do anything for a child, and since we are all Gods children, we are all worthy of her protection. One day, a small child was playing in a brook, laughing and giggling. The angel watched with a heavenly smile on her face and caused the water to swirl around the child and make the prettiest pictures. Suddenly, she thought she heard a child crying for her help on the other side of the world! Quick as a flash, she flew over to the voice, but there was no one there! Returning to the child in the brook, she looked around. The child had just… disappeared. She rushed off to ask God where the child had gone, and when He told her, she got boiling mad. The Devil himself had stolen the child out of spite for his laughter. Without stopping to think, or even to prepare herself, she took a nose-dive straight out of Heaven. She dived straight down through a church below, to where the Devil lives. She saw the child, not even locked up, because the Devil thought she wouldn’t have the courage to come rescue him, the love in her heart to risk herself for him. He was sitting in the corner, tears streaming down his grime-covered face, and her heart ached for him. He looked up, and although he couldn’t see her, being an angel and all, a small spark of hope lit where earlier their had only been despair. Her will stronger than ever, she suddenly snatched the baby boy up and flew straight back up. Through the church she rushed, up into the clouds. Then, she flew even farther, all the way up to Heaven. She placed the child down in front of God and asked him to bless the boy, the boy who went to Hell and came back again. He blessed him with the words “Live forever in peace, and may love follow you wherever you go”. And because the boy was human, not a saint or angel, he was sent back down to earth. The Angel, called the Blue Lady after the blue dress she wore, never forgot the boy, though, and he grew up to be an amazing person. He spread the amazing Word of God to anyone and everyone, saving them from the fate he almost had himself. In fact, he was so good, he became a saint, and was able to live with the Blue Lady in Heaven. His name was Peter; perhaps you’ve heard of him.
The Lady has always watched over children, and always will. So if you are ever in trouble, ever in need, call the Blue Lady. She will come and help you in any way she can, even if it is to only give you hope.”
When she finishes, the children start to creep away. When their parents ask about the story, the kids say “Oh… nothing…” No adult can ever know about the Blue Lady. No one over 17 can hear the story, and once they are 18, they have either forgotten it or discounted it as child’s play. It’s not. She is real, and she is watching over you. Protecting you.