then her crying stops.

The little girl sits down with a book on her knees
Her pig-tails are not the only proof of her innocense
A scrape on her elbow, destined to become a scar,
is only physical - only a reminder
Left.... From her fall.
Her childish rosy lips turn up in smile.
She opens her escape, her only escape from the pain.....

'And two by two they marched' - she doesn't read.
She focuses on the pictures, the illustrations,
of God's animals making their escape-

She knows the story by heart, its her favorite.
We all know why.

And the rain terrifies her - she sits in waiting.
When she reaches the end, she isn't finished.
She goes backwards and remembers the images before she turns the pages.
She hides the book under her pillow.
...lies back down on her bed
And waits for the inevitable ...
The horrifying silence.
Then the footsteps.
The turn of the door.
Then her crying stops.