Soul Salvation

The next few days in the new house were spent fixing the place up, as well as decorating each room just the way the Lone's liked it. The broken window panes were all replaced and the balcony wall that had been crumbling up on the terrace was fixed.

All the while she was helping her parents and whoever was hired to fix up the house, Rania felt very excited. In only a few days the school year was going to begin. She was excited about meeting new people, making new friends. Maybe some would even come over to the new house for sleepovers and parties. She couldn't wait.

Toward the end of the week Rania was allowed to fix up her own room. Her parents told her she could paint it whatever color she wanted, and she'd decided on a light mint green for the walls. It'd go well with the crisp brown of the wooden floorboards, and remind her a little of home. She'd had a very similar color green on her bedroom walls in New York; it even would match her green, blue, and tan geometric comforter and pillowcases.

So her parents took her down to the hardware store in town to have a color mixed and she got to work. She'd draped old sheets and cloths over the large pieces of furniture already in her room, like the wrought-iron bed and the dresser, and put drop-clothes along the floor around the edges, just to make sure she didn't spill any on the floor either.

Pouring paint in the tray, Rania bobbed her head to the song playing through her headphones as she ran a roller through it before painting the wall before her. This kind of painting really didn't bother Rania at all--it gave her a reason to listen to music (as if she actually needed a reason). And it seemed like no time at all that she had already finished with the first wall. Stepping down off the small ladder she'd used to get up toward the ceiling, Rania stepped back to inspect the color.

"Perfect," she said to the empty room as she smiled. Setting the roller back in the paint tray she left the room and made her way to the bathroom just down the hall. She was only gone for a few minutes. When she returned, she headed back to the paint tray that was still sitting atop the stool she'd placed there before getting started. But when she reached for the roller Rania blinked in confusion. It wasn't there. She knew she left it there...

Looking around Rania realized the roller was sat down on one of the drop-cloths. Brows furrowing, she wondered if maybe it had somehow rolled out of the pan and onto the floor. Shrugging with a sigh, she grabbed the roller, doused it in paint, and moved on to the next wall.

She was moving around quite swiftly, proud of the job she was doing and how little time it was going to take her. Rania was just about finished with the second wall, up on the ladder to get close to the trim along the ceiling, when it happened.

She was stepping down and her foot caught between two bars on the ladder, lodging in a corner. Still moving down, Rania felt her center of gravity shift; the ladder was tipping and she was going to go down with it. It all seemed to happen in slow motion: the ladder tipped back on two legs, Rania's foot still caught in it, her weight pulling the ladder down faster. Her heart was pounding through the entire five seconds.

But then something pushed her forward, causing the ladder to right itself. It almost felt like hands along her back, protecting her.

Breathing hard as she stayed perfectly still atop the ladder, Rania waited a few seconds. She thought for sure she was going to end up on the floor either covered in paint, hurt, or both. But something...someone, it seemed...had saved her. Glancing over her shoulder Rania figured she'd see her father standing there with a comforting smile; she knew for sure the presence she felt was that of a man's. But she was completely and utterly alone in the room.

Heart returning to its normal pace, Rania took a few deep breaths. Maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe as the ladder was tipping backwards, she'd actually leaned forward to balance it out herself. That must have been it, Rania thought to herself.

And she went back to painting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Later that night Rania was in the shower, washing away the sweat of hard work she'd put in for the day. She'd painted her entire room, had situated all her furniture the way she wanted it, and had helped her parents around the house.

Rinsing her hair one last time, she shut off the water, reaching for the towel hanging on the hook to dry off with. Wrapping the fluffy towel around her body, Rania wrung her hair out before pushing it all back from her face. Opening the glass door, Rania stepped out. She couldn't see herself in the mirror as she approached the sink due to the steam that had collected on the reflective surface. Leaning down she turned on the sink faucet and grabbed her tooth brush. Rania held her damp hair back with one hand as she began brushing her teeth. Feeling refreshed when she finished, she put the small white and blue brush away and stood up.

There in front of her she saw her own reflection through the mirror. Looking closer, she realized it looked like a hand had wiped away the condensation from the steam in a single line.

Knowing she hadn't done it herself was what startled her the most.