ALIVE AND HEALED

The people of Hilton Bale stopped tossing stones the moment Daniel dropped dead, and with lowered heads, walked out, heading to their respective homes in sadness and pain. Their minds were crowded with thoughts of what they would do about their drinking water, which brought fresh tears to their eyes.

"See what you all did to him!" Aggrieved, Daisy wailed, swerving around with a scowl on her cute face. However, her eyes widened, and her jaws slacked when she found not even a single soul around the vicinity again.

Everywhere was silent, and only the growls of animals and the singing of birds were heard. The sky was already dimming little by little, signifying that it was almost dusk, leaving her heart banging profusely.

She stared back at the breathless Daniel, whose face had become so white with tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"What do I do now? He can't die this way. There must be something that can bring him back to life. There must be something!" She babbled in tears, her heart broken.

"I can't let Daniel die. Yes, I'll take him deeper into the woods. I'll get some herbs and make a herbal drink for him. Then, I'll open his mouth and pour it down his throat. I'll also treat his wound. Then wait for him to wake up." All these she said in tears, knowing that it made no sense but yet determined to wake him up.

She stood up from the ground, dusted her body so softly while groaning in pain, and began dragging Daniel's body to the woods since she couldn't carry him.

She kept wandering, looking for herbs until she came before a not-so-clean but manageable stream. Realizing that she would want to wash his body before treating his wounds, she decided to leave him there while she continued her search for the supposed herbs alone. She slowly dragged him close to the stream, and unknowingly, one of his hands dropped into the stream.

Breathing in and out, she wiped her sweat-filled face and left after staring at his body to an extent just to be sure she didn't forget where she laid him.

Though young, she had a problem with remembering things.

Just seconds after Daisy was out of sight, a sparkling extraordinary white light floated out of the stream and penetrated Daniel's body through his hand that was placed in the stream. A great wind began hovering around him and his bruised body suddenly began gumming together. Suddenly, one of his fingers twitched.

MINUTES LATER...

Daisy walked over with so many herbs in her hands and strolled straight to where she laid Daniel earlier, but he was no longer there. Her heart began beating rapidly, and her pulse quickened.

"But I dropped him here. Or am I mistaken? I'm sure I dropped him here. Yes, I did," she mumbled, staring around.

"I'm sure you did because that's where I woke up," a voice whispered behind her, and she turned abruptly while rubbing her ears to be sure she heard correctly.

"Daniel!" She exclaimed and ran into his open arms. But seemingly remembering something, she looked up at him with curious eyes as she asked,

"How is it possible? You were dead. I saw it with my eyes. I dragged you here myself. And I even went to get herbs. How is it possible you're standing before me without even an injury? What happened?"

Daniel, who knew that Daisy was capable of blabbering till dawn if he didn't do anything about it, disengaged from the hug and crashed his lips on hers, shutting her up. He nibbled on her lower lip, drawing a soft moan out of her, and once he felt her relax against him, disengaged from the kiss.

He smiled up at her and hugged her tightly before disengaging. "Let's sit."

Daisy raised her shoulder up and down, stared front and back, side by side then back at him before nodding, and both settled down before the stream, their hands entwined.

Daniel cleared his throat and stared at her with a helpless expression. "I do want to tell you how I woke up right now, Daisy, but even I don't know. I can remember that I breathed my last while the people were stoning us, but then I also opened my eyes here to see that all my bruises have been healed.

"I was amazed and glanced around to at least see who might've been behind that but saw no one. I had to walk around in search of the person because I believed he or she must have not gone far by after wandering around, I saw no one. I saw you while I was coming back; that was how I followed you."

"So you mean you don't know who or what brought you back to life? And you don't also know who or what healed you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I don't know. Like, I'm so shocked myself."

"Could it be that Theodora healed you?" She asked with raised brows while fiddling with her fingers.

"Theodora?" Daniel asked back, his hands on his jaw. 'Could that be possible?' He wondered.

"Yes, baby. Remember she said that even if you pierce a knife into your belly, she won't allow you die. It's quite possible that she allowed you to get beaten and stoned only to heal you secretly just to keep her words."

Daniel kept silent for a while, letting the words sink in, and shrugged off. "Perhaps she did. But I wonder how long she's gonna keep saving me just to keep her word because right now, I've decided to become a pain in her ass."

Daisy rolled her eyes at him and stood up. "I won't warn you again to stay off Theodora's path. I think what happened today should be enough lesson for you, so it's your choice.

"If you want to die, then you're free. I promise not to cry. It's good to have you back anyway. Let's go home now, please. I need to rest."

Daniel shook his head with a dark expression in his eyes. "If you're talking about my home, then I'm not going there.

"I'm done with those folks who abandoned their only child to die just because of a little mistake without even glancing back for a second. I'm never going back there. Let's go to your house. I'll be okay there."