WiseGirl098

She is fitful in her sleep.  She tosses and turns beside him, under his scarred hand on her torn shoulder, and whimpers pitifully.  Now that he thinks about it, this is the only time she has ever made any noise that can be considered pitiful.      It kills him, completely and utterly.      He wants to cry, and to keep himself from giving in, he blinks furiously and counts to one-hundred in Ancient Greek.  It takes all of his concentration and by the time he accomplishes his goal, he is no longer fighting the tears.  Briefly, he thinks of waking her, of bringing her out of the nightmare that causes her whole body to shake, but he can&rsquo

The little girl crept downstairs, her feet barely making a sound against the wood floor. She pushed her blonde locks out of her face, eyes twinkling against the glow from the TV. A man was seated on the couch, watching a movie, but he wasn't really seeing. His eyes were glazed over, too caught up in the past to notice his daughter moving towards him. As quickly as she could, the little girl jumped up on the couch and shook her father's arm roughly, jolting him awake.     "Daddy! Daddy!" She whispered frantically. Her father blinked once or twice, before reality hit him hard, instincts kicking in immediately.     "What is it? What is it, s