The darkness has left.

Saviors come. They lift me gently from my bed, my home for so long. They show me how to stand once again, feed me and tell me what happened.

The masked man with the unmasked gun was a killer, my killer. The vibrant red, now a rusted brown  stain on the faded blue of my dress, was my life spilling onto the floor. No one helped me. Instead they hid me.

30 years, they say. I've been waiting for 30 years.

How, I ask. How I am alive?

They show me a mirror, and the answer becomes clear. I'm not. Not anymore. And I haven't been for a long time.

My skin used to be fair, nearly white. Now the bones show white from beneath the decayed skin. My lips used to part to give a rare smile. Now my smile glares back at me for having exposed it.

What now? I wonder aloud.

Come with us, they respond. We'll show you how to live again.

With halting steps, I follow my saviors into the day. Into the light.