Cool morning dew settled on the prairie fields and the golden sun broke past the tips of mountain tops. Roosters welcomed the warmth with loud crows and the other animals stirred around in their pins. A wooden, humble house rests on top of a hill. Steven is a farmer with an above average stature and wears simple clothing. He has thick brown hair with unnoticable grey strands. Steven was born on the farm and so was his father. The farm is part of him as the clouds are part of the sky. Steven has an air about him that is welcoming. Often, Steven would talk to his animals as if they could understand him. “ Look at what I’ve brought you all today!” The pigs squealed and snorted at the sight of the bright yellow corn held in his hands. “ I just harvested these today, aren’t they beautiful?” The pigs reassured his exclamation as they gobbled it down quickly. As Steven was splitting blocks of wood, his wife Rosaline called him from within the house.
Rosaline has long black hair and a beautiful gentle face. She speaks like a sweet song, soothing and comforting. She is graceful in her movement and retains her youthfulness.  Steven wedged the axe into an idle block and rushed inside. “ The baby’s coming!” she said anxiously. Speechless, Steven ran and grabbed a bowl with warm water and a white towel. He wringed the towel with the warm water and patted Rosaline’s forehead softly. It was quiet as Rosaline lied on the bed and Steven sat in a chair next to her. “ Finally, it took her long enough.” said Steven jokingly. Rosaline smiled at Steven and so did Steven in return. Ten minutes later, the miracle of life took place in the small, cozy house. The baby girl cried only for a short moment until she was wrapped in a blanket and held by her mother. Both Steven and Rosaline gazed at their child. “ “She has your eyes Steven.” said Rosaline softly. “Yeah, my nose too.” Steven chuckled.
   Mary grew at a fast pace. Seasons passed and she started to walk, then run. Her little feet moved quickly as she chased around the baby chicks. Rosaline put one of the chicks in Mary’s tiny hands and whispered something in Mary’s ear. Mary giggled loudly and shuffled her way towards her father who was pouring feed into metal bins. “  DAAAD! I have a present for you!” exclaimed Mary jumping up and down. “ What do you have there? A CHICKEN?!?! No way I just love chickens, in fact I have about 30 of them!” Steven said enthusiastically. Steven put the chick back with it’s mother and picked up Mary and spun her around. He kissed her on the cheek and then handed her off  to her mother. “ You guys go inside, it’s going to get dark and cold soon.” suggested Steven. “ Alright but you come along too when you’re done, Mr. Chicken enthusiast.” said Rosaline smiling.
   Winter begun and the surrounding willow trees grew bare. The air was sharp and cold, clouds of steam puffed out the nostrils of the cows. Snow blanketed where the vast prairie used to be and the mountain tops were white. Steven held Mary in his lap at the dining table while Rosaline cooked breakfast. Steven was telling Rosaline the things he needed to do when abruptly, Mary started to shake violently. Luckily Steven caught her before she could fall off his lap. At the sight of Mary having a seizure, Rosaline cried aloud and dropped the pan on the floor resulting in a loud bang. The shaking lasted a long 3 minutes while Steven held her in his arms with a worried look on his face. “ You will be alright baby girl, you will be alright.” he whispered.
   The doctor wore a long white coat and a pair of thin glasses. By the look of his face you could tell he was experienced. Mary was sleeping with her head rested on Rosaline’s lap. The doctor checked Mary’s heart rate, temperature and ran a series of diagnostics. Steven and Rosaline watched him work without saying a word. After he was finished, he paused to make his final conclusion. The doctor told Steven that they need not to worry for Mary seemed perfectly healthy and that seizures could happen to almost anybody. Steven let out a slow sigh of relief while Rosaline kissed Mary’s head. Unfortunately the doctor was wrong. The next morning Mary was her happy, radiant self, but when night came she had another seizure. Only this time, she stopped breathing.
Parts of Steven and Rosaline died that day and from time to time they cried together. A look of sadness never left their eyes. They spoke less often and walked in a lonely manner.
The snow melted and birds started to sing songs to one another. The prairies were of bright shades of green.  Rosaline sat on a bench alone, gazing at the trickling creek. She put her hand on her swollen belly and sorrowfully said “ Mary and you would have had lots of fun in this creek.”  A new life was developing inside of Rosaline. She frequently spoke to it when she felt alone.
   Autumn quickly passed and the chilling winter came again. Steven was herding cows from across the fields back in their corrals when Rosaline called out for him. Steven was returning back to the house when he heard a piercing cry. He ran inside and stopped when he saw the baby boy. He walked slowly towards the baby and gazed at him with awe. He expected Rosaline to say something among the lines of “ I tried calling you but you were out in the fields.”  Instead he was met with silence and  her eyes were closed shut.  Steven touched the side of Rosaline’s cheek and called her name but with no answer. The baby’s screams echoed throughout the house. Steven shook her arm but she laid still like a stone.
Leo had the aesthetics of his mother, dark black hair and fair skin. Except in a way, he didn’t resemble Rosaline at all. Leo was short tempered, selfish, and disobedient. Steven tried his best to raise Leo but all his efforts were in vain. Steven believed Leo was the way he was due to being motherless. Steven really tried his best to love him. At age 5, Leo was found by the creek with 2 lifeless chicks in his hands. When asked what happened, Leo giggled “ They just wanted to go for a swim!” Everyday Leo’s behavior became more crude. Whenever Steven would scold him, Leo would just mock him in return.
    Over the years, there were nothing but dry springs and harsh winters. Steven’s once tall, confident crops collapsed and withered. No matter how hard he tilled the land, or how much he watered them, they would not grow. The land was so arid even the willow trees started to die. Leo walked  solemnly over to the pin of pigs and said “ Sorry my friends, but I have no food for you and I must sell most of you...goodbye.” Under the moonlight, Steven walked to the creek where he sobbed for hours.
   Leo was now almost 17 years old and attended the high school in town. He was surprisingly bright and cunning. His vulgar personality never changed nor did he ever felt the need to change. As Leo was making his way past the blacktop, he spotted Helen laughing with a rather tall fellow. Helen had light brown hair and eyes and wore the school’s uniform. Leo didn’t have any feelings for her but thought she was very attractive. The tall fellow caught Leo staring at them and made a remark that seemed to make Helen laugh. Leo let out a sigh, and ran one of his hands through his hair. Leo proceeded to walk towards them casually with his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face. When he got to where they were standing, Leo put his hand out as if he was going to shake his hand and said “ How are we this fine evening?” The tall fellow responded with “good.” and reached for Leo’s hand, but as he did Leo retracted his hand and lunged his foot with mighty force  into the tall fellow’s left knee cap. The tall fellow fell immediately and Helen shrieked out of fear. The fellow’s leg was bent inward and parts of bone were visible through the surface of skin. The tall fellow cried as if the eternal flames of hell was burning rapid on his leg. They were quickly surrounded by curious students and loud chatter rose amongst them.
Steven was in the midst of pouring a glass of water when he heard a loud bang on the door. When he opened it, Leo exclaimed “ How do you do pops?” with two police officers standing behind him. The officers explained what had happened while Steven stood there emotionless. After the officers left he closed the door and sat down in a chair with a dazed look. Leo attempted to say something when he was interrupted by Steven in a rage. “ Why are you the way you are !?”  roared Steven. “Well, sorry to disappoint you dad,but you might have to ask someone because I do not have the answer to your question.” said Leo sarcastically. “ I tried all I could to raise you, but why do you keep acting like this?!” “ Your mother and your older sister would have been gravely disappointed in you!!!” exclaimed Steven. Leo scoffed and said “ I could care less of what they thought of me, they are already dead!” Consumed by anger, Steven cocked his arm back and gave Leo a blow across the cheek. “ I AM ASHAMED TO HAVE YOU AS A SON, LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER COME BACK!” cried Steven. Leo grabbed a near by porcelain vase and threw it on the floor. Leo walked towards the door and looked back at his father. “Farewell old man.” said Leo in a low tone and stormed out.
Steven walked out into the fields and fell onto his knees. He weeped and cursed the skies. “ WHY GOD WHY? WHY DID YOU TAKE MY LITTLE GIRL, MY LOVELY WIFE? THEY DID NOTHING WRONG! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG! YOU’VE TAKEN MY FARM, LEFT ME WITH NO ANIMALS!  I HAVE NOTHING LEFT!!!” The clouds crackled and it started to pour down rain. Without warning, lightning struck Steven. He found himself in a white space, indistinguishable from ground or sky. “ I sympathize with you.” said a clear voice. Steven looked around but there wasn’t anybody to be found. “ There is no greater sorrow than the lost of children.” the voice boomed. “ Long ago, since the creation of one of my sons, I knew my heart would break from what he would do to me. I knew he would turn my children against me, make them distrust me….hate me. If I knew, why didn’t I stop him you might ask? My love for him was too great, I couldn’t have done anything. I tried to put him on the right path, but you see he is hard headed much like your son. Until the day he waged war on me, I had no choice but to cast him away into another dimension along with my other children. But I did so out of love, not anger. I have hope that one day he will have a change of heart, even though as of now he shows no signs. I felt an overwhelming sadness doing so. After all that I did and gave to my children, they took it for granted. I created them a world of peace and comfort, beauty and satisfaction. My children did not value the lives they had. I had to create a way to prevent my children from going down the wrong path again so I created Earth. I sculpted the mountains, and painted the sky. Filled the oceans and pushed the winds. Earth taught my children to be grateful for when they returned home.On Earth they witnessed struggles they never had before. Pain, hunger, fear… Lucifer is my only regret. I do not regret creating him but for failing to guide him as a father. He now causes pain and misfortune on Earth. Something I did not intend on happening. My only wish is to create an amends with my son.”
When Steven woke, beams of golden light were poking holes through the grey clouds. He was drenched and felt light headed. He wasn’t sure whether what just happened was merely a dream or an actual encounter with God. Steven sat there on the field until he gathered his thoughts. He remembered all of what God said and regret surfaced from within his chest. He thought about Leo and where he could be. Next to where he was sitting, a seedling penetrated through the rough surface of earth. Steven stood up and patted the dirt of his clothes and sought to bring Leo back home.