a reckoning.

Pink peonies nestle in a bunch on the bottom step of the church entrance. They were left there by a little girl in a blue sundress, the lace cuffs of her socks nudge the tops of her Mary-Janes as she skips inside.

The giant cross with the hanging man is scary but her blonde curls bounce slightly as she draws ever nearer.

She looks up in amazement, and sadness, and wonder. Who was this man and why does he hang there with that scary thorny crown on his head?

She runs back outside to grab her pink peonies and begins tying the stems in knots like she used to tie her shoelaces, before she learned the loop, swoop, and pull method. After a very short while she's made a crown of flowers for the sad man on the cross.

Although she can't reach, she lays the crown on the first pew and speaks out softly,

"Here Mister, this is for you."