However ....
by Gary A. Braunbeck and Lucy A. Snyder
“The great epochs of our lives come when we gain the courage to rebaptize our evil as our best.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche, “Fourth Article,” Beyond Good and Evil
Of the three children it was the youngest, Penny, who was finally able to free herself from the manacles. So emaciated had her limbs become that she easily slipped her left hand through, but her right was still swollen at the base of the index finger and thumb where the bones had been broken. She did not cry out, even though it was obvious to the others that she was in terrible pain. Pausing only long enough to pull in a deep breath, Penny gripped her right wrist and bore down with what little strength remained in her body. Her face turned red from both the agony and the effort,
