Gretchen's Resilience

The strongest oak starts from a small acorn.

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Gretchen Baines was born in the early spring of 1620 in the isolated wilderness of New England. Her family- mother, father, and two younger brothers- lived with their livestock and crops on a small plot between the edge of the forest and the banks of the river. It was not an easy life, but at least it was theirs: free to live as they saw fit and to follow God's laws, or so her father always assured her.

The family had only begun living on the land a few years before Gretchen was born, having previously lived further north near their friends, but once Gretchen was born, her mother decided that she would rather live where there were no neighbors than near them. She missed her husband dearly when he left to hunt or fish in the forests surrounding their cabin, but she knew that they had no choice but to stay there; with winter approaching quickly and food becoming scarce, they could not afford to move again. The family would have to survive another hard year in solitude.

One night in late autumn, when Gretchen was just six years old, she awoke suddenly to find herself drenched in freezing cold water. Panicked and confused by what was happening, she shot up from her bed beside her brothers' on the floor and ran towards her parents' room at the end of the small cabin. When she reached their door, she stopped short; through the thin wooden walls she could hear angry shouting spurring on more thuds and crashes, like furniture being thrown around inside. With trembling hands she slowly pushed open their door- it made a loud squeak that penetrated into the chaos within- and froze in place. Her father lay unconscious on their bed with blood streaming down his face onto the rough linens beneath him while her mother screamed at him furiously while beating him repeatedly over his head with a broken chair leg. Over and over again she hit him until finally he arched his back and slumped face down into the water and blood staining the sheets- then she stopped hitting him and began hitting herself instead until she too collapsed next to him on the bed.

Gretchen stood alone for what felt like an eternity in silence with tears running down her face before rushing out of their bedroom back into hers and grabbing onto both of her brothers beneath their covers. She shook them awake from their sleep screaming for them to wake up before throwing herself back onto their mattress with them and covering all three of them together with a thick blanket; then they waited until morning came without saying a word to each other except for when one fell asleep periodically during those long hours spent huddled under that warm layer of wool overtop their bony frames.

As soon as it was light outside once more, Gretchen forced herself to get up off of their mattress despite how painful it felt to bend almost every bone in her body after having spent all night sitting on it without moving at all. After forcing open both doors of their cabin despite how heavy they were due to how swollen they felt from being constantly soaked in water during the previous night's attack by wild animals hungry for food that they couldn't provide any longer, Gretchen walked outside into the bitter cold air around her bare feet covered only by a thin nightgown that exposed her skin underneath to its harsh bite as well as some strands of hair hanging loosely around her face dripping with condensation from being drenched overnight at times when some of it had condensed into tiny droplets against her cheekbones after getting caught underneath their blankets when she'd fallen asleep or let go of them over time during those long hours spent huddled against one another under that woolen blanket. In front of her eyes lay two lifeless corpses lying still side by side against one another underneath that mess of wet sheets stained crimson red with blood while a third body sat by itself against a wall covered by nothing but a thin gown also caked with bloodstruck brown hairs sticking out here and there as well as an empty expression frozen onto its face where its eyes stared blankly across its cabin's floor covered entirely in broken pieces of wood strewn about everywhere around them. Blood pooled below them soaking into fresh snow forming around those bodies that fountained above them splattering everywhere whenever a gust rustled through the trees surrounding them while snowflakes continued falling straight down around everything outside like drops falling onto wet tissue paper being pressed against each other relentlessly until they stuck together instead because dried blood had pooled underneath those bodies instead of water which made it hard for even snowflakes to stick to anything else around them thanks to how sticky it turned out being whenever it dried up after bleeding so much from those bodies so thoroughly damaged by whatever had happened last night inside this cabin despite how hard Gretchen tried shaking off what remained clinging stubbornly onto everything if anything remained dry enough for it not to be able to be lifted off once more or moved away from something else nearby where drops fell onto it afterward seemingly refusing to leave things untouched ever again whenever any moisture landed on top of other objects coated all over with blood yet never drying up because something else nearby kept flooding everything all over again every time new drops fell upon that same area making things constantly wetter than before whenever something else nearby got flooded once more wherever they were standing preventing eventually everything around them except themselves from drying out no matter how hard Gretchen tried moving things away from each other hoping things would dry up soon afterwards after spending so many torturous days outside avoiding going inside altogether not even into their own home anymore now that all four bodies were dead still lying out here unable to move since whatever happened last night made everyone too weak physically speaking right now just strong enough mentally speaking for Gretchen alone somehow remaining strong enough physically speaking despite whatever happened last night though maybe not now thanks to weather conditions worsening inside this cabin trapping everyone inside this cabin alive preventing anyone from escaping anywhere including themselves trapped inside this cabin dying slowly starving indoors away from everyone else outside including rescuers who might come looking for help if any rescuers even existed anymore because how did anyone even know they were here waiting here helplessly trapped inside this cabin unable to go anywhere except maybe try walking miles inside this forest but unable ever again save themselves without someone else saving them first?

Not wanting anyone else besides herself finding out about what happened last night out here where nobody living could hear what happened outside or talking about what happened last night spreading news about what happened everywhere throughout New England where everyone had moved from further north following God's law making sure nobody found out about what had happened last night thinking maybe no longer following God's law made everyone safe so far away from cities despite thinking maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe?

Or thinking that if people started following God's laws again everyone would be safe again like before starting new lives somewhere far away where nobody living heard about what happened last night beginning brand new lives trying new dreams making new memories even if thinking maybe not making new memories here meant forgetting all about old ones gone forever?