MENDING FENCES by Brooke Williams

be for the family we have back here too.  Any time someone is sent out on Rumspringa, they could spend a day or two there first to adjust.  We could teach them what to expect on the outside and then be there to walk them through the experience.”
                Maria liked the way the idea sounded.  It was something she really could have used had it been around when she went out into the world.
                “And,” Eldon continued, his eyes lighting up before her, “I know that not many people who are born and raised within the community ever leave, but those who do have quite a struggle ahead of them.  And not just Amish from here, but from all over the country.  We would offer them a place where they might fit in and be comfortable.”
                Maria allowed her eyes to explore Eldon’s face.  She had been up the entire night before praying for some sort of answer.  She needed a compromise, something other than black and white for once.  She needed a way to live the simple life while loving Eldon.  She felt with certainty that Eldon was giving it to her right then and there.
                “So,” she began slowly, “it would sort of be between two worlds.”
                “Exactly,” Eldon said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand again.  “It wouldn’t be community life, but it wouldn’t be outside world life either.  We would balance it all so that we would be more comfortable.”
                Maria noticed that Eldon had been saying “we” a lot and she wasn’t sure if he was being presumptuous or just talking in generalities.
                “The last thing I want to do is take you away from all this,” Eldon said, waving his free hand in the air.  “But Maria, I don’t know if I can imagine my life without you.  And together, I think we can truly make this happen.  We can live between the two worlds and I think we could really be happy.”  Eldon gave her a small smile and Maria could see her nerves shine through the expression on his face.  “Of course, the decision is yours.  If you want to stay here with your family and the ways you have always known, I completely understand.  I don’t know what I would have done had I been put in your situation at this stage in life. I need you to know that whatever you decide, I want only what is best for you.”
                Maria felt her head start to spin.  Eldon had come after her, even after she left and allowed him to think she wasn’t coming back.  He loved her and he wanted to be with her.  He was creating a whole new community that would allow both of them to fit in while helping the Amish reputation and even Amish people.  She didn’t think the idea could get much better.
                “I just needed you know how much I love you,” Eldon went on, giving Maria very little time to think in silence.  “Wherever you are and wherever I am doesn’t matter, I’m going to love you till the day I die and I know it.”
                Maria was about to tell Eldon what she thought of the whole thing when her father entered the room.
                “Son,” he said, addressing Eldon as he shot up from his chair.
                Eldon opened his mouth to speak, but Maria’s father held his hand up to silence him.  “What I just heard,” her father said slowly in his methodical way, “was what I always wanted for my daughter.”
                Eldon raised his eyebrows, anxious to hear more.
                “I want nothing more for her than happiness, righteousness, and faith.  You are a man who is willing to love my daughter over space and through time.  Whatever happened in the past is in the past.  You are forgiven.”
                Maria watched Eldon’s eyes light up once again as he looked at Maria with love shining from his soul.