"Yes, leave him. Come to safety. I love your children and I love you." he says.

I run and run, but never get closer to the outstretched arms. My children play at his feet, oblivious to what is going on in their surroundings. I continue to run, hearing my husband's laughter and words piercing my heart and ripping at my soul. I have left him. I can never go back. He will destroy me, destroy us..... but now I cannot go forward either. I run and run, but I am going nowhere. I am so close to the smiling face that he could reach out and pull me to safety, but now his arms are neatly folded at his chest. My friend's smiling face turns solemn as one hand is pulled out of the neat formation and points to a dark tunnel.

I softly call my children to me. They come gladly, happy to see me.

"Where are we going, Mother?" they ask me.

"On an adventure," I tell them, trying not to cry.

"There are places for people like you! Go there!", the stone cold face says to me.

I look into the once loving eyes. They are barren of feeling, heart hardened though I don't know why.

My children look at me and ask, "Mother, why doesn't he love us any more? What happened to our friend? Why does he turn us away?" I don't know how to answer them. I tell them, "I must have done something terribly wrong. I'm certain it's not anything to do with you. He loves you. It must be because of me." and we turn to face the dark tunnel

"It'll be okay," I tell them. "There are places for 'people like us."