Brandon Ferris Benedict

-Freedom Survivors-

It was the evening of the 4th of July 2022. Faith, or Faye, (as her close friends had used as an endearing moniker), lay in her bed on her back. Staring at the ceiling, she wondered, being awestruck. Her breathing grew tighter as she laid wide-eyed clenching her pillow tighter than before a few minutes ago. She reached by her neck to grab a golden heart-shaped locket attached to a necklace strung snugly around her neck. Her grandmother had given the charm to her on her 17th birthday four months ago. That February, at her graduation party from high school, her grandmother Doris had gifted the item to her so she would always remember that special day. Her grandmother was rather wealthy and well-to-do in her community. She lived in Jasper Alabama on Delaware ave. It was an upscale development where the homes there were mansions. There were also a few homes that were more likened to castles. The fine brick buildings were a thing of the past as to how homes were now being built. Her grandmother would show up to birthday events, special occasions, and weekend shopping getaways where she would go out with Faith and her older sister Jess, (short for Jessica). The golden heart-shaped locket was a special gift Faith received after everyone heard of her recent grades in high school from her mother Cathleen spreading the good news to everyone.