All her short life Alenna had been a carefree little girl, until the day of her eleventh birthday. On that day, a tiny tear of blood appeared when someone said something that had hurt her feelings.

After hurried visits to doctors all over town, they could find no reason for why it was happening, but all agreed that it seemed to be causing her no harm. The doctors all told her not to worry too much about it and each sent her home with different pills to take. It wasn't until a few weeks later when Alenna cried again that she found out what these tears could do.

On that day her Mother wiped the tiny tear from her soft cheek, and suddenly, as it touched her bent and twisted finger, a miracle happened, and her crippled finger was healed again. They all danced in joy, and celebrated the gift she had been given. A few weeks later though, the news had spread across the country, and their attitude had changed.

People came from everywhere to touch her tears of blood. But the tears only came when she was hurt and upset. So that is what they set about doing. They cursed her, called her names, pinched her, and even hit her. Alenna heard more vile things in a few short days than she had heard in her entire life.

Alenna's life became a misery. She never smiled and often cried. Her parents sold her tears for money, often not even caring why she cried so much. Her torment was so great that her pillow was often drenched in bloody tears each morning. Alenna tried to hide during the day, coming out only at night, but still the desperate people haunted her, never going away, never giving her a moment peace.

Until one day an extremely nasty old lady had pushed her down on the hard, rocky ground. The little girl started to cry afraid for her life, and people began touching her face, hands coming from everywhere. Then suddenly the crowd was pushed aside as a huge man roared loudly at them all. They backed off in fear but not far away, their greed was too great for that.

He held his hand out to the small girl, and a gentle smile appeared on his handsome face, and as she let him help her to her feet, she felt his strength flowing into her. Bloodied tears stopped, and he wiped the remains from her tiny face and then their eyes met.

Her eleven-year-old heart beat faster and her body swayed as they looked deeply into each others eyes. She knew then that this was the man she wanted in her life. And she knew that nothing between Heaven and Hell was going to stop her from doing just that.

Her life was spent in wonderful dreams for the next six months. They did everything together, and not a single bloody tear appeared during that time. Until the day he disappeared.

Little Alenna was frantic, the tears came back stronger than ever before, and she searched everywhere, but there was no sign of him. People crowded her every step, and so many hands were on her small face that at times she could not see where she was walking. And then one day a tiny piece of paper was pressed into her hand.

It read: "My Uncle is dying of cancer, you know him as the man you love. He knows your tears could cure him, but he would never ask that pain from you."

She spun around looking for the passer of the note, but the crowd around her was so large that she could not see who it was.

After that day she ran away from her home and her parents and spent months searching. Hospitals, day centers, anywhere a person dying might go to get help. But there was never any sign of her love, and no one seemed to have heard of him or could tell the little girl where he was.

Until one day in desperation, trying to hide from her ever-present crowd, Alenna ran into a disused subway tunnel. There she saw the people discarded by society for as many reasons as there were people. But even here they knew of her.

And as the crowd of dispossessed people moved in on her, touching, poking, looking for a tear to cure their hurts, a quiet word from a pale and skinny man made them move back. They looked at him with obvious respect. But it was easy to see that he was dying.

It took a little while before Alenna recognised him. He was her lover. And as the realisation dawned on her she laughed and reached for him. And the very last bloody tear was smeared onto his pale, sunken cheek. She closed her beautiful eyes and thanked God, and when she opened them, before her stood the man she had loved. No longer sick and dying, but healthy and strong.

The little girl had finally found pleasure for herself in her terrible gift. But now, with her man, her love, her strength beside her, she knew the gift had finally ceased to be. It had lasted only long enough to repay all her hurts with an eternal happiness. Just long enough to give the gift of life to the man she loved.

Little Alenna never cried again after that day.

The End