Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. It rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see , I don't know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his.. "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. Sick bast-And calling' it the other heaven. Meaning-they probably told him he was going straight to -" The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as her hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her shaking wrist pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter. "You can call me Li- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? " Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance.

Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. It rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see , I don't know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his.. "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. Sick bast-And he father calling' it the other heaven. Meaning-they probably told him he was going straight to -" The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter. "You can call me Li- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? " Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance.

Where is the other heaven inferred by Ryan to be

Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. It rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see , I don't know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me because, that mechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my bladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall.

Please highlight sophisticated use of language

Highlight some gritty and realistic phrases

So what's poignant in it

So it avoids being cheesy