Hi Razor,

When I'm submitting work with word limits, adding 'ed adds to the character count, but not the word count. Other tricks to save words include using contractions,
"is not" to "isn't" and the active tense.

I knew what you were doing with the line breaks, however, since it was all in present tense, I question this line.

Four years gone.

Okay, is that four years since she's been Rachel or four years since she's been the wife, mother, and reverend?

If you write the begining in the past tense and use the present tense for the second part, that conveys that she was Rachel, woke up and is now the reverend, perhaps confessing to a friend, priest or in her journal.

If that's the wrong timeline, then again, you can see how important the transition is to this tale.

Ruby