Diary of an Angel (14 page)

Clink.
Her keys struck the pavement. Her hand seized the top of the door, struggling for support. Something was terribly wrong. My heart instantly went into hyper drive. Angela’s eyes were wide with fear. Her breath came in short, quick spurts. Then she began to teeter, as if she were dizzy.

“What’s happening!” I
cried in agony.

“I don’t know...it looks like she’s going to fall.”

“Can’t we catch her? At least soften her fall?” I was already reaching out to catch her. Faster than light, Clairus snatched my hands in hers.

“Forenica, you mustn’t—”

“She’ll fall.”

I was frantic. The thought of Angela falling into a helpless lump on the pavement was too much for me. Clairus took my head between her hands and forced me to look at her. Her amber eyes penetrated mine, restoring me to my senses. With tears in both our eyes, we turned back to Angela just as her hand lost hold of the door and she collapsed on the ground.

I instantly fell to my knees by her side. Her head had struck the pavement, her eyes were shut. Her chest rose and fell, though. She was still alive.

“Wh
at can we do? She needs help,” I said in a panic. There was no one around to see her fall. Not a neighbor watering his lawn. Not a couple out for an evening stroll. “Oh, Angela! Somebody come and help her!” I grasped Angela’s frail, lifeless hand and held it tight. Like a sudden storm, the tears began raining from my eyes. I could no longer hold them back. “Angela, Angela!” I cried out through tears of desperation. “Soren, where’s Soren? He can find someone to help her.”

I felt Clairus’ hand touch my shoulder, and I knew there was nothing left to do but wait for Angela to pass. My sobbing erupted afresh at this realization. I watched helplessly as the life drained out of Angela’s crumpled form. How long she lay there alone, her life expiring, I know not. How it pierced my heart to have watch her die that like! Not a friend or family member to stay by her side. We would not leave her.

She was so pale now, her breathing barely perceptible. I stroked her silver hair and kissed her cheek.

“She’s near her last breath.” Clairus’ voice sounded soft and faint, as if spoken from far off. Clairus grabbed my hand and squeezed it lightly. “You’re almost there. It’s almost over, Forenica.”

At these words, I sank lower, letting head fall upon Angela’s chest, my arms wrapped around her. And I waited, counting pathetic heaves of her chest, the murmured beats of her failing heart, my tears never ceasing. Then, without warning, the heaving stopped, the beating ended, and Angela had died.

I sobbed.

Suddenly, a surge of light burst around us. It was a warming glow, sweet and peaceful. I looked up and found I could not see Angela’s car, or Margaret’s house, or the pavement, nothing but light, pure and bright. I looked down at my Angela, but it was not the Angela that I had cried over. Her cheeks were rosy, her hair like the summer sun, her skin smooth as silk. It was as if Time had rolled back fifty years, restoring to Angela her youth. But she was beyond Time’s reach now. This was the immortal Angela, never again to pass through Death’s dark doorway.

As I stared in wonder, her eyes fluttered open, revealing those sapphire eyes of deep beauty. They gazed straight up into the light.

“She can’t see us yet,” Clairus whispered. “We need to take her Home.”

Together, we lifted Angela from the ground. She did not seem to register the change in her position. It was as if she were still asleep, or just waking from a dream. The light around us intensified, and I felt that we began to rise, slowly. We were ascending, not by our normal mode, but by some portal of light. The intensity of the light continued to grow, stronger and stronger. His presence grew with every passing moment. Then we passed through the Veil of Mortality and brought Angela into the glory of eternity.

A figure standing in a crowd not far from where we arrived came running over, waving his arms waving excitedly. It was Jack, and he was carrying Lily. Angela was now fully awake. Her eyes lit up, and took off running to meet them. Outstretched arms, yearning for that long awaited reunion, wrapped around the united couple and their daughter. They swung around and around, dissolving into one.

“She’s home now, little one,” came Anawin’s voice from beside me. “You’ve done well, very well.” She put her gentle arm around me, Clairus joined her. Then I cried—a sweet, joyful cry.

THE END