You’re in my soul
A tall blond angel waked along the vast green field with a content smile on the corner of his lips and with lilacs in his hand, and his hurried pace indicated that he was looking for something, or, in that case, for someone. The bright blue sky and the warm sun, which brought more colour and beauty to that peaceful part of the Earth, helped Andrew to spot another angel standing under a huge oak tree.
Standing on her feet, Monica observed her surroundings and let the gentle breeze dishevel some strands of her auburn hair. But instead of rejoicing for being in such a beautiful place and admiring the Father’s creation (like she always did), the Irish angel had tears in her brown eyes and an expression of sorrow all over her meek face.
Andrew came from behind her and, initially, he didn’t notice that she was crying. But a sudden sensation of sadness invaded his heart and, deep down inside, he felt like holding Monica as tightly as he could; something that he was always longing for.
“I thought these would look more beautiful if you were holding them...” he said, placing his hand over her shoulder and showing her the small lilacs. As she turned around to face him, his heart immediately clenched with sorrow and apprehension to see his beloved Monica crying so desperately, and the blond angel quickly put his hand on her cheek, “Monica? Monica, what is it? Why are you crying, angel?” he asked, deeply worried and a bit scared.
“Oh Andrew... I failed an assignment... I’m... I’m a terrible angel...” she sobbed, and finally burst into tears.
“No! Please, don’t say that, angel...” he wasted no time in holding her tightly, “Please, be calm, Monica, I’m here now...”
Not even the movement of his fingers through her auburn hair and his loving and comforting embrace were able to stop her crying.
Holding her almost fiercely, he let her cry for some long minutes, and only then when her tears seemed to be subsiding, did he pull a few inches away from her. Andrew took Monica’s hand and both walked up to a small stone; he sat down on the small rock and pulled her down into his lap, gathering her in his arms and rocking her as if she was a little girl.
“I’m here, Monica. I’m at your side, always,” the blond angel spoke, kissing her temple repeatedly, “Please try to calm down and tell me what happened, whatever it is, I can help you, baby.”
“You can’t help me, Andrew... Nobody can...”
“Oh yes, there is Someone who can; you know that the Father is always taking care of you, don’t you?” he replied, brushing away the tears that never stopped falling from her eyes, “And so am I...”
“I failed to accomplish His assignment...”
“Tell me what happened...” his face and sparkling green eyes were so full of love and reassurance that she managed to calm down.
“I was assigned to this girl... Lisa...”
“I’m listening...” he said, gently stroking her cheek.
“She... she was only 13 years old, Andrew! Only 13 years old!” Monica shook her head, still in shock with what had happened and Andrew watched her with compassionate eyes until she put her thoughts in order and went on talking. After a long minute, the Irish angel spoke again. “Lisa’s family was very poor and, besides Lisa, there were other 6 children to feed. So, due to this, and to the bad influence of some of her... ‘friends’, she became a drug dealer.”
“God...” Andrew’s low voice could reveal how sorry he was to hear that.
“She started to sell drugs at school, to some other children and teenagers like her about 3 months ago. But last week, Lisa apparently lost 300 dollars she had to pay to the dealer who gave her the drugs to sell.”
Monica sighed deeply, and sensing that she would come to the worst part of her narrative, Andrew reached out and squeezed, trying to transmit her some of his reassurance.
“The dealer was furious with her, Andrew. So furious that... that he threatened to kill her family. She was so desperate...” after a brief pause, Monica looked deep inside Andrew’s green eyes, searching for comfort. “The police found her dead and concluded that she had killed herself.”
“Monica... I’m so sorry...” he started to say, but she interrupted him.
“But she didn’t...”
“What do you mean?”
“Lisa didn’t kill herself voluntarily, Andrew! She was forced to kill herself by the dealer, otherwise he would kill her family on the following day!”
Andrew was lost for words with what she had told him; there was nothing he could say to make her feel better, and Monica’s conclusion caused his heart to clench with sorrow.
“... And I couldn’t stop her from doing that! I told her that it wasn’t the solution, I revealed myself as an angel to her, but... but I failed... I failed Andrew!”
Her sobs and crying stopped her from going on and the blond angel held her close to him, making her rest her head over his shoulder. Inwardly, he wanted so badly to take that pain away from her heart that he couldn’t think of anything else; finding the right words to confront her after such a tragic story was almost impossible, as he himself was moved to tears to hear about what had occurred.
No matter how long Andrew had been an angel of death, no matter how many tragedies he had witnessed, his angelic heart was always deeply moved and filled with sadness whenever he had to face such a hard assignment. Due to this, he felt twice worried about Monica, as he knew, maybe better than anyone else in the entire universe, how sensitive the little Irish angel was, and, therefore, how much she had been affected by that tragedy.
After thinking so much about that and praying for some guidance, Andrew slowly nodded his head, hearing wise words whispered to his angelic heart. In his glowing form, he gently pulled away, just enough to look at her face.
“Remember that once, I felt lost and with my heart filled with sorrow, and you were the angel that God sent to me to lift me up? He asked, placing his palm over her cheek and watching as she weakly nodded her head, with tears rolling down her face “... and, if I can remember well, you did this many other times since we’ve met...”
“But this is different, Andrew...”
“Shh...” he pressed a finger against her lips, “... you’ll come with me, we’re in angelic form because there are some places I want you to go and some things you should know...”
“I don’t think I could go somewhere now...”
“Please, do it for me, Monica. Let me be your angel now, for I know it was the Father who sent me here today...”
He pulled her to her feet and held her hands, kissing each of them.
“I know you can feel the sadness in my soul... I’m sorry for that...” she spoke, with some guilt. But he shook his head, “I can feel how sad you are, angel, but don’t you ever apologise for that, not to me. We were meant to be together through the good and bad times and as much as I hate seeing you like this, I’ll always be here to wipe away your tears or to cry with you if I have to...” Then, Andrew bent his head and placed a tiny, tender kiss on her lips, “I’ll heal your soul angel. Come with me.”
............
Still in their angelic form, they reappeared on Earth, in a quiet neighbourhood where some children played in the street. Hand in hand, they came closer and watched them for a few moments. “Do you know who these children are?”
“No...”
“Lisa’s brothers and sister...” Watching as another tear made its way down her cheek, he wiped it away and continued to speak, “All the family was hidden in a very small apartment, afraid of the dealers who were threatening them. But the police found out about Lisa’s ‘suicide’, Monica.”
The Irish angel looked at him in shock, “I... I didn’t know...”
“It was yesterday. The dealers who had been threatening her family were arrested, in a secret operation, and Lisa’s strange death was what led the agents to get to those criminals. Her brothers and sisters, as well as her parents, could come back to their house and are free to go out in the street and carry on with a normal life, with no fear.”
He made a brief pause so that Monica could observe how happy the little children, aged between 3 and 11 years old, were playing with their friends. One of the girls, the youngest one, looked at them and smiled.
“She saw us...”
“Yes. Sometimes children, especially the very young ones, can see us even if we are in our angelic form...” he answered, and then he continued to talk, “...and there’s more, Monica. The police not only found out the threat against this family; they also discovered the dealer’s organisation at the school where she studied.”
“Oh God...”
“Lisa’s death was a tragedy, angel, that is a fact that unfortunately cannot be changed. But you know how the Father has the power to transform the saddest things into something good. This family here is safe now and I’m sure God will help these parents to find courage to overcome their loss. And at the school where she studied, teachers and students are organising a memorial for all those children and teenagers who died because of drugs. Not to mention that now, the organisation is over and think about how many other children are safe from these men...”
“Yes... you’re right...” Monica nodded, more tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
At that moment, Lisa’s youngest sister, who had been observing the angels talking, stood up and smiling, walked towards them, somewhat attracted by their glow. “Hi...” she greeted, with a friendly tone in her voice and no fear at all.
Andrew and Monica knelt in front of her and now the Irish angel had a tearful smile upon her face. “Hullo, sweetheart...”
“Are you angels?”
“Yes, sweetie. I’m Andrew and this is Monica.”
“So... can you say hi to my sister Lisa?”
Andrew felt a knot in the pit of his stomach with that request, as he could see more tears rolling down his beloved friend’s face.
“Oh yes, dear... We’ll do that, I promise...” Monica replied, fighting to control her emotions.
“Thanks. Tell her we’re fine and that we love her too?”
Andrew stroked her cheek tenderly, “We’ll tall her honey.”
“Thank you... Bye Monica; bye Andrew...”
“Bye dear.”
They watched her going back to the other groups of children she was playing with and heard her other siblings and little friends asking curious questions.
“Who were you talking to?”
“To the angels!”
“There was nobody there!”
Andrew stood up and took Monica’s hand. “Now there’s another place I want to take you, angel. You have an extra assignment to fulfil...”
............
Andrew walked slowly along the vast green field with his hands in his pockets and a pleased smile on his face. The blond angel was at the same place he had met a crying Monica some hours before and the soft breeze kept on blowing and spreading the flower perfume in the air. Suddenly, he spotted the little Irish angel coming towards him – the wind dishevelled her auburn locks and her image, with a long white sleeveless dress, left no doubts it was a heavenly being walking along the meadow.
But now she wasn’t crying anymore; much on the contrary: there was a slight smile forming on the corner of her lips, and her bright brown eyes were shining with emotion. A few steps later, she and Andrew met again and he immediately held her hands in his own. “So?”
“She’s at peace now, Andrew... And happy to know that many children are and will be safe from now on.”
Nodding, he smiled and gently stroked her cheek, “And how are you?”
She leaned on his touch and covered his hand with hers, “My soul has been healed... And it’s because of an angel sent to me by the Father when I needed the most.”
“Angel... do you have any idea of how happy I am to see this beautiful smile back to your face?”
“Yes... I guess I do. After all, it was you who put it right here...”
After contemplating her meek features with his own green eyes shining with happiness and pure love, he bent his head. Slowly, their faces inched closer and they closed their eyes almost unconsciously, until their lips met in a sweet, tender kiss. Monica felt him wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, while he kept his other hand permanently stroking her cheek. The Irish angel, for herself, encircled her arms around his neck and the wind blew some strands of her hair against his face. Once again, the angels felt like frozen in time, aware of nothing but that loving kiss, which symbolised the great love and affection they felt for each other.
Only a minute later did they part, so that the blond angel could lay kisses on her forehead, nose and once again, on her lips.
“I love you so much...” Monica said, resting her forehead against his chin.
“I love you too, my precious angel...” he whispered back, kissing her temple. She held him tightly with tears of happiness and emotion rolling down her cheeks. Andrew tightened his embrace around her small form as much as he could, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet perfume and kissing her soft skin on her shoulder.
“Thank you...” the Irish angel whispered, with a tearful but grateful smile.
He pulled away enough to look into her brown eyes and caress her cheek, “No... Thank you for trusting in me... For letting me be the one to restore your soul...”
Monica gently placed the palm of her hand against his cheek, “And I am so honoured that the Father sent you to be my angel.”
Andrew’s smile grew wider, “Yes. He did. But it was not today... He sent me to be yours some years ago and since then, I thank Him for that every single day of my existence.”
Also smiling broadly, she nodded. “I can say exactly the same...”
Their lips met once again and they shared another tender kiss; so full of love that two souls seemed like one – their love and their spirit becoming part of that beautiful scenario and, therefore, part of the Father’s creation.
To be continued.