Two hundred angels are standing around a gazebo
as the angel who performs the ceremony talks. Daren and Micah steps forward
each holding a ring imbued with one of their own feathers. Daren takes Micah’s
hand and repeats after the ceremonial angel.
“I Daren take Micah who at my side stands, to
be my beloved husband in sickness and in health. For I love you with all my
heart and will not love another for the rest of my life unless it be my
child. I swear that my love and soul
will from now be yours forever and in return I will protect and care for you
whenever you’ll need it”
Daren places his ring on Micah’s finger and it
glows brightly. Micah now takes Daren’s hand and repeats the word of the
ceremonial angel.
“I Micah take Daren who at my side stands, to
be my beloved husband in sickness and in health. For I love you with all my
heart and will not love another for the rest of my life unless it be my
child. I swear that my love and soul
will from now be yours forever and in return I will protect and care for you
whenever you’ll need it”
Micah places his ring on Daren’s finger which
also glows brightly. The many guests around the gazebo raise their voices in
harmony.
“Daren and Micah it is now time for you to draw
the name of the human whom you shall help. Put your right hand into this light
and together draw the name”
Daren and Micah place their right hand in a
glowing light. They lean in over it and share a deep kiss to a loud applaud
before pulling a name out of the light. Sophia Lamore is written in the air
between their hands.
“The human who is in need of your help is
Sophia Lamore. As you leave this place remember that this is the first
assignment that you two will take on together as husband and husband. This is
an assignment to celebrate your love and you should use the love you share to
lead you to the answer in what Ms. Lamore needs”
The ceremonial angel bows for Daren and Micah
as he finishes his speech and the guests starts singing. Micah and Daren walks
to the edge of the heavenly garden in where the gazebo lies. Holding the name
in their hands between them they drop over the edge to seek out Sophia Lamore
on earth. The name guides their way and leaves a glistering rainbow trail
behind them as they fall. Normally when taking on a case for the court of
angels you know whom the human is and what they need from the silent prayer the
heart sends. But this time they fly in blind faith that they will find the
right person and be able to help her with what she desires. They land in a
small park and the name dissolves into glistering dust. It is a week before
Christmas and the land is covered in a beautiful snow blanket. They chose this
season for their marriage as it is filled with wonder and love and because
humans are more inclined to believe in magic. Now they just have to find Sophia
and figure out what she needs and they are in luck. There are only a few people
present in the park this morning. There is a man walking his little baby girl
in a pink baby carriage. There is a young couple in love standing under a tree
kissing as snow crystals fall slowly on their head. There is a group of boys
running on the ice in the fountain and having fun. There is a young man running
down the path coming towards them. And lastly there is an old woman sitting on
bench wrapped in the blanket looking at the fountain with the boys.
“I have a guess that Ms. Lamore is the sweet
old woman sitting all alone on the bench over there” Micah says.
“Obviously for this little cutie pie of a
princess is way too young for the need of our help and the young woman in the
couple under the tree is currently happily in love” Daren says and waves to the
baby as it roll by.
The baby waves back at Daren she is still young
enough to see them whereas none of the other humans are noticing them.
“Are you hinting that you want a baby? A little
angel baby we can raise as a family, just you and me?” Micah asks and smiles at
Daren waving to the baby.
“We have been together for three hundred human
years so I think it is safe to say that this is a solid relationship. And maybe
it would be time for us to get another member to our family. But first we have
this beautiful human to make happy” Daren takes Micah’s hand and they walk up
to the old woman on the bench.
“It is sad the humans lose the ability to see
and hear us as they grow up. That their world and societies are so harsh and
unforgiven that they would rather accept a reality without magic instead of
containing hope that there is something better. That those who can see and
believes gets bullied and belittled until their souls lose colour and we fade
away in their eyes” Micah sighs.
“It is not all bad. We lose the ability to
communicate with them but they become so much happier when we do something good
for them. Because they don’t dare to believe in a magical world wherein we
exist and because they hope for nothing more than what they can provide themselves
they see every small act we do for them as miracles. The value of our work is
so much greater because none of them have any expectations. If every one of
them knew what we do and could do for them, they would demand our help and devaluate
our effort” Daren says more cheerful “do you want to check her identification
or should I do it”
Micah circles his hand over the old woman’s
head and lifts up a name and age of her. The information reads that the woman
is Sophia Lamore and she is ninety-six years old.
“She has had a long life for a human. Do you
think that her problem is loneliness?” Micah comments.
“That could very well be. She does look at the
boys playing in the fountain with longing in her eyes. We will know more when
she shows us her apartment. But for now let’s sit near her so she doesn’t
freeze to death on this bench”
They take place at each side of Sophia and
watch the boys playing. They sit there for two hours without moving. The young
man running passes them by a couple of times and the boys have started a
snowball fight. Sophia is watching them in silence and every now and then she
can hear them laugh which momentarily brings a smile to her face.
“If she is lonely I think we should start
something already. The next time the runner passes us we should trip him and
hopefully Ms. Lamore will get up to help him” Daren says after having observed
the young man running “I mean she looks like a good person willing to help”
“Just be careful so he doesn’t get hurt”
Daren smiles endearingly at Micah and gets up.
And as the young running man is about to pass them once again he gives him a
small push. The young man falls flat on the snow covered path right in front of
Sophia.
“My oh my” she gasps surprised “are you alright
young man?”
With slow movements she gets up from the bench.
It is not an easy task for her but she seems determent to help the young man
that just fell in front of her.
“Yes Mam thank you” he says and accepts her
help.
“Come sit for a moment you have been running for
hours. You remind me off my husband. When he was young he ran everywhere. Of
course he was in the military so he did it to keep fit and fit he was. But why
are you out here spending all day running back and forth in the cold?” Sophia
talks away as she leads the young man over to the bench “the bench here is for
some reason nice and warm, it will keep you from getting cold”
“Thank you Mam. I am training for a New Year’s
marathon. At the stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve we begin. That way we will
get a running start on the new year and it is a nice alternative to the regular
party” he says politely and takes place besides her “what are you doing out
here in the cold? You have been sitting here for some time, you aren’t lost
are?”
“Oh no no, it’s nothing like that my boy” she
smiles “I come to reminisce about the time when I could bring my daughter to a
park. We used to love the parks. She always wanted to go play in the park with
the other kids all year round. She was a good kid always helping others and when
she grew up she wanted to study medicine. But then the Vietnam War happened.
She volunteered as a military nurse. My husband took off with her to the war.
He wouldn’t let her travel over there alone without protection but it wasn’t
enough. She died serving her country trying to help people and my husband
returned home alone wounded in body and soul”
“I am very sorry to hear that Mam” the young
man says heartfelt “oh look at the time. I have to go but thank you for your
kindness”
“I think you guessed correctly about her being
lonely. It sounds like her family is gone and she only has the memories left”
Daren sits down by Sophia.
She looks at the young man running with a
distant look in her eyes. Now she is the only one left in the park. The boys
left while she was talking. She takes a deep breath before slowly standing up
and walks towards the park exit. Her walk is slow and seems painful like it
takes all of her strength not to fall at every step.
“I don’t think she has much time left on this
planet and she has endured more pain than human should. Her soul must have been
bleeding in agony for the last fifty years since she lost her daughter. I hope
we can make her last time here better” Micah says and places his hand on her
back to give her some more strength to walk home with.
“But how are we going to make her less lonely
at her age? If she was younger we would make her fall in love. If her child
were alive we would strengthen the bond between them. Or if she had a
grandchild we would unite them. But she has no one left and introducing a new
person will only be a short fix” Daren speculates.
Micah takes his hand and together they follow
Sophia home to her. She lives further away than expected but endures her walk
with determination. She is not going to let snow or distance come between her
and the joy of her memories. She walks in through a door to an apartment block
and follows a woman carrying a baby up the stairs. Micah quickly checks the
mail boxes and finds that she lives on the top floor while Daren makes faces to
the baby.
“Why is she taking the stairs when she lives on
the top floor? She can hardly make it” Micah says worried that Sophia might
fall.
Daren is too busy making the air glitter like
crystals for the baby’s amusement to take notice of the comment. But Sophia is
going strong one step at the time with a hand on the railing and they arrive to
the top floor shortly after the woman and her baby. Daren wave goodbye to the
baby with a funny face and it replies with noises that sounds like bye bye.
“Yeah bye bye. Bye bye is right. Did you just
make a friend? Did you?” they hear the woman baby talk to her child as she
walks into her apartment.
Daren and Micah follow Sophia into her
apartment. It is quaint and small with lots of old wooden cabinets and trinkets
everywhere. It looks like she has been living there alone for a long time. She
goes to put a frozen soup on the stove. Daren and Micah looks at all the family
photos hanging around the house. It is almost like a timeline starting from the
day Sophia and her husband met and stopping again with a single picture of
Sophia and her husband at the age of seventy-five. In between is a short series
of pictures with a baby girl growing up to be a fine young woman and then at
the age of twenty-eight she disappears. The eyes and smiles of Sophia and her
husband are broken on every picture after the daughter’s death. There is only
one chair in the living room with a small table beside it where Sophia sits and
reads poems while listening to the radio. She has neither a TV nor computer in
the apartment.
“I think we should introduce her to the family
across the hall. It will give her a chance to feel like a grandmother which she
was cheated out of” Daren says.
“That is a good idea. It can give her a sense
of purpose and who doesn’t need a little extra help. And they are just across
the hall she wouldn’t have to move that far” Micah agrees “I will go get some remember the elderly fliers to plant the
idea that they should invite her and you can go play with the baby. Oh she fell
asleep right in the middle of her soup that pour thing. Well we can introduce
them tomorrow”
“I will keep an eye on her while she sleeps.
You can go and get that flier and put in their mailbox” Daren says and begin to
clean up her home.
The next day Sophia returns to the park to
spend the day on the same bench looking at the people. Micah follows her around
providing warmth and strength so she can get through the day without getting
hurt or sick.
Daren goes to visit the family across the hall.
This home is different from that of Sophia’s. It is open and bright with Christmas
decorations all over the place. Elves and angels are placed on shelfs and
hanging under lamps. A Christmas tree is shining brightly in the corner with
gold and red. There is a table with room for ten and a cosy small coffee area
in front of the TV. The kitchen opens out in the living room and the mother is
baking cookies. The baby is sitting in a small ball pit, he lights up in a big
smile as he sees Daren standing in the living room.
“Brrrr bah bye ange brrrr hihi” the baby says
and throws a ball up in the air.
The mother pops her head around the corner to
look at her baby.
“Did you see an angel? Did my little Luca see
an angel?” she says with baby voice and then returns to her baking.
Daren helps Luca out of the ball pit and then
walks over to the door while making a lot of glittering in the air. Luca crawls
after him full of ecstasy to the door that Daren just walked out of.
“Ange, ange” he claps on the door.
“How did you get over here?” the mother asks
surprised to see Luca out of the ball pit and clapping on the door.
Luca keeps clapping on the door until his
mother opens to see if there is anything on the other side. He crawls out in
the hallway towards Daren who stands at Sophia’s door.
“Ange, ange” Luca laughs at the feet of Daren.
“Come here you” the mother says and picks up
Luca.
“Ange bye” he says as he is getting carried
back.
Luca’s father arrives home and Daren follows
him inside the apartment. He is holding the mail with Micah’s flier in his
hands.
“Hi Sweety has it been a good day?” he asks and
gives his wife a kiss “and how is my little boy? Have you been a good boy
today?”
He picks up Luca and swings him around the
room. Luca loves this and screams with glee.
“What’s this flier?” the mother asks “many
elderly is alone and could use some help over Christmas to get through the hard
times without their family and loved ones. Spread some extra love and Christmas
spirit by inviting those who are alone into your home”
“Just throw it out” the father says and puts
Luca down.
Daren catches Luca’s attention with more
glitter and lures him over to the door.
“Ange, ange” Luca says while crawling at full
speed to the door.
“He did the same earlier. Crawled to the door
and started to clap on it. When I opened it he crawled over to the old lady’s
door and sat there. And he keeps saying angel”
“Well he is our little angel and maybe he wants
to help her”
“Do you know anything about her?”
“She is a poor old woman. I haven’t talked to
her or seen her with anyone before”
“Do you think she could be all alone over
there?”
“You are thinking of the flier, aren’t you? Do
you want to invite her for dinner and get to know her?”
“Shouldn’t we? I mean, I would wish someone
invited me to dinner if I were all alone”
Daren smiles for this turned out just as they
planned. The small hints planted in these human lives got picked up on and now
an elderly woman will be included in this family. They just have to make sure
that this actually will make her happy and then they can go back home and
celebrate their marriage.
After four hours sitting in the fresh winter
weather Sophia returns home with snow in her air and red cheeks. With no one to
talk with Micah found the entire experience serene and metaphysical
transcending. Though he has spent an eternity living with angels he feel like
this day has given him a new and deeper understanding of peace and the
beautiful aspects of the colour white. For a moment he had forgotten that they
were sitting in the middle of a metropolis in the most stressful season of the
year for humans. While Sophia is trying to unlock her door Micah knocks on the
door to the apartment across the hall. The father opens the door just in time
to see Sophia walk inside her apartment. He looks around confused for he was
sure he heard someone knocking but shakes it off. He walks over to Sophia’s
door and knocks on it.
“Good evening” she says as she opens the door.
“Hi I’m Jone, your neighbour we haven’t
officially met but we have been living just across the hall for some time and
my wife thought that it was time. So she would like to invite you for dinner
tonight if you want”
“It is very sweet of you to invite an old lady
like me. So I would be delighted to join you. At what time should I come?” She
smiles as she accepts but there is a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Just come by in an hour Ms. …” he takes a
quick glance on her door to read the name “Lamore”
“Oh no you just can call me Sophia. I’ll see
you in an hour dear”
Micah can see she is tired and is starting to
regret that she accept this dinner invitation. She just wants to sit in her
chair reading poems and eat some more soup. He places a hand on her head and
gives her courage and energy for an evening with the family. She changes
clothes to an evening gown and takes a beautiful ornamented wooden music box down
from a shelf. Then she walks across the hall and knocks on the door. It is the
mother opening holding Luca in her arms.
“Thank you for coming Sophia. I am really glad
you wanted to” she greets and shows the way inside “I’m Leigh and this little
guy is Luca”
Micah and Daren stand behind Sophia and
sprinkles glitter over her head for Luca. He claps, laughs and is ecstatic at
the sight.
“He seems to like you” Leigh laughs.
“I have brought a little present for you. I was
always told not to attend a dinner without a little something for the host.
This music box was my daughters. I gave it to her on the day she became a woman
but she isn’t around anymore. And now it just collects dust in my apartment”
Leigh puts Luca down on the floor to carefully
take the music box. Jone walks in and out of the kitchen setting the table and
putting the last touches on the sauce.
“This is really beautiful and we will take good
care of it. But, if I may ask, what happened to your daughter?”
“She sadly died at the age of twenty-eight
serving as a nurse in the Vietnam War. She really loved that music box and I
think it should be in a home where people can listen to it and enjoy the music”
“I am so sorry about your daughter. You have my
deepest condolences”
“The dinner is ready. If you come here Sophia
you can have the best seating at the table” Jone says and pulls the chair out
for her before serving the food.
“I think this is going very well” Daren smiles
as Sophia plays with Luca at the table.
“I don’t know. She seems happy but there is
something wrong. Her eyes are still sad and lonely” Micah says worried.
They have a lovely dinner. Sophia tells story
after story about her daughter and husband and her own childhood while playing
with Luca. Jone and Leigh both listen with great joy to every word she utters
and never once stopped Sophia from describing her life in a beautiful painting.
They talk until Luca falls asleep in Leigh’s arms. Sophia thanks many times for
the dinner and then heads back to her own home. She walks straight to her bed
and sits down. Daren and Micah follow her. She takes a few deep breaths and
then she starts crying. Big sad tears rolls gently down over her face and drip
into her lap. The dinner opened many memories and reminded her of all the
things she misses and never got.
“Oh my, that poor sweet thing. I think we broke
her. This was not the desired outcome” Micah says and sits down on the bed.
“She has been alone for twenty years and this
was too much for her. But I have one idea left that might help her” Daren puts
a hand on Micah’s shoulder.
“I know what you are thinking of and you might
be right. It is just a sad solution but it is hers to make”
Daren kneels before Sophia and takes her hands.
She looks up at him surprised and shocked while tears still make their way down
over her cheeks. Two angels are sitting in the room with her giving her a soft
and friendly smile.
“Ms. Sophia Lamore I am Daren and this is my
husband Micah. We are here because we want to give you the chance to see your
family again”
“If you come with us into your living room you
can meet them”
Sophia stands up holding Daren’s hands and
follows him into the living room. Suddenly everything feels like a dream and
real at the same time. Everything is spinning but her heart is telling her that
in just a few seconds she will finally see them again. She will finally be able
to hold her daughter in her arms. She has dreamt of this for almost fifty years
and now she gets the chance. The tears of sadness are replaced by tears of joy.
There she is standing as beautiful as the day she took off smiling like a child
who just got home from a long trip. And by her side is a man standing. Not the
elderly man with sad eyes that is with her in their last picture together. But
the man she built a family and home with. She lets go of Daren’s hands and runs
the last part to them and as she moves she becomes younger. She grabs her
daughter in her arms and holds her tight while her husband wraps his arms
around them. They are all crying and laughing.
“I miss you so much. Both of you” Sophia cries.
“We are right ‘ere my love waiting for you”
“We are always here mom and you don’t have to
worry, we are okay”
After sitting there for some time crying Sophia
turns to the two angels standing humbly in the corner trying not to interrupt
this beautiful moment.
“Thank you for bringing them to me. But what
now, what will happen now?”
“That is up to you Ms. Lamore. This is your
life. They will be here waiting for you with open arms whenever you are ready
to go. We don’t know how long you have left on this planet. But if you want to
stay you can stay and maybe be an extra grandma for little Luca across the hall
or you can leave this planet behind and be with your family” Daren informs.
“We think you have been lonely for way to long
now and we just want you to be happy” Micah says.
Sophia looks at her family and then nods to the
angels “I am ready to go. Ninety-six is a long life and longer that I needed.
It is time I join my family”
“Then come with us and we will fly you to the
afterlife. Your family will meet you there” Micah says and offers her a hand.
Sophia takes his hand and is led out of the
apartment. It is morning. Leigh and Luca are standing in the hall on their way
out. Sophia, Daren and Micah wave goodbye to Luca before flying out of the
window.
“Bye ange Ophia”
Leigh turns around to look at what Luca is
waving at. She walks up to Sophia’s door and starts knocking but there is no
response.
The three fly up between the clouds to a small
garden with a golden door standing all alone in the middle.
“This is where we will leave you. Just walk
through that door and someone will come and get you sorted and take you home to
your family. We are very sorry that we couldn’t make your life better” Daren
says and hugs Sophia goodbye.
“Sometimes our life gets better in the most
unexpected ways. All I ever wanted for the past many years was to see my family
again and this is the only way you could ever fulfil that wish. I thank you so
much for doing this for me. You have saved me for wasting more time being
lonely and in pain” she says and hugs Micah goodbye.
Without hesitation Sophia walks through the
door and leaves Micah and Daren behind her.
“Now my love I want to go get us a baby and
take a long honeymoon with you. We have finished the assignment though I really
hoped it had turned out different” Micah says and kisses Daren.
Hand in hand they fly off together.
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