An Angel in the Garden

Every day, for as long as I can remember, I've found notes in my garden. Not strewn near the door, or where any could find them, but hidden. I might find the words written in leaves "In the pot." I'd go look in the flower pot, where we keep putting new plants in after the old ones die, and there would be my note. Just a little message, something that could only be for me.

One day, I got lost. London's big, okay? And it isn't as easy as they say. Why don't you just follow Big Ben, you ask? You can get lost in New York City! Why don't you just follow the Empire State Building, huh? Sorry. I get worked up about that.

Once I got home, I found a few birdseeds arranged so that they spelled "In your ear." Well, "N ur eer." Apparently, my mysterious mate isn't the best at spelling. Maybe they're better at maths.

Anyways, I stared at it for a while, but the wind obscured it. Stupid Mother Nature gives me no respect.

I figured I'd gone absolutely insane. Well, I'd figured for about the umpteenth time that I'd gone completely insane. I mean, have you not heard what I've been talking about? Yeah, pretty crazy stuff.

So I turned away, shrugged, felt something on my ear. UNACCEPTABLE. Maybe you'd just figure it was a leaf.

You don't live with a freakin' crying angel in your garden, do you?

Did I mention that? I think I forgot that. Well, there's this big, life-sized angel in my garden. And he's always crying. What is with the bloke, anyways? And he just sits there, crying. It's the goddamn creepiest thing you've ever seen. When I was a baby I used to not like it. I felt like it was watching me. Yeah, I was a bundle of laughs.

But anyways, back to, you know, the part where the anonymous stalker is touching my ear. I flipped out. I swatted my ear, looked around and stuff, nothing there, but something WAS IN MY EAR. Okay, creepy right? But I trusted my mate, whoever the hell he was, (No, I'm not stupid, I had guessed it was the angel, but it never moved, and I'd asked it LOADS of times, and again, it never moved.) so I picked up what I had knocked off my ear.

A map. A map of bloody LONDON. And my note said "Just follow Big Ben. Kidding. Well, looks like you're directionally challenged. Have a map. And how 'bout a watch? You were late. I got lonely."

Now, I'm not crazed. I promise. Well, maybe just a tiny bit. But this was real. And I had trudged through the legendary weather of London (Heads up, it rains all the time), and my feet were sore, and here was some anonymous bloke telling me how I was "Directionally challenged." I threw the map on the ground.

"I don't need your bloody help! I got here didn't I! Didn't I?" I looked at the angel. "Was this you? I bet it was you. You leave the notes, don't ya?" I demanded.

I looked over at the house, and my little brother had chosen this excellent moment to stare at me, flabbergasted. "Mum! She's going nutters again!" He called.

"Leave your sister alone!" she yelled back. "Look at me, I'm an angel, aren't I scary?" My brother mocked me, covering his eyes like the angel.

Now, keep in mind, the angel was behind me, my back to it, and my brother could see it over my shoulder.

When he took his hands off his eyes, he almost jumped out of his skin, I swear. Screamed and everything. He stammered, pointing at the statue.

I turned around.

Just crying on his pedestal, as always. I might be crying if I had to stand on that piece of rock all day. I looked back at my brother.

"Apparently, he is scary. Don't you have, like, second grade to be failing?" I asked.

He stuttered. "It moved. I swear it moved! I had its hands all out like" he stuck his hands out with his fingernails pointing out, snarling, "and it had crazy sharp teeth, and it was kinda like, smiling! You don't believe me, do you? It did!" he ran off, screaming about it.

I shook my head. "And I'm the mad one." I muttered. Thing is, I turn around, and there's a note in the angels fingers. He's still crying, but wedged in between the stone is a slip of paper. I stared at it.

"You really are alive." I marveled for a second. Then I shook my head. Yes.

I most definitely was the mad one.

I grabbed the note, looked at it, and would you look at that, familiar handwriting, "Hey mate. Well, don't mind your brother. He's really quite annoying. But you like him, deep down, so I leave him alone. Except, you know, I decided to kinda scare him this time. Sorry about that." I peered at the angel.

"You do know that that's creepy to us humans, right?" I asked it. "And now I'm talking to a statue." I turned away, getting ready to leave, but obviously, I had the temptation to turn around. I mean, wouldn't you?

And of course, I expected the thing to be ready to jump on me and tear me apart slowly. Nope. It just kinda sat there, as always.

"No answer?" I asked it. It didn't respond, so I jogged away. And naturally, the door closed behind me without me touching it.

"Nice. You're a gentleman too." I said without turning around. I kind of felt like being a BA right now. I sauntered into my room and stared at the notes.

"Hey mom, got any thumb tacks?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." She gave me one of those little plastic containers that would be DAMN painful to shove your hand in. I tacked up the map and the notes.

That's what I've done since.

And the next day, when I went outside, I got a pretty funny surprise.