An Angel's Love

Chapter 1: When I First Saw Her

Thomas's POV

I was up in my room lying on my bed; though I was comfortable, I didn't feel ready to head to sleep just yet. I turned my glance towards my bedroom and looked out at the night sky: the stars were shining like diamonds and the moon was fully illuminated, causing light to shine into my room. I showed a bright smile as I looked out at the sky: it was now five months since I had seen a night just like this one. It was a night I would never forget, and it was also a night that I always recounted in my head whenever I was alone.

"I still remember what happened like it was only yesterday..." I silently commented to myself as I sat upright looking out at the sky and noticing the stars glittering in the pitch blackness of night; they were like lanterns, showing their true beauty against the black sky. I then lay back down in my bed and closed my eyes, recollecting that fateful day in my thoughts; it still remained all so clear even though it felt like it was a long time ago. It had been five months, after all. But still, I remembered exactly what happened down to the smallest of details...

It started out just like any other day; I was alone in the house with my twin sisters, Annie and Clarabel. It was just the three of us, relaxing downstairs and watching our favourite shows on the TV. We were usually alone since our mum was always away on business trips and as for our dad, well, we had no idea what had happened to him. But I always heard from Mum that he was separated from us when the three of us were babies, so I had a feeling that he was out there somewhere, searching for us so he could be with us again.

"So, girls, what are you thinking of doing for dinner tonight?" I asked, turning my head to Annie and Clarabel from my position of lying on the couch on my back. The two of them both looked at each other and then started to scratch their chins like they were lost in thought. After a few seconds of silence from them, Annie showed a bright smile as she had an idea.

"I was thinking that we could go to that nice restaurant that just opened near the local library." Annie suggested. Clarabel then showed a smile that matched Annie's and she cheerfully nodded in agreement. "I was just thinking the same thing! How much of a surprise is that?" Clarabel asked. The two of them then turned to face each other and started happily laughing in unison.

I simply shook my head in amusement and couldn't help laughing to myself a little. I really loved those two: they always seemed to know each other so well and could read what the other was thinking like an open book. They also never had a bad word to say about each other, which was something I was always loved about them. If anything, the one they always took issue with was me. They would always scold me when I teased them and they wouldn't always agree with any ideas I did, which happened quite often. But at the same time, they knew that any teasing I did towards them was only playful and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else in the world: they were the two best sisters I could ever have, and I could always tell they thought the same way about me.

As I was about to speak up, I suddenly heard the phone ring in the kitchen. "Don't worry, I'll get it." I said, before jumping up from the couch and heading over to the kitchen. I spotted the phone on the small side table that was next to the dinner table, and then I picked it up and answered it, pressing it against my ear. "Hello?" I asked. After only about a second, a voice rang through from the other end.

"Hi, Thomas! How are you and your sisters going?" I showed a big smile hearing that voice: I could tell that it was Mum. "Hey, Mum. We're doing well. We're just figuring out where we want to go for dinner tonight, and Annie suggested that we go to that new restaurant that just opened up." I explained. Though our Mum was away often, she always called to check up on us and make sure that we were doing okay. While it was a bit disappointing not having Mum with us more, she always made sure she had time for us. It was just that her work schedule was always busy, and none of us had any problems with it, though.

"That sounds exciting. I have some good news for you too." Mum replied. I promptly nodded, waiting to hear what Mum had to say. "The building I'm working at has just allowed us to take a break for a few weeks, so that means I'll get to spend time with you, Annie and Clarabel!" Mum happily explained. My smile immediately grew huge hearing this; this was the best news I had heard all week! And I was sure that Annie and Clarabel would be thrilled to hear that too.

"Mum, that's great! I'll make sure to tell Annie and Clarabel right away!" I said. "Thanks, Thommy. I'll see you at home when I'm done." Mum replied. Just after she said that, I could hear a dial from my end of the line which meant that Mum hung up. I placed the phone back on the side table and rushed back to the living room where Annie and Clarabel were.

"Girls, that was Mum. And you're not going to believe what she said." I said. Annie and Clarabel both turned their glances from the TV screen to me; they were both wondering what was up. "Mum said that she's getting a break from work for a few weeks, which means that she'll get to spend time with us!" I cheerfully explained.

The second Annie and Clarabel both heard that, they both showed bright smiles and jumped in excitement; they were just as thrilled to hear that news as I was. "Oh, that's wonderful! It'll be so nice to have Mum back from time to time." Annie happily commented.

I couldn't help myself giggling seeing how excited my sisters were. That meant they were both looking forward to having Mum home with us for a few weeks. I then showed a bright smile as an idea crossed my mind, and I turned my glance down to the girls. "I think we should do something special for Mum, so she'll have a nice surprise when she gets home." I suggested. Annie and Clarabel were silent before they both smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I think that's a great idea." Annie said. "But what do you think we should do?" Clarabel asked. I looked down to think for a few moments and then a big smile crossed my face as I got an idea, and I had a feeling that Annie and Clarabel would agree with me on it.

"We should head to the new restaurant tonight and when Mum gets there, we'll all be able to have dinner together." I explained. Annie and Clarabel both looked at each other and smiled cheerfully: I could tell that they both thought highly of that suggestion.

"A family dinner. That sounds wonderful!" Annie exclaimed. "I think Mum will be really happy when she hears that." Clarabel added. I simply showed a big smile: I had a feeling that this would be a great way to spend time with Mum. And as long as Annie and Clarabel agreed with me, I saw no reason to complain. All that was left to do was book our reservations and find something nice to wear.

That evening, I was in my room having fully gotten dressed for dinner: I was wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue button shirt, black formal pants and my favourite matching shoes. "This is going to be a great night." I happily said to myself; it would be me, my two sisters and Mum. All three of us would be there and we'd wait for Mum so all of us could have dinner together. After making sure I was fully prepared, I stepped out of my room closing the door behind me. Just as I came out, I saw Annie and Clarabel come out of their rooms ready to go as well: they were wearing matching bright orange dresses with a dark red cardigan on top, orange leggings and matching boots. "So, are you two ready to go?" I asked, noticing how identical their outfits were to each other. Considering that they were also twin sisters, I didn't expect anything less from them.

"We sure are, Thomas." Clarabel replied. "This is going to be a great night for all four of us." Annie commented. I couldn't help myself smiling brightly hearing Annie say that, because I had to agree with her. It didn't seem like there could be anything that would go wrong on this night.

"Come on, you two. Let's get going; we wouldn't want our table to get taken, would we?" I cheekily asked. The three of us started happily laughing and then we made our way out of the house towards the city, with me closing and locking the door behind us. 'This will be great. It will just be the family: me, Annie, Clarabel and Mum. Plus, we'll have Mum at home with us for a few weeks. What could possibly go wrong on a night like this?' I thought to myself. Little did I realise just how wrong I would be proven a few hours from now...

It didn't take us very long to get to the new restaurant; the walk was only about ten minutes. When we arrived, we stopped to see the name of it: The Tidmouth Experience. From the name of it, we had a feeling that it would be very promising. When we stepped inside, we couldn't believe what we were seeing: the place was huge, possibly more so than I expected it to be. As the three of us looked around, we noticed that there were numerous tables as far as our eyes could see and the place was full: it looked as if it had gotten the attention of everyone in the vicinity. "Cinders and ashes...Look at this place!" I gasped, my eyes wide in awe; it was more than I ever imagined it would be. Annie and Clarabel were both glancing around and they had big smiles of excitement seeing how big the place was.

"It's amazing! Wouldn't you say so, Annie?" Clarabel asked. "I couldn't agree more. I think we made the right choice deciding to come here." Annie agreed. I simply showed a bright smile listening to the two talking; I could tell that they both thought that this was a good idea. The three of us both took our seats at our table, and we had an extra seat for Mum when she got here.

"Did you remember to call Mum to tell her to meet us here?" I asked. Annie nodded and held up her cell-phone, which meant that she called Mum to let us know where we were and where to meet us when she arrived. Now all that was left to do was wait for Mum until she got here.

Around half an hour passed and there was no sign of Mum, so we decided to get our orders done: I ordered chicken fingers with chips and tomato sauce on the side, while Annie and Clarabel both ordered the same thing: they got tortellini with bolognaise. As we were eating, I noticed that Annie and Clarabel were starting to worry. "I don't understand it. Where do you think Mum could be? She usually doesn't take this long to take to where she needs to work." Annie commented. Clarabel nodded in agreement; they were starting to wonder why Mum was taking so long.

I knew that I had to do something to ease their concerns, so I looked up at them with a smile of reassurance. "Don't you worry about a thing, you two. I'm sure Mum's on her way right now; she's probably just caught in traffic. We all know how chaotic the traffic can get in our area sometimes." I explained. I wasn't lying when I said that; whenever I walked down the street on some afternoons, I would often see cars banked up halfway across the street and back again. So sufficed to say, I knew what I was talking about.

Annie and Clarabel both turned their glances to me hearing this and, after about a few seconds to ponder that possibility, they both smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you're right, Thomas." Annie said. "And we also know how Mum has a low patience threshold when it comes to traffic; I wouldn't want to even think about repeating what she says to some people who either overtake her or take forever and a day to get through traffic lights." Clarabel explained. The three of us started happily laughing after that was said; it kept us in a cheerful mood throughout the rest of the evening. It was taking Mum a while, but we were sure that she would arrive back happy to see us.

After we had dinner, we made our way back to our house and figured it would be best to wait for Mum down there until she got there. "To keep our minds off waiting for Mum, how about we watch an episode of 'Thomas and Friends'?" I suggested. Thomas and Friends was one of our favourite shows growing up and we still loved it to this day. It was a show that didn't talk down to its audience and knew what it was talking about in regards to its stories and the lessons it taught, with the possible exceptions of the eighth to sixteenth seasons; our debates usually got pretty heated in regards to that time of the show. That idea seemed to work like a charm because Annie and Clarabel perked up straight away.

"That sounds like a great idea! Can we watch 'Not So Slow Coaches'? I love that episode!" Clarabel happily cheered. "Annie, you got to choose the episode last time. I think we should watch my favourite episode, 'Not So Slow Coaches'." Annie replied. Clarabel suddenly started laughing which caused Annie to stare at her in surprise. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"That's my favourite episode as well!" Clarabel explained. Annie stared in blank silence for a few moments before a big smile crossed her face realising that Clarabel was right: they both shared the same opinion of what their favourite episode was. I watched them with a smile of amusement before I picked up the remote which got them to turn their attention to me.

"Sorry, girls. But since I have the remote, I get to choose what episode we watch. And tonight, we're watching one of my favourites: Thomas, Percy and the Dragon." I said. Annie and Clarabel both let out a sigh of disappointment before they sat down and made themselves comfortable on the couch next to me. With that arguement settled, I flicked the TV on. But at that moment, the late night news was on.

"Good evening. This is the late night news and tonight, we have details of a car accident that has occurred just outside Tidmouth Street." The news reporter, which was a woman for this hour, said. I usually changed the channel when it was on the late night news, but there was something in the back of my mind that said not to change it: I couldn't point my finger on why it was, but I had a feeling that the accident that had occurred was something out of the ordinary. Tidmouth Street was usually the safest road in our area, so this had to be something serious. Little did I realise that my suspicious would be proven correct.

"Earlier this hour, we received information about a car that had been slammed into just outside of Tidmouth Street. The woman driving the car had just been on her way out of the city when another passerby came into the road and ran head first into her car without having a chance to respond." The reporter said. When the picture of the car was shown on the TV screen, the three of us has a closer look at it and gasped: it was dark blue with the license plate reading 'Nmber1'. That was Mum's car! Then that meant...Mum had been in a road accident!

"That person didn't notice that was our Mum's car!" Annie gasped. "I hope Mum's all right." Clarabel worriedly said. I both turned to them hearing both of them speak and I had to be honest, I wasn't a hundred per cent sure of what the chances were of Mum surviving. She was always a careful and safe driver, and we knew that she would be our example to follow when we went to get our licenses. But regardless, like Annie and Clarabel, I was hoping that Mum was okay. However, those hopes were soon dashed in only a few minutes.

"The woman in the car slammed headfirst into the windshield upon the collision, and was found dead by paramedics who arrived on the scene." The reporter then stated. With that one sentence, all three of us were left staring at the scene in horrified silence; in only the few seconds that passed after hearing that, I immediately turned the TV off and the three of us were all left in shocked silence.

"Did you two hear what I just said?" I was able to ask after what seemed like minutes of silence between the three of us. Annie and Clarabel were unable to say anything; they were unable to register what they had just heard on the TV screen.

"Our mum...has died?" Clarabel asked. Silence then filled the air after Clarabel asked that question, one that not even I imagined ever hearing, at least, not this early into my life. I slowly turned my glance to see that Annie and Clarabel had tears slowly building up in my eyes as the full force of the unfortunate news they had received reached them. After a few seconds, the two burst into tears and started sobbing, hiding their faces in their hands as tears flowed freely from their tears.

"How could this have happened...? And why did it have to happen to us?" Annie asked. I simply sat there in silence, still unable to take in what I had just learnt: our Mum had died, and it was on the road, the one place I never imagined it would happen. I slowly turned my gaze to see Annie and Clarabel sobbing violently, and I could tell my heart practically tear in half at the seams seeing them like this; they were both always so cheerful and so happy, that it was really hard for me to see them this devastated. And I didn't want them to see, but I was taking the news just as hard as they were; it was just so hard for me to understand why this could have happened.

I simply got up and started to make my way to the staircase, with Annie and Clarabel watching in silence wondering if I was okay. I didn't want to leave them there, but this was something I felt I had to deal with on my own. I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me locking it, and then sat down on the floor leaning against the door. Once it was just me, I felt tears building up in my eyes and then, unable to hold it in any longer, I started sobbing and buried my head into my legs as tears fell freely from my face and stained my pants. But at the moment, I didn't care; I simply had to let out all of my feelings, whether anyone else heard me or not. After a few seconds, I lifted my head up and started to wipe tear stains away from my cheeks.

"How could this happen...? What had we done to deserve this? Why did this have to happen to such a good woman like Mum?" I asked to no one in particular. I slowly stood up, with my knees shaking violently from my emotions getting out and I slowly walked over to my bed. Once I got in front of it, I immediately collapsed onto it and buried my face into my pillow as I resumed sobbing; I didn't care if anyone saw me, I had to let it all out. As I was sobbing, I didn't notice that the room was slowly being lit up by a bright white light. When I lifted my head to see what was going on, I couldn't believe my eyes: standing there in the centre of my room was a girl I had never seen before, and she looked like she was about sixteen years old, the same age as me. She had long, bright yellow hair hanging down freely with a purple headband on top, she had bright blue eyes and she was wearing a long dark purple dress with light purple sleeves and golden stripes down along the bottom half of the dress. I slowly stood up and walked over to her and as I got near, I felt all of my sadness slowly subside; a feeling of peace wrapped itself around me and my heartbeat eased drastically. "Who are you?" I was finally able to ask after a few long seconds of silence. One thing was certain, this was no ordinary girl; she was something special.

"My name's Lady. I noticed that you were upset and thought I'd come to find out what was wrong." The girl explained, showing a comforting smile all the while. Lady...I loved the sound of that name. I felt tears resurfacing in my eyes; I knew that this wouldn't be easy to say, but I could tell that Lady needed to find out what the cause of me and my sisters' sadness.

"Well, Lady...It won't be easy for me to tell you this, but..." Before I had a chance to speak up, Lady interrupted me. "It's about your mum, isn't it?" she asked. I simply stared in stunned silence, wondering how she was able to figure that out so quickly.

"How did you know?" I asked. "I get news about these kinds of things very quickly. It's kind of a common thing in life, you know." Lady replied. I stared in surprise hearing her say that, mostly because I had no idea what she meant. I was silent for a few moments to think about it and, when I looked at her very closely, I noticed that her body was surrounded by a white shining outline. I initially stared in confusion, wondering if there was something wrong with Lady, but then it hit me: Lady...was an angel! I immediately gasped in shock upon realising this. Lady noticed my expression of shock and she couldn't help herself giggling a little seeing that I just got it.

"What's wrong? Feeling a bit surprised?" she asked. I nodded in agreement, taking a few moments to recover from my realisation; I felt really silly for not realising who Lady was.

"I guess so. I always knew about angels, but I never thought that they actually existed. I'm not saying that I don't think they exist, it's just that...this is a bit of a shock to me, if you know what I'm trying to say." I nervously explained. Lady showed a smile and happily giggled in amusement as she was listening to me.

"I know exactly what you mean." Lady said. I showed a smile of relief, knowing that Lady wasn't upset by what I was trying to say. "Oh, I've nearly forgotten about my manners. What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Thomas." I replied. "Well, it's really nice to meet you, Thomas." Lady replied. I couldn't help myself showing a bright smile; Lady was really nice for an angel. I wasn't expecting anything less, it was just such a surprise to me seeing how friendly she was. Lady walked over to my bed and sat down, making herself comfortable before she had a look out my window and a bright smile crossed her face.

"The night sky really is beautiful tonight, isn't it?" Lady asked. I had a look out with her and slowly nodded; I hadn't actually gotten the chance to look out the window after everything that had happened tonight, so this sight was very peaceful to me. I looked over at Lady to notice that she was trailing her finger across where the stars were.

"Trying to count the stars, huh? I've done that a lot and I always manage to lose count. There's so many of them that I'm not sure how many there are exactly." I commented. Lady turned her glance to me hearing that and then she happily giggled again. I loved the sound of her laughter; it had such a lovely tune to it.

"Oh, Thomas, you're so funny. I wanted to show you something." Lady said. I moved closer so I was sitting next to her, so that way, I could see what she wanted to show her. After a few seconds, Lady spotted a star that was glowing a combination of bright purple and gold. "You see that star over there? That's my favourite one; it almost looks like it would be where you'd find me." Lady explained. I had a look with her and I noticed that she was right; the colours of the star looked very similar to her appearance.

"Yeah, I think you're right..." I commented to myself. I then turned to see that Lady had gotten off the bed and she was walking back to the centre of my room. "Lady, where are you going?" I asked, jumping off the bed and following right after her.

"I need to get going now. I don't want to keep the others wondering where I am." Lady replied. I didn't have much of a chance to react, but I knew that I didn't want to be left by myself. It seemed selfish, but I felt that Lady had given me hope after the tragedy that I had just learnt.

"Lady, please don't leave; I don't want to be left all alone." I worriedly said. Lady simply showed a comforting smile and placed her hands on my shoulders, prompting me to turn to her in surprise.

"You aren't alone, Thomas. You have your twin sisters, right? I have a feeling that they'd be just as lost without you to be there for them. They need all the support they can get and I think that you, as their older brother, are just the right person for that job." Lady replied. I slowly smiled, knowing that Lady was right; I wasn't the only one who needed comfort. Annie and Clarabel were both just as saddened by our loss and they needed me to be there for them.

"You're right, Lady. My little sisters need me!" I replied. Lady showed a bright smile hearing me say that, and she simply nodded knowing I was right. "Lady, I'm not sure if this is too much for me to ask, but...if it's ever possible, will I get to see you again?" I asked.

Lady looked down to think for a few moments, before she looked back up at me and nodded. "I hope so. I'll see you later, Thomas." she said. Just after saying that, she slowly vanished as quickly as she came. As I was trying to understand everything that had happened, I heard the door and noticed that it was Annie and Clarabel; they had decided to come up to check on me after realising that I had been in here for a while.

"Thomas, is everything all right?" Annie asked. "We tried calling you earlier when we saw how upset you were, but we didn't get any answer, so we thought we'd come upstairs to see if you were okay." Clarabel explained. I turned to them with a bright smile and I noticed that they were staring at me in confusion, wondering why I was so happy after just hearing about the crash.

"Girls, you won't believe what just happened. I had someone very special come to see me."

I had a bright smile on my face as I remembered everything that happened that night; I still remembered how thrilled Annie and Clarabel were when I told them about Lady. They both went to bed easily that night, knowing that I had that experience. I turned my head back to the night sky outside my window and had a look carefully to see if I could spot the star that Lady pointed out to me, the one that she said looked just like where she would be. After a few seconds of scanning, I spotted it: it was shining brightly in the sky, a colour combination of bright purple and gold, just like Lady. "I wonder if you still remember what you told me, Lady." I said to myself; I had a feeling that Lady wouldn't forget her promise, but I figured that it would be nice to just be sure. So with that, I climbed out of my bed and knelt beside it, clasped my hands together and closed my eyes.

"Lord, words can't describe how thankful I am for that night, the night Lady came to see me. You realised that I needed comfort when I felt like I was lost and alone, and sent Lady to help me see that I never was alone; You're always there when I need You. I know that this may seem selfish on my part, but I still remember Lady promising that she would come to see me again. Please help Lady keep her promise, and give her a chance to see me again." I whispered. With that, I climbed back into bed and drifted off to sleep with a big smile on my face, waiting for Lady to see me again.

Little did I realise that she would come in a way I never imagined possible...