Angel of Friendship
All around me, the others fly. Some are following their masters; others are running errands, trying to help their masters before they get into trouble. But most are like me. Lost, trying to find their masters. I watch with envy as my fellow Guardian Angels protect and guide their masters. All Guardian Angels must stay invisible to their masters. It is the number one rule of the Guardian Code. Guardian Angels who break the Guardian Code are stripped of their status, get their wings ripped off and are forced to live as humans. This is my second chance at being a Guardian Angel. If it weren't for my father, the Head Angel, I would have been forced to become a human and have my wings taken away. He arranged for me, his only and favorite daughter, to be granted a pardon. If I slip up again, I'll have a heartbeat for sure.
My gaze traveled over the humans standing in the plaza. They had Guardian Angels at their sides. The Guardian Code says that we must stay invisible to our masters. It's one of our most important rules. If they knew about us, they would try to take advantage and make us their slaves. I didn't see a single human without an Angel. Finding my master would be impossible. There were tons of Guardian Angles waiting to find their masters. There are always new Guardian Angels trying to find their new masters. We get assigned new masters when our previous ones die. Since we can't die ourselves, we just get new masters every forty years or so. Occasionally it's sooner but the Angel usually gets about a year off to grieve for their dead master. We know our master better than anyone so we tend to be depressed when they pass. But then we just get picked to a new master. A Guardian Angel can identify their master by the glow. When a Guardian Angel sees their true master, the human's body glows so that the Angel can find him or her. No other Angel can see the glow except for the Guardian Angel who's supposed to be helping the human.
It's very rare for two Guardian Angels to both see the glow of one human. But it has happened once or twice in the last century. Both Angels have no choice but to fight to the death over who gets to help the human. It has to be that way. Helping humans make the right decisions is the whole reason for our existence. Otherwise, we'd all be on the ground with heartbeats and expiration dates. The one that survives the fight wins the right to help the human. I'm hoping no one else would see my master's glow. That is, if I have a master. I'm not so sure at this point. But I refuse to give up. My mother always found her masters right away. So does my father. Why couldn't I be like them?
Suddenly, a swarm of humans burst into the plaza. All around me, Guardian Angels went wild as they raced to join their newly found masters. Finally, I was left alone, still froze in the air above the humans and still trying to find mine. Down below me, I saw my mother staring at me from her spot next to her master. She looked sad as she glanced around the plaza for the one human who didn't have an Angel. Having found nothing, she glanced back at me with those big, sad eyes of hers. I gave her a hopeful smile before I flew off to look in a corner that I missed in all the commotion.
My gaze flickered to the very back corner by the edge to the woods. I could just barely make out a young girl with long, gorgeous brown hair. She was leaning against a tree, watching the rest of the villagers in the plaza. She looked isolated but I couldn't imagine why anyone would ever ignore this pretty girl. I narrowed my eyes as I studied her more closely. I froze in shock for a few seconds before I smiled a huge, triumphant smile. I found my master. She was glowing so faintly that I missed it all the times that I looked in that particular corner, but I found her. I raced to her side and got to follow her around all day. It was the best day of my entire existence. I'd forgotten how much I loved helping my masters. I was in solitary confinement for several years after I broke the Code. But now I have a second chance and I love it! We went to the school, the market, home and to the woods. The woods were the most interesting. She's so… bottled up and private when she's out in public but in the woods, she opens up. When she was left alone in the woods (or as alone as she thinks she is) she sings to herself and talks to her reflection in the pond. It was nice to watch. I figured out her name is Meriah, too. She said it to the reflection in the pond so I think that's her name.
On the way back to her house again, some kids stirred up trouble with my master. They stopped Meriah just as she stepped out of the shadows near the woods. Some had rocks; others had big, heavy sticks.
"Hey Meriah. Where are you headed?" the leader asked.
"Home. Obviously," my master replied as she tried to step through some kids.
"Not so fast. Where are your friends to walk you home?" the leader asked. Meriah said nothing. The leader's expression turned to one of mocking. "That's right. You don't have any. Why not? Friends aren't so bad."
"Leave me alone," Meriah commanded. He ignored her.
"Maybe if you stopped being so weird and let people see your personality, they would talk to you," he taunted her. I didn't get it. She was terrific person. Now I get it. She didn't want friends. She preferred to be by herself. That explained a lot. I could see the other kids about to advance on her but before they could, I stepped forward. Even though the humans couldn't see me, their Guardian Angels could. They took one look at my expression and quickly led their masters away. I grinned in triumph as I followed Meriah home.
I spent one day with Meriah and she was already my best friend. I had to show her what I was. I want her to have at least one friend. But I couldn't do it now; she was already walking down the street toward the house. At dinner, I stood behind her chair while she ate with her parents and little brother. I tried to avoid eye contact with their Guardian Angels but it was difficult. I knew them all. There was Monty, Chrissy and Liam. They were nice. When it was time for bed, I curled up at Meriah's feet but I didn't get any sleep at all. I was busy battling with my head versus my heart. My head knew I shouldn't tell Meriah that I'm an Angel. It said I'd already broken the rules once and I wouldn't get off so easy if I did it again. But my heart wouldn't listen. When morning came, I still didn't have an answer. But I cared about Meriah so I was going to tell her, no matter how much I didn't want to be human. Getting my wings ripped out would probably really hurt… No! I wasn't going to talk myself out of it. I had to do it. I followed Meriah out of the house and up the street. She was going to the woods before school. I would tell her there. Finally, she sat down on the stump nearest to the pond. I had to reveal myself to her now. I took a deep breath and moved until I was directly behind her. She didn't hear me approach. I made myself visible to her but she didn't notice me, even though she was staring intently at the water. I took another deep breath.
"Hello, Meriah," I spoke, my voice quivering slightly. She sprang to her feet and turned to face me at the sound of my voice. Her bright, clever green eyes missed nothing as they took in my small body, bright red hair and deep blue eyes. Her expression was unreadable. I squirmed, anxious for her to say something.
"Wh-Who are you? How did you get here? Did you follow me?" Meriah asked. There was no emotion in her voice as she stared at me but I was starting to see some fear in her eyes. She took a step back, even though her feet were already at the water's edge. I had to fix this. I wasn't expecting my master to be afraid of me.
"Please Meriah. Don't be afraid. My name is Izzy. I'm your Guardian Angel," I said, whispering the last part.
"My… Guardian Angel?" Meriah asked. She still looked a little panicked but not as much as before.
"Yes. Every human has one. We are invisible to you and before you ask, you can't get rid of us," I said, trying to lighten the tension in the air.
"So why aren't you invisible?" Meriah demanded, getting over most of the general shock and fear. This was the part that I'd been afraid of.
"Well… because I like you. I want us to be friends. I noticed you didn't have any. I'm your guardian Angel. I'm supposed to look out for your best interest. Unfortunately, your best interest made me break the Guardian Code. It's the rules all Guardian Angels must follow," I said miserably.
"I want you to leave me alone," Meriah said firmly.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that. Watching over you is my job, the reason I exist."
"I have to go to school," she said, drily. She turned on her heel and sprinted toward the plaza without waiting for my reply. She's trying to get as far away from me as possible. Or at least, that was my best guess.
"I know," I muttered anyway as I turned invisible again and followed after her. Meriah was distant all day, even more so than usual. Well, the usual as of knowing her for a day. I tried to think of ways I could have told her better but I kept coming up blank. Meriah was quiet all the way back home from school, to the woods and to the stump. Then she turned to face me… or the place she thought I was.
"Show yourself, Izzy," she commanded. I smiled and did what she asked.
"Good afternoon, Meriah," I said, pleasantly. She ignored that.
"Are you really my Guardian Angel?" she asked.
"Yep. You're actually my twenty sixth assignment," I admitted.
"Twenty sixth? What happened to the others?"
"Most of them grew old and died but the last one… I broke the Guardian Code once before this," I whispered. "I revealed my existence to my master. The other Angels found out and I was sent to prison to await judgment. Thankfully, my dad dropped the charges but another Guardian Angel took my place as her Angel. I almost had my wings ripped off for the crime but I was pardoned instead and transferred to you. Your old Guardian Angel swapped places with me."
"Wow…" she splashed absent-mindedly in the water with her hand.
"Yeah. But Meriah. No one can know that you know about me. There are Guardian Angels for every single living person. Please don't tell," I begged. Meriah was silent for a long time.
"I'll keep your secret," she said at last. She smiled, "And who knows? Beings friends with someone might actually be fun." I smiled back. We sat on a fallen log together and talked until it was almost too dark to see. Then I went invisible and Meriah skipped home. It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship filled with laughs and of course… secrets.