§ • Angel • §

"Mummy?" Leo asked, sucking on one of his fingers, trying to lick the remainder of the chocolate cookie off of his sticky little hands.

They were in their living room, decorating a tall, pine tree with handmade, metal and paper ornaments.

"Yes, cariño?" Esperanza Valdez replied, hanging a paper reindeer on the tree, one that Leo had made when he was four.

"Can I put the angel on the tree? I wanna do it this year."

"Pequeño, only big boys can put the angel on the tree. Are you a big boy?" When Esperanza talked, a Hispanic accent laced her words, making them sound exotic and important. Leo had often tried to mimic it, but he mainly sounded Italian or French whenever he tried.

"Yeah," Leo scoffed and placed his hands on his hips, jutting one out to the side. His mother laughed and ruffled his unruly curls.

"Of course, you are," Esperanza laughed. "How could I have forgotten?"

"Yeah, mum," Leo said. "How could you?"

The angel was made entirely out of scrap metal, with wings crafted out of tiny metal feathers. The robes were bright gold metal melted down into flat sheets wrapped around a complicated body. The hair was little curlicues arranged intricately on an old metal sphere. It was beautiful in an artistic, roughed-up way.

Leo snatched it from his mother's and stood up on a stool, stretching his short and skinny body as far as it could.

"Careful, Leo," his mom warned. "Don't knock over that tree."

"I won't, mum," Leo murmured, now standing on his tiptoes. "I can do this…" He stretched on one foot.

"Leo, cariño, maybe you should try to find a way to do this without reaching over all the decorations," Esperanza suggested.

"Like what?" he asked, exasperated. He stepped off of the stool.

"Every mechanic should learn how to problem solve," she replied idly, smiling at her beloved son.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, staring at the angel. Slowly, a smile worked his way onto his face, a mischievous smile. "Idea time," he muttered.

He collected a ball of twine from the kitchen drawer and laced it through the curtains along the window behind the tree. He attached a piece of wire at one end of the twine through one of the curlicues of the angel's hair. He then maneuvered the angel like it was bait on the end of a fishing rod, swinging it slowly until it hooked onto the highest peek of the tree.

"Yes!" he said triumphantly. He looked at his mom, his chin lifted in pride. "See? I did it," he declared proudly.

"That you did," Esperanza smiled. "You see, cariño, mechanics isn't just about finding which piece goes where; anyone can do that. It's about finding out which piece you could switch out so it works better. Get it?"

Leo nodded, even though he didn't quite understand what his mother was trying to teach him.

"Bueno," she said. "Now, how about some cake?"

Ahhh… Little Leo… So completely naïve. ;)

Thanks for all your reviews. They mean a whole bunch. Maybe we can get to 140? Please?

Happy Holidays!

-Lou