Title: Can You Hear Me?

Author: Justine Michelle Benoit

Disclaimer: Monica, Andrew, Tess, and Gloria belong to Martha Williamson and CBS productions

It was a bright summer day, and the sun reflected off the laughter filled, red convertible as it came to a stop. A dove flew by, cooing and landing on a tree branch above.

The driver stepped out of the car door and inhaled the warm air. She put on a sun hat over her black-gray hair and grabbed a blanket from the trunk.

A young woman who sat in the passenger seat turned around to face her friend in the back. A young man sat there. He ran his fingers through his blond hair. The woman eagerly rested her head on the back of the seat, staring at the angel of death.

"Andrew," the young angel said in her Irish accent. "Don't forget the sunscreen, the umbrella, the bag, and definitely don't forget the food."

Andrew dropped his hand from his head. With a moan, his eyes scanned the miscellaneous items in the seat next to him.

"Monica, do you really think all this stuff is necessary for a one day picnic?" the blond asked the Irish angel. Monica shook her head.

"You never know what could happen," she said with a shrug.

Monica stepped out of the car and stretched. After a long ride it would feel good to walk around a bit and then sit down for a delicious meal that she had made herself.

The angel of death grabbed all the supplies with one gigantic armful and made his way down to the beach.

"Tess, do you think we could go swimming?" Monica asked her supervisor. With one toe into the water, Tess immediately shook her head, her black-gray curls bouncing.

"Uh, uh. I'll pass on that one!" The supervisor exclaimed. Monica smiled and leaned down to tend to the food.

Andrew stepped out onto a rock that hung over the water. It was about nine feet in the air and would make a perfect diving spot. He walked along the edge of the rocks and observed the area. The water was apparent and vivid. The beach around the water was made up of sand dunes, which were found on the south shore, trees and cliff areas. There were few clouds in the sky and the ones that were there were fluffy and a beautiful white. The rocks contained small caves that went in at the most, fifteen yards. Various points had tunnels created by the waves lapping harshly upon the boulders.

"Catch!"

Andrew looked up just in time to find a football landing in his arms. Monica stood in front of him with a grin on her face.

"Aren't we going to eat first?" Andrew asked. Monica shook her head. "Coffee's cooking."

With a confused look on his face, Andrew asked, "You brought coffee on a picnic? Aren't you usually supposed to bring lemonade or juice?" Monica put her hands in her pockets and smiled.

"I made a knew blend. Actually it's cappuccino and it's really quite good if I might say so meself," the Irish angel said as she walked over to her friend. The angel of death still stared out, over the waters.

"What ya looking at?" Monica asked Andrew. Andrew sighed.

"I was just admiring the beauty of this land," he answered.

Monica pulled on his sleeve, motioning him to play catch with her. He willingly came and ran not far backwards, not expecting that the small angel could throw so far. To his surprise the ball flew farther and higher than he could reach and descended past him into the water.

"Oops," Monica said, biting her lip tightly. "I guess I better be a little more gentle next time," she said innocently.

"I guess you better," Andrew said with an amazed look on his face. "Now I have to swim out there and retrieve the ball," he said, pointing out into the water. Monica giggled.

"You did said you wanted to go swimming, didn't you?" Monica asked even though she already knew he did.

Andrew turned to look at the ball. But before he could answer her, Andrew felt a cold spray of water on his back. He turned in astonishment to face the Irish angel. But he too couldn't resist. Andrew picked up a pail and filled it with water. Monica tried to run but failed and she got what she gave back.

"Andrew, no!" Monica cried, as her auburn hair was drenched with ocean water. "My perm!" the Irish angel jokingly screamed.

Andrew ran up onto the rock when he saw the auburn coming at him with a bucket. He knew that this one was going to be the worst and pouted when he realized he had reached a dead end- well almost.

Without knowing that there was a deep drop off on the other side of Andrew, Monica raced at him and suddenly felt herself falling. She fell into the water with a loud splash following. Up above, Andrew laughed away and watched her float up, out of the water, which was quite cold.

"Andrew!" Monica screamed, flinging her hair from her face. Andrew stared down at her with an upright look on his face.

Without expecting it, Monica looked up just in time to see the angel of death diving into the water next to her. As soon as he popped up, Monica immediately started to push him back under. Andrew inhaled deeply and swam under.

"Come back here!" Monica ordered. But Andrew was still under water. The auburn looked around franticly, trying to trace him down. She feared that he was going to grab her or play "shark"- and that he did.

All of a sudden, Monica let out a scream and then vanished from sight. Under water, Andrew tugged on her ankle, not letting her up. Monica tried to escape his grasp but it was no use. Before she knew it, she heard Tess' voice yelling for them. Andrew wasn't going to disobey his supervisor.

"Angel babies, where are you? It's time to eat!" Tess bellowed.

Andrew let go of Monica and they both came up to the surface. In between laughs and screams, Monica ran out of the water, hoping that Andrew wasn't going to pull her back in.

"Angel Girl, why are you drenched?" Tess asked. But when she saw Andrew laughing and running out of the water, she had a good guess.

"Andrew uh…pushed me in?" Monica said, unsure of her wording.

"Yeah right. I really would push her in," Andrew said in a disgusted tone. "It was really all a matter of self defense. I moved from the bucket of water that she was going to pour on me and she, well, she ran right off the edge of the rock," Andrew explained.

"You call that self defense?" Monica asked. Andrew slightly nodded.

Tess shot a stern glance at her babies and walked back to the food with a disgusted "humph" and a sigh.