*Chapter One: Water Fight!*
The sun was just beginning to peek out of another set of dark clouds that grew like a threat in the distance. Sudden claps of thunder could be heard over head, shattering the silence with an intensifying sound. Everything was alive in the woods. Birds were singing their afternoon tunes, wildlife animals would scurry around the forest ground, and flowers bloomed beautifully on this warm, summer day.
Tess slowly stepped to the sliding glass door, focussing her beautiful brown eyes on Gloria, who intently watched the waves roll into shore and then crash upon the sandy beach. The eldest angel reached for the handle on the door and pulled it open.
Gloria looked up, surprised to see the supervisor behind her. She pushed her black glasses back onto her eyes and grinned widely. Her rosy cheeks beamed with the same warmth they always carried.
"Hello, Tess. It's a beautiful evening tonight?" her cheery voice asked.
"Yes, isn't it?" Tess replied in a solemn voice that tried to find comfort in her Little Angel. She could see it in the youngest's eyes. There was something bother Gloria—just like there was something bothering herself.
"Where are Monica and Andrew?" Gloria asked feeling a bit lonely since no one was around.
"Actually, baby, I was wondering that myself. I thought they were going to start a fire after they got back from town." Tess looked around the grounds, surveying the beautiful view with her brown eyes. But she wasn't focused on the beauty. Her mind was racing in a feeling she couldn't explain.
"Maybe I could ask Monica to take a walk with me tonight since its so nice out," Gloria suggested, her smile a sweet song that outlined her face.
The supervisor nodded in agreement and suggested, "Maybe you should take Angel Boy with you. I just don't want him getting into any mischief. I know his love for the water...and not to mention fish. Let's not give him the idea of catching some for supper!" Tess said with a chuckle overwhelming her voice.
Gloria laughed as she stood up and said, "Well, I think I will go find them now."
"Sounds like a good idea. And don't you dare be late for supper!" Tess ordered, shaking a finger at her little angel. "I've labored in that kitchen for hours." She shot a quick smile at the Gloria and watched as the youngest disappeared up the wooden stairs of the cabin. For a moment, she lingered, hesitating to step forth inside. The birds and the wildlife had caught her attention. It was then that she realized how relaxing this vacation was going to be.
Taking a small breath, she whispered a quiet prayer to the Father, "Thank you."
Upstairs, Gloria approached Monica's room. Seeing it was closed, she lifted her hand and gently knocked and called, "Monica?"
A soft rustle inside the bedroom rung through her ears, causing her to regret the worst. Was Monica all right? She hadn't come down since Andrew and her had gone into town. Perhaps she was upset about something.
"Come in," a voice called, followed by a sniffle. Gloria walked in and saw Monica sitting on her bed crying with her eyes focused on the wall in front of her.
"Are you okay, Monica?" she asked cautiously. The auburn turned, wiping her brown eyes and nodded. Her face was tear-streaked and flushed.
"I'm fine, Gloria," she told the youngest angel. "But please," she continued in her beautiful Irish lilt. "Leave. Now is not a good time."
"What 's wrong?" Gloria asked walking over and sitting beside her on the bed.
"Nothing, Gloria, just..." Turning to face her friend, Monica realized the look of worry that pained her eyes. Perhaps it was wrong to be so rude to her. "What is it?" she asked as calmly as was possible for her shaky lilt.
"Are you sure you are all right?" Gloria asked the older angel.
Monica hesitated, a feeling of guilt erupting in the depths of her soul. The truth was, she didn't quite know what was growing in her heart. She just couldn't explain it.
"Monica you can tell me whatever it is," the little angel sincerely said.
"Gloria," Monica murmured, looking straight into her eyes. "What did you want to ask me?" her voice spoke, changing into a bit of a sweeter tone.
"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me this evening—since it is so beautiful. You don't have to...I just thought it would be nice." Gloria said innocently.
Hesitating for a moment, as if pondering Gloria's question, the auburn spoke, "That would be nice...but..." her words trailed off. "What about Andrew and Tess? We don't want to leave them all alone, do we?" she asked.
"Tess told me to take you and Andrew with me, but Tess can come, too, if you wish?"
Well..." the Irish angel began. "What would Tess like to do?"
"I don't know. I think she is making supper. That's why she told me to take you and Andrew. And not to mention, she wanted us to take him so he wouldn't get into any trouble." Gloria let out a quiet giggle.
"A walk would be nice," Monica murmured with a mix of a chuckle. She looked at the ground and sighed. A part of her wanted to stay at the cabin so terribly, yet the other part knew that Gloria was counting on her presence.
"Do you want to take Andrew with us?"
"Andrew?" Monica asked suddenly, not realizing that she hadn't been really paying attention. Her mind was drifting off into another world she couldn't locate. "That would be nice. I mean, we all haven't really bonded together in a while...we tried to that day when Monique came." Monica giggled. "But things really didn't work out, did they? Though, afterwards all the fluster we were in, we did get a cup of coffee fit into our schedule!" she said, winking at the little angel.
"So we are going to go for a walk! This is going to be so very fun! I agree we haven't really bonded together."
Monica smiled and said to Gloria, "Yes. But let's not stay out too long. The misquotes are quite nasty at this time of day." Her tears now gone, she pushed back a strand of brilliant auburn hair that had fallen in her face. "Maybe we should go wake up Andrew. Last time I checked on him, he was taking a nap."
"Okay! Come on!" Gloria said, getting up and grabbing Monica's hand.
"Just a moment. We better change into clothes suite for the outdoors if are going hiking," the Irish angel pointed out. Gloria nodded, her brunette hair bouncing back and forth.
"What do we wear?" Gloria asked curiously.
"Good question." Monica walked over to her suitcase which she hadn't finished unpacking. She pulled out some blue jeans, high socks, and a long sleeve shirt that was white. Then she went over to the dresser that she and Gloria were sharing and pulled out two flannel shirts. "Here. You take yours and grab some jeans and hiking boots. I hear that there's some trails in the woods too. Why don't we spice up just an average walk on the beach?" she asked, a smile beaming her face.
"This sounds like fun, Monica," Gloria said, smiling. She went over to her suitcase and got out her jeans and hiking boots.
"Why don't you go ahead and get dressed. I'll go get our lazy angel," she joked in her pure lilt, heading out the door. Gloria nodded and slipped on her hiking attire. This was going to be a wonderful day after all.
The Irish angel gently shut the bedroom door and listened to her bare feet slap against the wood tiled floor. The whole cabin smelled of pinewood and cedar. And her nostrils inhaled every bit of the rustic scents. Scanning her surroundings while making her way down the long hallway, she focused on the paintings that hung on the wall, adding a little comfort to the relaxing setting. They were of flowers, trees, and all had some sort of naturism to them.
I am going to enjoy this vacation, she decided.
Coming to Andrew's room, she nervously held her hand up to the door. A feeling grew inside of her, one that she had been having flashes of before. But she decided to ignore it—whatever it was.
She knocked gently, hoping she wouldn't awake her friend.
"Andrew," Monica said in almost a hushed whisper.
"What is it?" a calm voice asked, though a yawn was mixed in with it.
"Gloria and I are going for a hike and we wanted to know if you would like to join us?"
"A hike?" he asked, his tired spirits lifting. "Um..." He looked down to notice the pajamas he was wearing and grinned. "Are you sure you want me to go like this?" Monica slowly entered the room and let out a giggle. She blushed and looked down.
"Well, you could change—if you really want to come with us." Monica suggested, still laughing.
"Of course I do...you know you're Andrew! Nature is my necessity!" he exclaimed, feeling a bit embarrassed as it was. "But don't worry, I'll get dressed in a matter of minutes. Just wait for me downstairs."
Monica giggled and said, "Gloria and I will be waiting for you in the kitchen." Monica then turned around and walked out Andrew's door.
"Wait, honey!" he called out suddenly, trying to catch her attention.
Monica turned around and asked, "What, what is it?"
"Isn't Tess coming?"
"I don't think so. She is making supper."
"That's too bad," the angel of death said with a frown. "Maybe I should stay back and help her," he suggested. Monica quickly shook her head.
"No, Tess told Gloria to take you with us."
"Oh...alright. But don't you girls want some bonding time? I mean...that's what women do in their spare time, right?" he asked jokingly. A smile played his face as Monica shook her auburn head and walked out of the door. He ran his fingers through his short blond hair and rummaged through his luggage.
Dressing quickly into a pair of quack pants and a blue long sleeve T-shirt,
Andrew hurried down the stairs, eager to go hiking with his two friends. He was already in the "nature" mode.
"You two ready?" he asked his friends excitedly. His short hair was not combed back properly, and his clothing was wrinkled, his shirt not tucked in. "What?" he inquired when seeing the look on his two friend's faces. He grabbed an apple from the basket that sat on the coffee table. Tess, entering the living room, quickly grabbed the fruit away and glared at him.
"Don't you go eating, Angel Boy!" she ordered, placing the apple back in the fruit basket. "Not until supper, you won't! I want you to be hungry then," her stern voice told him.
"But I'm hungry now!" he exclaimed in a whine, wincing at the look she gave him. "But...I can wait," he said without hesitation.
"May we leave now?" Gloria asked bursting with excitement.
"Andy, are sure you want to go out looking like that? I mean at least tuck in your shirt," Monica said with a disgusted look approaching the corners of her face.
"But we're hiking! No one is going to see us. And, anyway, who tucks in their shirts these days?" he asked innocently, placing his sunglasses on top of his head.
"Proper men," Tess told him, pulling him by the arm. She licked her finger and straightened his blond locks with her fingers. "There! Now you're set," she said after he gave her an overwrought cower and tucked in his shirt.
"Thank you, Mom," Andrew said sarcastically, his emerald green eyes sparkling.
The supervisor cast him a "motherly evil eye" with her big brown eyes and gave him a gently shove towards the door. She shook her black-gray hair that was curled neatly into a bun. The three younger angels couldn't help but managing smiles as they walked out the door.
A blast of the setting sun nearly blinded them as they walked out the cabin door and onto the grassy landscape that lied before them. Thunder rumbled in the distance, this time further away than that morning. Down the sandy beach, a few toddlers lingered in the sand, building sandcastles and burying each other.
"So where should we go first?" Gloria asked in an eager childish voice. Her eyes were filled with life as she fell behind of her two friends. "Can we find a trail?"
"Where are the trails?" the Irish angel asked, looking in the angel of death's direction.
Andrew's emerald green eyes scanned the woods before him as he pondered Monica's question in his head. With a grin, he answered, "That's part of the adventure—finding a trail!"
"Remember, Tess told us not to be late for supper." Monica said. "So we cant get lost."
"Lost? Now, do you two girls think that I'm going to let you get lost?" Andrew asked, his face showing pride. Monica and Gloria stared at the angel of death with sarcastic expressions.
"Andrew, please don't get us lost." Monica said.
Gloria giggled, trying not to make her enjoyment too noticeable. But her temptation was overcoming her. Seeing the opportune moment, she packed a ball of wet sand together and threw it at Andrew. His emerald eyes widened in shock as the ball hit him in the shoulder, sending bundles of sand all over.
"Gloria!" he exclaimed, a mischievous look growing in the depths of his expressions.
"Uh oh..." the little angel's words trailed off as she realized her wrong move. Her friend was gathering up sand in his own hands, ready to throw them at her any moment. But Instead of throwing it at her he turned around and threw it at Monica. Monica gasped and cried out, "Andrew!"
"What?" he asked, with a sly grin. "That's what you get for staying out a fight," he told her. Without hesitation, Monica leaped over to the water and splashed her two friends. Both covered themselves as best as possible, but the Irish angel was determined. Ocean water sprayed them, stinging the two angel's eyes.
Gloria, trying to recover from the sting, looked at them and asked, "Can we go hiking now?" Her impatience was finally showing.
"Are you kidding?" the angel of death said in a sarcastically shocked tone. "Not until Angel Girl is taught a lesson! She has to learn that sea water stings the eyes!" he exclaimed, chasing after Monica, wading into the water. Monica struggled to run as fast as her legs could take her, but soon enough, Andrew had caught up to her and her auburn hair was soaked with water.
"Ok, Gloria...now we can leave," Andrew said, wiping his hands on his pants. "My work here is done."
"My hair!" Monica yelled.
"My hair!" Andrew said in a mimicking voice that irritated his Irish friend even more. Gloria stepped back, deciding to stay out of the scene before her. But for some odd reason, she felt left out—as if she was being ignored. She knew it not true, but something about the way her two friends were acting together bothered her. Why was she feeling almost lonely?
Monica trudged out of the ocean soaking wet and looked at Andrew. She said, "Gosh, Andrew. If I wanted a bath I would've taken one before I left."
Gloria let out a slight giggle from her position a few feet back, near the woods. Andrew grinned again, this time his face red with embarrassment, realizing that a few on-comers on the beach had been watching the whole scene.
Monica walked past Andrew and over to Gloria and said.
"Let's go hiking now," her Irish lilt managed to spill out.
The angel of death noticed the auburn's sudden change of attitude. She sounded as if she was disgusted and upset with him. But he only shrugged the matter off, figuring she was a bit shaken from the spray of ocean water. Though something inside of him kept telling him she was angry. But why? He had been having fun. Hadn't she?
"About the trails..." the angel of death mused. "Let's try one following the shore of the beach. That way we can keep our position in the forest. How's that sound?" Andrew asked his friends. Gloria nodded, still excited about their hike. But Monica just shrugged, still walking beside the little angel. "Monica? What do you want to do?" he asked her.
"Andy, it's up to you and Gloria. I'm just coming for the sights. Any trail we take is going to be a beautiful walk," her Irish lilt told him as sincere as possibly.
"Well then, let's get a move on it!" the youngest angel exclaimed.