Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.
Sarah pulled two brown paper grocery bags from the compact car's trunk. The ten-year-old always enjoyed helping her mother, feeling useful. She set the bags down on the open porch outside the house and turned to get another set of bags from the car. Sarah heard a rustling from the bushes at the very edge of her backyard, which opened into a small wooded area."Hello?" asked the little girl.
There are stern whispers from the bushes, only one of which Sarah can understand, "Angel, no!"
And out topples a girl younger than Sarah, with curly blond hair and blue eyes. White wings pulled themselves quickly in as the strange bird- human stands up and looks warily at Sarah.
As suddenly as the first girl had come, two more kids jumped out of the bushes, wings out and ready for a sudden take-off. Both looked older than Sarah, and both were moving protectively in front of the smaller girl.
The curly-haired girl's hands flew to her stomach, where the loudest rumble Sarah had ever heard echoed out.
Sarah stood in awe. There were kids with wings standing in her backyard. Angels in her backyard.
She looked again to the youngest and saw the pained look of hunger on her face. Sarah bent and picked up one of the heavier bags of groceries filled with vegetables, a loaf of bread, and peanut butter. She walked forward slowly and placed the bag down in front of the two eldest angels. The female teenager looked at Sarah and smiled. The eldest boy picked up the bag. The girl with the long curly hair burst from between the two and wrapped her arms around Sarah in a grateful hug. "Thank you." She whispered.
And with that, the three angels spread their wings and flew into the air, followed by three others, who had been waiting behind the bushes.
Sarah's mother came out to find her daughter staring up at the sky at a flock of birds flying past the clouds.
"Sarah, honey? What're you looking at?"
"Nothing, mom." Sarah replied, snapping out of her trance.
Sarah's mother would only miss her vegetables for a day, and then they could go get more. She would hate lying to her mother about where they went, but would know her mother would be proud if she knew and believed the truth.
She had just helped angels.