Rebecca and Her Angel, Part II

Part Two. . .

Rebecca’s parents noticed the change in their daughter. They thought the change was from the new house and Chemotherapy treatments. They had no idea that Rebecca had an angel with her, for only Rebecca could see Sarah. For whatever reason, her parents were happy to see Rebecca smile again. Rebecca was happy to be smiling again, too. She had felt so sad for so long, but Sarah was a breath of fresh air for her. Sarah was pleased to be doing her job and rejoiced that she had brought a smile to Rebecca’s face. Everything was going so well, it seemed to the doctors that once again Rebecca’s cancer was going into remission. Rebecca and Sarah spent almost an entire afternoon dancing and laughing in the chapel. Everyone in the church was in jubilation that this time of suffering was ending: until the storms started.
A week after Rebecca and her parents learned Rebecca’s cancer was in remission, a series of huge storms started tormenting the area. It rained unmercifully day after day, only stopping for an hour or so after three days. Wind whipped around the buildings and tore trees up by the roots. The basement of the church was flooded with an inch of water, and Rebecca had to try to help her parents clean up the mess while water continued to trickle down the walls. After five hours of cleaning, they gave up trying to rescue the basement. Her mother decided they should try to save the hundred-year old stained glass windows. Her parents grabbed some boards and plastic sheeting and started to cover the windows. They had finished covering all the windows when the tornado sirens went off. Rebecca’s parents grabbed her arms and started running to get into the dry part of the basement. Rebecca ran with them, until she realized she had left her giraffe in Sarah’s room. She turned around and ran to get him. She had never spent a night without him before, and she was not about to lose him now. Her parents ran after her, trying to grab her hand again, but she always slipped out of their grip.
“Rebecca! We need to get to better shelter.”
“Come on, Rebecca, we need to go into the basement.” Both of her parents were shouting at her, but their voices were lost in the siren. Rebecca just kept running to get her giraffe. She finally unlocked the door and had just grabbed her giraffe when a lightening bolt flashed outside the window. Rebecca stopped and called out for Sarah, but she did not appear. Rebecca kept calling, and crying until her parents found her. Her parents stared at the huge window they had never seen before, noting the single angel and blue color, but were grabbing at Rebecca’s arms and trying to drag her out of the room to safety. Rebecca was weeping as they finally managed to pull her out the door. The lightening continued to flash through the cracks in the boards, and the thunder roared. The three heard an odd creaking as they rushed through the choir seats, but they did not take much notice of it. Rebecca’s parents rushed ahead of her, and as they bounded down the few steps with Rebecca lagging behind, the creaking became a loud crack, and the crucifix snapped, landing on Rebecca. Her parents ran back to try to help her. She was breathing, but it was forced and only her head and arms were free from the heavy oaken form of Christ. They rushed Rebecca to the hospital, despite the weather. Once she was in the hands of the doctors, all her parents could do was pray.
Rebecca barely remembered the fall and storm. She barely remembered why she had run back. When she woke up three days later, there sitting on the edge of the bed was a beautiful angel.
“Rebecca.”
“Sarah? Where am I?”
“You are in the hospital. During the storm, there was an accident. You have been here for three days.”
“I’m so tired.”
“I know, Rebecca. Come home, He is waiting. Come home, where all your tears are gone, and you will not be tired. Come home.’
“But, I’m scared, Sarah. And I want to say goodbye.”
“We are all scared sometimes.” Rebecca noticed her parents wake up from the chairs they had been sleeping in, and noticing she was awake, they hurried to her bedside.
“Rebecca! You’re awake.” Her mother looked like she was about to cry.
“It’s good to see you up, sweetheart.” Rebecca’s eyes welled up with tears. She did not want to leave, yet she could see Sarah on the hillside, and a man in white robes and holes in his hands beckoning for her.
“Come home,” they were calling. Rebecca summoned all her courage.
“I love you.” And with that, Rebecca breathed her last breath.
Rebecca’s parents were beside themselves with grief over the loss of their only daughter. They moved back home, and when they finally did revisit the church, it hurt them to see how beautiful it still remained. Together they walked up the aisle in the sanctuary and up the steps to where the statue of Jesus had stood. Her mother was crying, and her father looked around trying not to cry. It was he who found the opened door to the little chapel. They walked into the room, puzzled as to why they had only seen it once, on that horrible night. They both stood in awe at the stained glass window. Though they had only seen it once, they remembered what was depicted in the glass, and what they saw now astonished them. Where there had once been a single angel swathed in blue, stood another angel who was much younger holding her hand, her hair covered in pink cloth. Behind the pair was a picture of Christ, his face not contorted in pain as he had been in the wooden crucifix, but smiling as he laid his hands on the angels’ shoulders. Rebecca’s parents knew she was finally happy, and that she no longer felt pain. Her father laid her giraffe on the pew facing the window, and with an easiness in their hearts, the two walked out of the room. And even though it was not possible, the trio made of glass seemed to smile even more as they watched them disappear through the door.

The End