Guardian Angel

I walked along a well-beaten path toward Lily Lake. I wasn’t going to live this life-a life of loneliness. I was unsteady from lack of sleep, and I kept stumbling and tripping over roots in the pitch black of the new moon.
As I slowly crept on, I thought back on the time we had gone picnicking up on Blue Moon Hill. What a wonderful day it had been. We had hiked the two miles to the top and claimed it our own, acting as children do. When the sun had begun setting, we had held each other and watched it sink behind the distant mountains.
My thoughts were interrupted when I came upon the bridge that spanned the lake. I cautiously climbed onto the railing. I stood there, arms outstretched, ready to plunge into the icy waters below. My face was stained with tears-tears shed for the one I loved. As the stars cast eerie shadows across the lake and the breeze rustled my hair, I held my breath, ready to take my own life just to be with him.
I thought back to this evening when I had heard the news. I had just returned from a shopping trip with my friends. My mother had been sitting at the kitchen table; just sitting there. Right away I knew something was wrong.
“Mom?” I had whispered, almost frightened. “What’s the matter?” At that moment, my mother had burst into tears, and I had tried to comfort her.
Finally, she regained her composure. “It’s Ryan,” she said. “He’s dead.” I had sat back, stunned by my mother’s words. “He was killed in a head-on collision.”
That’s all I could take. “Stop!” I had screamed, tears streaming down my face. “Just stop!”
“I’m sorry,” my mother kept saying, her eyes brimming with tears. She had felt my pain. I knew she had. It had happened to Dad when I was only six. But I had been too upset to let her help. I had raced out of the room and out the front door. That’s how I ended up here…
I was brought back to reality by a rustling in the trees nearby. I paused to listen, but only heard the howl of a distant coyote. Then, a faint crying, like something was hurt. Forgetting my intentions, I stepped off the railing and cautiously followed the cries, deep into the forest.
As the crying grew louder, I found myself in a clearing, where a waterfall was crashing into a small stream. I heard the noise again, and noticed it came from behind the waterfall.
I approached carefully and peered behind it. To my surprise, I saw a baby-a human baby, nestled in a basket. Wondering where the baby had come from, I picked it up and cradled it in my arms. Not knowing where the parents were and not wanting to leave the baby alone, I took her home to show my mother.
As I walked in my front door, I realized the time, and noticed my mother asleep in a nearby chair. ‘She must have been waiting for me to return,’ I thought. Leaving the baby, asleep, next to the door, I walked across the room to where my mother was dozing. I nudged her awake, and as soon as she saw me, she threw her arms around me and squeezed me until I couldn’t breathe. When she let go, I started to apologize, but she quickly put a finger to my lips. “You don’t have to explain. I understand.” And I knew she did.
Suddenly, the baby started whining and everything that had happened started coming back to me. My mother glanced at the baby and asked where it had come from. I told her that I had found it and she said we should report it immediately. When we called the station, the cops told us that a couple’s child had been reported missing just three hours before.
About half an hour later, I opened the door to a beautiful young couple. They raced to their child and picked her up. As the mother stood cradling her baby, the father looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “You must be her guardian angel.”
With glistening eyes, I held open the door for them. As they got in their car to drive away, I whispered ever-so-softly, “And she, mine.” And with that, I turned, smiling, to go to bed.