Rachael and Sachael

The image shimmered before Rachael like a mirage rising from the sand. With graceful strides, the form floated along the shore-line as tresses of curls fanned behind her. Her tall frame eclipsed the sun hovering over the endless horizon. The roar of the surf seemed to harmonize with the melody coming from the flowing silhouette. The tune was foreign to Rachael, but pure and peaceful.

Stepping from her brilliant back-drop, her bare feet hidden in the tide, she stopped alongside Rachael. A flock of Pelicans dotted the sky above. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” She stretched her arm in the direction of the golden sea mirrored by the setting October sun.

Rachael fingered the ring on her left hand and looked up into a countenance of complete serenity. “I suppose; although, beauty seems to elude me these days.” Rachael lowered her head, surprised by her own candor with this stranger.

“I am called Sachael.” She reached for Rachael‘s arm. “Will you walk with me awhile?”

Rachael hesitated, not wanting her anguish interrupted, but there was something captivating about the woman before her—an aura of tranquility radiating from within. She allowed herself to be led alongside the water‘s edge.

After a long silence, not at all uncomfortable to Rachael, Sachael spoke. “I’ve watched you many times, here on the beach, laughing and dancing with your man.”

Rachael nodded, not able to speak. She cleared the knot in her throat and remarked, “I don’t remember seeing you before.”

“It’s not unusual for me to go unnoticed when I’m down here.” Sachael smiled, seemingly amused by some private joke.

Rachael’s attention returned to the ring on her hand. It displayed a prismatic glow of hues from the setting sun. She began to weep openly. “I miss him so much. I hate being here without him. I‘m afraid to go on.”

“Ah, but you’re not without him, Rachael. He’s in the beauty around you. He exists just as you exist. Look past your grief. Look at the sunset. Do you not see him there?”

Rachael stepped away from Sachael and further into the water. She watched the sun inch its way into the sea. The sky changed from its yellow-orange hue to wisps of violet and red. Struck by a sudden clarity, she embraced the scene before her. The Pelicans formed a V over the water and soared toward the horizon.

“Yes. I see him. I feel him. He is here.” Rachael turned to thank the stranger, to ask her how she knew her name. She found herself alone on the beach.

No—not alone, she thought. Never alone again.

                

Author’s Notes:
 Sachael is the Angel of Water and of Tranquility who frees us from our fears and helps us to purify and clarify our thoughts while embracing a serene heart.

 The Pelican is the symbol of the resurrection of Christ.