Angel Hair

By Diane Marie Taylor

"Kristin wake up," her mother called upstairs, "The school bus will be here soon."

Kristin didn't want to wake up. The bed felt nice and warm. She heard Cathy downstairs yelling at her mom, "I don't like oatmeal, I hate it," and then her baby sister, Kelly, started crying.

Yuks, I guess I gotta get up. Kristin opened her eyes but she didn't see what she expected to see, instead of her desk and chair or her white dresser, she saw a small golden girl about three feet tall standing next to her bed. The girl's skin was a light golden tan, her dress was shinny like gold thread, and her eyes and hair glowed with golden light. The golden girl's tiny mouth was opening and closing and she was moving her arms up and down in the air.

Kristin blinked her eyes to wake up. When she opened her eyes again, the girl was gone. Wow, I was dreaming with my eyes open. Kinda scary but fun. Kristin laughed.

Later that day, after Kristin closed her school locker and started to walk to computer class, she saw the little golden girl again. The girl stood across the hall. She was still opening her mouth and waving her arms.

Kristin called out to Judy who was walking down the hall and pointed, "Look at the girl dressed all in gold."

"Where?" Judy stopped for a minute and looked around," I don't see any one."

Kristin felt silly and when she looked back across the hall, the golden girl was gone. But Kristin could still see an image of the girl in her mind, her little golden arms waving in the air like she was hurt and calling for help. She thought about the golden girl all during computer class, so she missed the question when Mrs. Jones called on her. A stupid question that any baby could answer. She was so mad at herself because she kept seeing some golden girl who wasn't really there.

Silly or not, she saw the golden girl again later that day while she was helping her mom in the grocery store. Kristin was pushing the grocery basket while her mother put in corn flakes and Cheerios and some cocoa with marshmallows. One minute Kristin was giving Kelly a cookie from the opened package so she would stop crying, and the next minute she was staring at the golden girl. The girl was still waving her arms and opening and closing her mouth as if to speak.

"Mom, mom, look, do you see the girl in gold standing next to the noodles, right there," Kristin pointed towards boxes of noodles behind the golden girl.

Her mom looked in the direction Kristin pointed but said, "Where did Cathy go?

Kristin saw Cathy running down in front of the store she ran after her. She forgot the golden girl while she ran after a real one. "Cathy, you'd better come here. Mom is getting real mad." She called and chased Cathy.

After she brought Cathy, screaming and kicking, back to her mom, Kristin caught herself checking every new isle in case the golden girl was there. She was afraid she'd see her standing near the milk cooler or bakery shelves or at the check out counter.

Kristin sighed with relief when she didn't see the girl again in the store, but she was worried. Nobody sees a golden girl but me. I am getting scared. I'll call my cousin Ashley, she's olden than me, she'll help me.

After helping her mom put the groceries away, Kristin went into her bedroom to call Ashley. First she peeked around the corner to make sure the golden girl wasn't standing next to her bed or window. It was empty so Kristin dialed the phone with relief.

"Hi Ashley. Did you ever hear of a person who was all golden and shinny, even eyes and skin."

"Naw," Ashley said, "Except in fairy tales, you know, like in the story of "King Midas." Everything he touched turned to gold."

"I remember that story. No that isn't what I mean. I mean soft and golden, real. I saw a real person who looked all golden."

"Hay, maybe you saw an angel? Angels can be gold or silver or white or any color, I guess. Grandma says angels are real. Did you see one? A real angel? All gold and shinny and stuff?"

"She didn't look like an angel, not like a Christmas card angel. She was small and she kept waving her arms at me. I keep seeing her everywhere I go."

"You really seen a gold person? You're not kidding? It's a joke, right?"

"No, I am not joking. I can see right through her, like she is a ghost or something. No one can see her but me."

"Did you tell your mom?"

"I tried, but she couldn't see her either. You better not tell anyone. I'll be real mad."

"I won't tell, I promise."

"Besides, she might be gone by tomorrow," Kristin said, "Yah, maybe it was just a today kind of thing."

"Wow. This is so cool. We can talk about it when you come to my house this weekend, OK."

After hanging up, Kristin felt better. Ashley would help her laugh about it. Then she got so busy she forgot all about the golden girl. She found Kelly's pajamas under the dresser then chased and tickled her feet as she pulled them on. Cathy was crying because she didn't want her hair washed. Kristin said, "I'll let you use my pink hairbrush, OK. Later, she watched a rented movie with her mom until bedtime.

Kristin was glad the next morning because she opened her eyes and there wasn't any golden girl standing next to her bed. Her relief didn't last long. When she pulled her tee shirt over her head, she heard a bird singing outside. She glanced toward the window, and there, right in front of the sun-shinny window and sparrow in the tree, stood the golden girl. She was still waving her arms and opening and closing her tiny mouth.

"This is stupid," yelled Kristin. "Stop." She stomped her foot down and suddenly the golden girl's image sputtered like a bad movie and went out.

Kristin laughed at how easy it was to get rid of the golden girl. All she had to do was get real mad and stamp her foot.

All day at school she didn't see the golden girl so she knew the problem was gone forever, until she got off the school bus and walked to the front door. There was the little golden girl standing in the middle of the white garage door.

"This is silly, silly silly," Kristin said stomping her foot down as she opened the front door. The girl disappeared. Her sister, Kelly, laughed because she thought Kristin was playing with her. "Are you silly too," Kristin said as she picked up Kelly and swinging her around.

As soon as Kristin put her book bag on the couch and took off her coat, her mom asked her to take the trash out to the road. "Pick up is tomorrow. And pull that box of old radio parts out to the road too. They're behind the garage."

Kristin grumbled as she put her coat back on and went outside behind the garage. The back yard was full of tall weeds sticking out through the mud and snow. Old tires were stacked up against the back wall and her dad's old Buick was sitting up on blocks.

She found the box of radio parts beneath an old sled and pulled it out. As she tugged and pulled the heavy box around to the side of the garage, she thought she heard a voice calling through the cold air. She stopped to listen. It must have been birds singing.

It was heavy work dragging the box so she sat on the edge to rest for a while. Looking at her dad's old car, Kristin thought, maybe that's where Cathy lost her snow boot. I'll go look.

Kristin pulled hard on the car door but it wouldn't open. This side must be locked. She went around to the other side of the car.

There, standing in front of the old Buick's blue door, was the little golden girl, beautiful and shimmery. Her eyes looked bigger and more golden than before and she was singing in little cheeps like a song bird. This time, she looked real enough to touch.

Angry but unafraid, Kristin bent down to see the girl better. A tiny tear, like a shinny white pearl, rolled down the girl's golden cheek, as Kristin watched.

She slowly put out her finger to touch the tear. "It's wet! You're real. You're really, really real."

The tiny girl was still waving her arms while she cried and sang.

Is she trying to point behind, to the car? Kristin walked up to the car and looked behind the girl.

"Oh, how terrible," cried Kristin. The girl's beautiful, long, golden hair was caught in the door. "Here let me help you." Kristin tugged and pulled until she felt the rusty car door screech open.

The girl jumped away as soon as Kristin opened the door. But then to Kristin's surprise, the girl pushed with her foot and jumped up into the air. The little girl, her golden hair circling her head like a halo, hovered four feet above Kristin's head.

Oh, she has wings too, exquisite butterfly wings spread out like bubbles, Kristin thought as she watched the girl stand in air.

Suddenly, the girl's face grew into a big golden smile as she flew down and gave Kristin a kiss on her cheek. Then she flew up into the blue sky like a golden cloud and disappeared.

Kristin stood near the old Buick for a while staring up at the sky. She wished the golden girl would come back. I wonder if she was an angel or a fairy or just a little visitor to earth. Now Kristin knew why she kept seeing the golden girl. The girl sent pictures to Kristin because she needed help. She must have used E. S. P. or something.

"No one will ever believe this," Kristin said, "Not in a million years." Well, I guess I'll get back to work. I'll finish pulling the box out to the road. Then she noticed a sparkle of light in the car door frame, a strand of golden hair was stuck in the door lock.

Kristin smiled as she took off her locket. She curled the single strand of golden hair around inside, closed the cover and hung it back around her neck. She felt sad because she'd probably never see the little golden girl again. But she had a keepsake. She now owned a single strand of golden angel hair.

The End