An Official Angel

by Diane Mare Taylor

Chapter 1

My name is Megan and I was the first person in the world to meet an “Official” angel. Official means real, or dignitary, or…well I’ll just tell the story from the beginning.

The baby deer was so cute with the little spots on its back it didn’t take much imagination to think of Bambi. That is what caused me to get lost. Earlier, on the way here, we had stopped on the side of the road to feed a few deer and I still had some corn in my pocket. I walked down a small path behind the log cabin rental office. Mom and dad were inside renting our cabin for a week, but I wanted to see the outhouse. Yech, I know, but I never seen one before and I wondered if it smelled. The baby deer darted away from me then come back at stood looking at me with its big black eyes. It smelled the corn, so I threw it a few cornels. It ate them and wanted more.

I held my hand out full of golden corn so Bambi would eat from my hand. Bambi took a few steps towards me, but then backed away again. So I kept following it further and further into the woods, past the dark tree trunks and green leaves and twigs and prickly bushes. With my imagination in full swing pretending I was about to befriend Bambi, I didn’t think about where I was going. I just went. The baby deer wanted the corn real bad, I could tell. Every time it scampered away, it would stop, turn, and look at me with big dark eyes until I threw some corn. So I kept throwing corn to make it stop, but it kept scampering away again.

“Poor little Bambi, where is your mother.” I asked.

I was beginning to worry that the baby fawn was lost. It wasn’t until then that I looked around, I mean really looked around to see that it wasn’t Bambi that was lost, it was me. Suddenly, I couldn’t see the cabin, road, car or anything except trees. Even Bambi ran away. I turned in a complete circle and all I could see was tall dark trees, knee high brush, and dead leaves on the ground. I was alone and lost.

“Wait.” I said out loud, as if I had someone to talk to. “All I need to do is go back the way I come.” But when I turned to search where I’d come from, I couldn’t see any path. It was as if I’d just appeared right here in the middle of the forest. Why hadn’t left a trail like Hansel and Gretal did in their story.

I pounded the air with my fists, I was so angry at myself. All I could see in every direction was trees and twigs and thorns. I already had a lot of them stuck to my pants. Well, mom and dad will come looking for me soon. They’ll be frantic when they see I am gone. They are probably looking for me right now.

I began to yell out hoping they were close by, “Mom, dad, mom, dad, mom, dad” over and over. No one heard me. Finally figured out that I was really and truly lost. I tried to hold back the panic, but I was really scared.

Chapter 2

Mrs. Martin followed Mr. Adams, the park manager, to the cabin they would rent for a week. Mr. Martin carried Bobby and walked behind. They traveled down a short winding path through the woods behind the rental office.

Mr. Adams unlocked the cabin door and left. Mrs. Martin entered the cabin and the first thing she saw was thick dust all over the counter and cracker crumbs near a hole in the wall. She shuddered. Mice? That’s what Mr. Martin means by ‘roughing it’ on this vacation? Mice? A vacation with no television, telephones, or even computers. The ‘no computer’ part of the bargain was what sold her on the idea. Mr. Martin was a computer whiz and she could never get him away from a computer for long, but this week the family would have a lot of time to spend together.

Mr. Martin came into the cabin behind her with Bobby on his shoulders. They had to duck to get through the doorway and were both laughing.

“Here take him. Mr. Martin said. “He’s too heavy for me. Now I am all bend over.” He played and pretended to be a crooked man who couldn’t stand up. Bobby laughed.

“I’ll go get the luggage out of the car. Where’s Megan?”

“She was checking the outhouse last I seen. You should have seen the face she made.”

Mr. and Mrs. Martin both laughed.

Suddenly, Mrs. Martin got a worried look on her face, “We do have a bathroom and shower, don’t we?”

“Sure. I was just teasing Megan. She must be in the car. I’ll pick her up with the luggage.” Mr. Martin said and left.

Chapter 3

I finally stopped calling out into the deaf woods and decided it was time to figure about what I should do. I pushed a pile of dirty fallen leaves into a dry mat then sat down on them. I sat with my elbows on my knees, and head in my hands, for a time as I tried to think. I am a super intelligent girl, everyone says so. That means I can figure out how to get back to civilization. I thought of all the books I’ve read and all the adventures like Black Beauty, Heidi, and The Little Princess, but none of them held any advise for this problem. Then I remembered a short story of an Indian boy who was on a holy quest and used the sun for direction. That might work for me, too.

I looked up into the tree canopy and searched but could hardly see the sun through the thick leaves, but I could see the sky was brighter in one direction. That must be West. Noon was hours ago, that’s why the sun isn’t over my head.

“Yes, that’s what I’ll do,” I said and jumped up. Then I felt silly for talking to the trees and leaves and a baby deer who ran away a long while ago.

“Well, so what if I talk out loud,” I said to the nearest stand of trees. No one is listening anyway. But in this, I was wrong; although, I didn’t learn about it until a long time later.

I was getting scared, but I didn’t want to admit it yet. So I started singing the song from the Wizard of Oz to keep myself company, “I’ll follow the sun, I mean, yellow brick road….”

I sang and walked up and down hills, around picker bushes and weaved through a million trees for a long while. Sometimes the trees grew tight together and I had to walk around them, but I figured if I kept going in one direction, like west, I’d find some road or house or evidence of civilization. But I didn’t.

One minute the sky over my head was pink, the next minute red, and then the whole forest turned black. Blacker than any black that you can ever imagine. That is the moment when I lost it. I mean, I think I am a tough girl, you need to be if you have a younger brother who gets into your stuff all the time, but I wasn’t tough right then. I squatted down, huddled up against a big, fat tree and began to cry like I have never cried before.

Chapter 4

Megan wasn’t in the car. Mr. Martin called for her a number of times. Then, puzzled, he walked around the sides of the office cabin calling her name as loud as he could into the woods.

“Megan, Megan, Meg. Come here. I need help with the bags.” He called again, “Meg, you better not be playing a game on me.”

Finally, fear gripped at his guts. Where could she be? He ran to the back and side of the office cabin calling her name. When he didn’t get an answer, he ran back to the front and caught the park manager just as he was closing and locking up for the afternoon.

“My little girl, Megan. I can’t find her.”

“She must be here somewhere. How old is she. I don’t remember seeing her.” Mr. Adams said.

“Nine. She went to look at the outhouse.”

“What is her name?” Mr. Adams asked.

“Megan.” Then they both called out into the woods, “Megan, Megan,” They walked into the trees for a short distance calling, but got no answer.

Finally, the office manager said, “We need to call the Forest Rangers. They will find your little girl.”

“Yes. Call the Forest Rangers. Hurry.”

Mr. Adams unlocked the office and went back in to use the phone. Mr. Martin stood next to him and kept rubbing his hands together. His nerves were jumping so bad he didn’t know what to do.

“They said to go back and check the cabin you rented?”

“Good idea.” Mr. Martin said, relief flowing from his voice. “She’s probably helping Mrs. Martin fix dinner right now.”

Mr. Martin ran back to the cabin and stuck his head inside, “Megan here?”

“No. Haven’t seen her.”

Feeling dejected, Mr. Martin went inside and told his wife. “I can’t find her. I think she might have walked into the woods and got lost.”

“No, no, Megan, no.” Mrs. Martin cried, frantic with fear.

“It will be ok.” Mr. Martin said. “The Forest Rangers know these woods like the back of their hand. I need to go back to the rental office and tell them she isn’t here.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Wait. I think you should find a good photo to give the rangers, and maybe write a description of what she was wearing. The colors and…stuff,” Mr. Martin stammered. “I don’t remember.”

“Yes, of course. I need to search our bags.”

Mr. Martin ran back to the office cabin to wait for the rangers, but on the way, he began to shake with fear and thoughts of all the dangers that could happen to his little girl. He thought deep rivers, sudden cliff drop offs, and cold weather, wild animals, and he thought of the worst danger of all, that the woods were so large that she might never be found. He had only two choices right then, he could cry or pray. He began to pray.

Chapter 5

I am tall for my age, nine years old, with long blond hair with a skinny body. I was so scared, I curled my long body up as tight as I could against the tree trunk, dug the hole deeper in the leaves with my knees, buried my head in my arms, and prayed.

Please God, please save me.

God didn’t save me right then, but I thanked him anyway for helping me decide to wear my big blue jacket with a fur hood instead of my tiny, cute pink jacket.

I stayed curled up in that position all night, listening to the strange sounds a forest makes, rustling leaves, twittering, snorts, and squeaks. Once I thought I heard a low growl. My whole body shook when I heard that growl. I just knew it was a mountain lion or cougar even though Michigan doesn’t have mountain lions or cougars. But it has bears.

Chapter 6

She couldn't have gone too far in the woods could she? She's so little." Mr. Martin asked the Forest Rangers.

"I think you might be right," said Mr. Rexal, the ranger.

"Not necessarily," Mr. Brand, the other ranger said, "If she started walking, she could have went in far. Do you think she would have waited or walked, Mr. Martin?

"I don't know.” Mr. Martin said, “She is a very intelligent for her age."

"That could work two ways," Mr. Brand said. "She might have thought she could walk her way out."

"I've called in five more rangers," Mr. Rexal said. "They will be here soon. Then we will all use flashlights and a megaphone and begin walking the woods. If we don't find her by daylight, we'll use a helicopter."

"I'll go with you." Mr. Martin said, "I feel useless waiting here.

"Best if we find her tonight,” said Mr. Brand. "I need to warn you Mr. Martin, the helicopter can't see down into some of those gullies."

"Don't tell my wife. She needs to hold on to hope. And so do I."

Chapter 7

Eventually, I must have gone to sleep in that position because I woke up sore, wet and cold, but the sky was beginning to turn daylight. Naturally, I was also hungry, thirsty shivering and I had to pee. Well, at least, I could do that, so I did.

Then I looked at the new world of magic that seemed to enter the forest as daylight peaked in. Small swirls of fog twirled around close to the ground. Tiny white flowers were peeking out from beneath some leaves. Drops of dew covered the ground and trees, turning it all into an enchanted forest. A spider web high above my head was lined in dewdrops that made it look covered in diamonds. Good thing I didn’t know the spider web was there last night, I thought. The new day light shined like frosted magic on the bark of the trees, the leaves on the ground, and the fronds of leaves that hung from the tree branches.

Drops of water fell dripping from a branch on into a large leaf, as if the forest was welcoming me with a gift. I drank it down quickly. A thousand tiny black berries swayed on a bush next to me, but I didn’t dare eat them. They could be poison.

Suddenly, I heard the chop, chop, chop sound of helicopter blades in the sky above my head in the treetops. Someone is searching for me! I jumped up and down and waved my hands and shouted, “Here, I am right here.” I ran in circles shouting. I could see through the high leaves as the helicopter made big circles in the sky, I could hear it move and circle around, but it didn’t come over to where I was shouting and jumping. The tree canopy was too thick. There was no way anyone could see one small child down here on the ground.

I sniffled and cried when I heard the helicopter leave. I was doomed and really, really scared. I’d been so sure my dad would come and find me. Dad can do a lot of really great things. He can fix anything, but especially computers. And he’s so smart.

“I know my dad will find me. I just know it.” I said out loud. But right then, I didn’t believe it, not really. If a helicopter can’t find me, my dad might not either. I sat down on a fallen log to think.

Chapter 8

I knew I couldn’t sit on the log all day and cry, that I needed to be brave and find my way out of here. I looked over at the black berries with longing. My stomach growled with hunger, but I better not eat those berries. I need to get up and move around or I’ll get cold again. Guess I’ll to what I did yesterday, follow the sun.

The sun was just beginning to shine on the leaves and brighten the day. The log had been damp even though it hadn’t rained and now her pants were wet. Darn. I stood up and brushed off my pants. Must be the dew. Oh, well. I began to follow the line of the sun, this time directly behind me so I would be walking in the same direction as yesterday.

I wondered what caused the dew. Respiration of some sort, I guessed. As I walked, I learned new questions to ask about a lot of new things. It helped to keep my mind busy. I saw long, dark vines growing up and down trees, but was afraid to touch them. Poison ivy is a vine, isn’t it? But I couldn’t remember what it looked like. I noticed that grass grew a lot in some places and not in other places, and wondered why. Oh, the sun, silly. A lot of bushes with thorns and some with white berries and some with red. The red looked dangerous. Odd, but I hadn’t seen any animals. No deer, but a lot of birds. Which made me think of the bird feeder at home.

Will I ever… But I refused to complete the thought. I dared not think of home. Think of anything but. So I did. I thought of the wonderful magic land I was walking through. The woods were quiet except for a brown speckled bird that kept flying from tree to tree, screaming at me. It doesn’t want me here any more than I want to be here.

A chipmunk scampered out of my way, ran behind a tree, and then dived beneath some fallen leaves. Much of the nature I walked through looked strangely innocent and beautiful. I began to realize how ignorant I was of the things that grow in a forest. Or creep or crawl in it too. Things that crawl. Yuck. Where did that Bambi go? And all the other deer? Guess they don’t like me because I am too noisy.

Before long, I thought I saw an opening in the trees where the sun was brighter and walked towards it. Maybe a helicopter will find me if I stand in a big open spot. But when I arrived at the spot, it turned out to be just a small pond created from the last rain. At the water’s edge, I tripped over a twig and fell in the muddy leaves, landing on my knees. Good place to get a drink. I bent over the water and drank big gulps of cold water from my cupped hands. It refreshed my gladness for a moment; until I saw my reflection in the pond.

I looked a mess. My hair was tangled in knots, my coat was torn, my face was bleeding where a big twig had snapped at me, and my cheek was swollen.

“Well, at least, no one is taking my picture.” I said out loud, trying to make fun of my predicament. I threw a stick into the pond and watched the tiny circle of waves float my ugly image away. Then I sat on my knees and cocked my head because I thought I heard a noise. No, I guess not. But when I looked back down at the pond, I saw the reflection of a white silvery image standing behind me.

I would have screamed at the sight, but at the same time, I heard a loud, angry growl coming from my right side. This time the roar wasn’t imaginary; it was real. And I could hear bushes and limbs crashing as if something really big was coming right at me. I turned and saw a big black bear standing up tall on two legs.

Chapter 9

Mrs. Martin had been crying again; her eyes were all red and her face bloated from lack of sleep. The Forest Rangers had been out all night looking for Megan. Mr. Martin had been riding in the helicopter with them all night. He must be tired and hungry. But I am too worried to cook. All she could manage to do was fix Bobby a bowl of cereal while she waited for news.

She decided she couldn’t wait inside any longer and decided to walk over to see if the helicopter was back yet. She picked up Bobby in her arms and walked down the path to the office. As she was about to step to the front of the office, she heard a ranger talking to Mr. Smith in front.

“Old Grouchy, is what we call him because he's gotten mean and ornery in the last two years. We’ve tried to shoot him twice, but missed.”

“If Old Grouchy finds that girl, she’s a goner. That bear is crazy.”

“Let’s keep it under our hat, ok. Chances are she won’t run into him.”

They heard a scream and turned to see Mrs. Martin standing nearby.

“No, not a bear?” She was shaking and trembling so badly Mr. Smith had to lead her into the office and help her into a chair. She kept clutching to Bobby and won't let the ranger carry him.

“The chances of your little girl meeting that bear are very slim, Mrs. Martin. He stays in the North Quadrant. He never comes around this close to civilization. I promise,” the ranger said.

“But my little girl isn’t close to civilization either. If she was, she would have been found by now.”

Mrs. Martin began to cry again and hugged and rocked Bobby, who was wanting to get down and explore the office.

Just then Mrs. Martin heard the helicopter land. When Mr. Martin came through the office door, she gave him a pleading look, but Mr. Martin shook his head. He came over and took Bobby out of her arms and patted her shoulder.

"We'll find her. I promise."

Chapter 10

I was still sitting on my knees next to the pond when the bear came crashing out of the woods towards me. It was huge. It was walking on two legs and swinging its front paws as if it wanted to crush me.

Fear froze me to the spot. All I could do was look up as the giant bear came closer and then stood high above me, spittle dripping from its mouth.

Suddenly, a small strange form stood between me and the bear, the flicker of white that I had seen reflected in the pond just a moment ago. The bear swung once at the white form. Oh, no, it is going to be killed. I looked around for a stick or something to fight the bear with, but I saw that I didn’t need a stick.

The small angel was standing in front of the bear with its hand held out as if to hold it back. The huge bear growled, but real low, this time. Then it jumped down on all four feet, turned, then wobbled back into the forest as if it hadn't caused a bit of trouble.

I rubbed her eyes and shook my head. I couldn’t believe what just happened. I was still shaking in fear when I stood up to thank the angel.

But is she an angel or a child? I wasn’t sure because the angle didn’t stand any taller than my chest. The angel’s skin was sheet white, but it didn’t have any hair or wings, and it was wearing a silky, almost transparent white robe. The effect of all that white made it look like an angel, but it also had huge dark, black eyes and long, skinny fingers. So maybe I didn’t know what it was. Maybe an angle child. An extremely skinny and tiny one.

“How did you chase that big bear away?” I asked out loud.

At the question, I suddenly saw a replay movie in my mind of the angel-child holding out her hand again, but this time I saw a soft light stream out of the angel-child's hand right to the bear head. Once more, I watched the bear turn jump down and turn away.

“Wow, amazing. How do you do that?” I asked as I brushed the dirt and muddy leaves off my jeans. “That was great.”

I began to see the same movie review of the angel-child and bear in my mind again.

“No, no, I mean the mind thing. How do you show me pictures in my mind?” I pointed to my head to show what I meant.

The angel-child nodded that she understood. Then went over to a small white flower. She squatted down, then touched her head with two of her longest fingers and looked at the flower with hard concentration.

Then I saw the tiny white flower inside my own mind. “Great.”

The angel-child pointed to me, then to my head.

“But I can’t do that.”
The small child nodded and pointed at my head again.

I shrugged, why not. I concentrated and looked real hard at the pond. I said the word as I pictured it in my mind. “Pond.”

The angel-child said, in a very low sweet voice, “Pond.” And nodded.

“You mean you can see a picture from my mind? Wow. Cool.”

Then the angel-child pointed to some moss growing on a tree. I saw the picture inside my mind. I said, “Moss.”

That seemed to be what the angel-child wanted. What fun.

I picked up a leaf and sent the picture as I said, “Leaf.”

Then I thought of something, "What's your name?" I asked.

The angel-child seemed to understand right away and said in her low soft voice, "Sussiann."

"Sounds like Susan to me, so that is what I'll call you." I laughed with delight. “My name is Megan.”

Susan said, “M..e..g..a..n,” real soft, like a song. It sounded real pretty. Oh, I loved my new friend.

Chapter 11

Megan’s mother and father were distraught and sick with fear. It had been a whole night of darkness and half a day, yet Megan hadn’t been found.

“Is it possible that she isn’t in the woods? Mr. Martin asked. “Could someone have picked her up and taken her?”

“The police are looking into that angle too. We are trying everything. A news bulletin went on television an hour ago. There is nothing more we can do except keep looking.”

“I feel as if there must be something I can do. I feel like hiking in the woods myself.”

“Bad idea. Then we would be looking for two of you. It would be good if you could sleep.”

“Well, I can’t. Not with Megan lost.”

“There is plenty of water so she won’t die of thrust. It takes many days for hunger to hurt anyone. She will be ok if we can find her in the next few days.”

Mr. Martin looked at the man and whispered, almost to himself, “It’s already been two days.”

The Ranger corrected him, “Only Thirty hours. There is still good hope, Mr. Martin. Don’t give up hope. We’re still out there searching.”

Chapter 12

The language lesson went on throughout the day. We both walked through the woods pointing and speaking and sending pictures to each other for hours. I was having so much fun I forgot I was lost. Finally, my hunger pangs got sharp and I wished I had some food. I showed Susan a picture of my wish: a bowl of cereal and fruit sitting on the kitchen table. Suddenly, Susan, jumped back from the image as if it stung her. She put up her hands and made a scared, whimper sound.

I felt puzzled. Why would a picture of food scare her? Then I thought I saw Susan disappear for a second. She shimmered into nothingness, and then come back. I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I am just tired, seeing things. But I better be careful. Susan might leave if she gets frightened. I sent Susan a picture of the bird that was up in the tree. And Susan sent the same image back to me. But I didn’t know what kind of bird it was.

Next Susan sent me an image of the black berries that were growing on a bush next to where we were walking.

Susan picked some of the berries from the bush and began to eat them.

"Oh, no," I cried, "They might be poison."

Susan showed me a strange picture of a lot of people eating the black berries. What was strange was the way they looked. The image looked odd because their skin was different colors. I figured I must be seeing the image wrong.

“Do you mean that everyone can eat them?”

Susan nodded.

"Well, why not?" I thought. So I did eat a few of the berries and felt just fine. “Well, I guess if I need stay in these stupid woods forever, I won’t starve to death.”

Then while I walked behind Susan, I saw her shimmer and almost disappear again.

“Don’t leave me.” I cried out.

Susan turned and put out her hands in a gesture of “can’t help it” attitude and showed me an image of someone who looked like Susan, but who was larger. It must be her mom calling her, I figured out. The larger form was motioning for Susan to come.

“That means that you are going to leave me alone.” Suddenly, I felt in a panic. “No, please don’t?” But the Susan shimmered once more. Then was gone.

Dejected and feeling really lonely now, I sat down with my back leaning on a huge tree. The sky was getting pink then red. It would be dark soon and I knew I would spend another night in this cold, frightening forest.

What if the bear comes back to get me? What if I get a spider in my hair? What if I die waiting to be found? I was so tired and lonely now that I realized my ideas were getting jumbled up in my mind.

“I am so afraid” I said out loud, just as the black darkness of night fell down and smothered all light out of the forest.

Chapter 13

That evening, just before dark, Mr. Martin came back from another trip up in the helicopter, and felt so stressed out that he couldn’t think straight any more. He knew he needed to eat and get some rest instead of walking the floor with worry. Mrs. Martin wasn’t doing any better. She was wiping off the counter for the fifth time. Finally, they had each managed to eat a sandwich. Right now, Mrs. Martin was rocking the baby and trying to put him to bed. He kept calling for Meggy. What can we tell him?

Now night was falling again and still Megan hadn’t been found. Mr. Martin sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands. I need to do something. Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. He remembered the game Megan had been playing in school and at home. An ESP experiment. She would stare at the back of a person’s head with her mind to make them turn around.

“I don’t believe it, it works?” He teased.

But Megan proved it did work by making her mother turn away from the cook stove. He’d laughed and pretended to believe her. But what if it really could work? What if he could use ESP to call her? I guess I am being silly. Right now I am too tired to think, let alone send thoughts to my daughter. Maybe if I get an hour’s sleep and wake up fresh I’ll be able to think better.

When Mr. Martin woke up from his short nap, it was dark outside. He felt desperate to do something and remembered his idea about ESP. I have never tried anything like that before, but I will now.

He closed his eyes and created a mental picture of Megan. He pretended he was speaking to her and promised to find her. He told her he would let his mind become a light in the darkness so she wouldn’t be afraid. He kept thinking and sending out the mental light for hours in the hope she would feel his love.

Chapter 14

When the dark settled in around me beneath the large tree, I began to cry. Suddenly I felt warm arms around me. Not smothering arms, but soft and tender. Almost as if my mom had found me and was hugging me like she always did. I opened my eyes a little and saw white arms holding me with long white fingers pattering me on the shoulder. In my mind I saw a picture of my dad sitting in a chair sending out a small light signal from his mind. He was trying to help me. The image gave me such hope, but I felt foggy and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Large white hands prompted me to rest my head down on the soft white chest. That is where I slept.

When I woke up, it was morning, but I was still wrapped warm and snuggly in the arms of Susan’s mom. When the she saw that I had awakened, she gently set me aside and stood up. At full height, I saw that she was just a little taller than me, but last night, it felt like she was a gentile, loving giant.

Susan came and stood near us and I knew that this was Susan’s mother. She was the one who had held me all through the dark night.

I felt grateful and said so. “Thank you so much.” I smiled with pleasure.

Susan’s mother sent me the image of my father sitting and sending out a small light with his mind. I realized that it must be important to them, for some reason. But it made me feel sad seeing an image of my dad. I couldn’t the few tears that fell from my eyes. Will I ever see him again?

Then I noticed that the same group of angels Susan had shown me, about five or six, were standing nearby making gestures at each other. I almost giggled out loud because they looked so strange. Each angel was a different color: one was a pretty, sharp pink, one was grass green, another was deep black, and one was a vivid, dark blue color. The different colors wasn’t in their shear cloths, but their skin. I’d never imagined angels could be all the colors of the rainbow. Amazing.

I could tell they were talking about me even though they weren’t using words I could understand because one or two would nod their head towards me Some were shaking their heads as if to say, “No.”

I wondered what they were talking about; so, I sent Susan an image of the group speaking.

Susan sent me back a picture of the huge bear, but bigger this time. It had a human face. Then I saw a lot of bears with human faces and they were stomping on the angels. The bears were roaring and growling and hurting the angels.

“You mean that we attacked you?” I held my hands out as if to show I was shocked.

“No.” Susan said.

Then I saw the same picture again. What does Susan mean? Then I understood.

“Fear. That’s what you are trying to show me. You are afraid of us like I was afraid of that bear?”

My friend nodded.

“Oh, I get it now. But no one will hurt you, I promise.” I suddenly realized that this might be my way home. Maybe that is what they are discussing?

I walked over to where the rainbow group of angels was talking. Suddenly I saw a lot of images flickered in and out, too fast for me to see.

“Wait.” I said loudly. “We don’t hurt angels. I promise.”

Suddenly, the green angel looked down at me and I saw a very vivid, colorful movie inside my mind, much stronger than anything I’d seen so far. It was a scene of a horrible battle. Small people almost like these angels were being shot at and killed. A man was using a machine gun to shoot them down like paper.

What I saw next really puzzled me. It was a wobbly space ship and running from the space ship was humans. But what was amazing about the image was that it looked like an old movie I’d seen on television, War of the Worlds. Then I saw another moving image flashed in front of my eyes.

“Hey, that is Will Smith! He’s an actor. This is a movie, The Men in Black. I seen it at the show. Why are you showing me movies?”

Then I knew. I stepped right in the middle of the group and said, “Don’t you see? It is only pretend. It is only a movie.”

But they didn’t seem to understand. So I thought of what to could do next. I squeezed up my eyes and sent as best I could good parts of great movies that had strange people in them. I showed them the last part of the movie, Encounters of a Third Kind, where the beautiful aliens landed on earth to music. I couldn’t find quick enough any good parts in Star Wars so I showed them parts of a Star Trek movie. Then I got a good idea. I showed them an image of my dad sitting in front of the television and watching Star Trek.

“See, its only entertainment.” I said.

But then they showed me images of recent news programs and headlines in the newspapers about bombs and terrorists.

I didn’t have an answer that time. There truly is a lot of ugliness in the world and I couldn’t lie about it.

“But we would love you,” I told them.

They kept talking and I stepped away feeling sad. Finally, they seemed to have agreed to a decision. Susan’s mom nodded and took my hand. The other angels nodded too. I saw a picture of myself running up to my dad and giving him a big hug. All I could do was smile with longing.

Then Susan’s mom put her hands over my eyes and I felt sort of funny like my stomach did a flip-flop. When Susan’s mom took her and down from my eyes, I was standing in front of the rental cabin. A red sign read, Log Cabin for rent. And my dad was coming out the door.

Chapter 15

The angels had somehow brought me back to the edge of the clearing next to the cabin in less than a minute. The group stood with me in front of the cabin, Susan’s mom was on one side of her and Susan on the other.

“Dad, mom, I am not lost anymore.” I yelled and let go of Susan’s mom hand and went running. I jumped into his arms and gave him a big hug.

Then I ran to hug my mom and Bobby too.

“See, the angels brought me back.”

My dad, with a big smile on his face, walked up to Susan’s mom and held out his hand. She held out her hand too and they touched, just for a minute. Cause it was a nerve jarring moment.

Mr. Adams called the Rangers and told them I was back, and not to land the helicopter. He explained about the visitors and that the helicopter might frighten them. He told my mom and dad later that he was even afraid to take photos because it might scare them away.

They didn’t go away, right then. The rangers called the President. He came in a helicopter that landed in a far away clearing. The President met the angels inside the cabin office.

I learned later that they weren’t real angels, but humans from the future who had traveled through space/time. The angels had been exploring the past and had to leave again. They gave some important secret information to the President before they left. Susan told me it was information they had learned during their travels that would help us.

I knew I would miss my friend, but I have a photo of her to keep. Before the angels left, they allowed the government to take a few photos of the President shaking hands with all of them in front of the log cabin office. It was important for diplomacy, I was told. Well, it was certainly an awesome moment. That is me in one of the photos standing next to Susan and her mom.

P. S. I decided to become a marine biologist when I grow up because I want to learn how the whales and dolphins think and maybe talk. I also decided that as soon as we learn how to color our skin like the rainbow, I am going to pick blue.

The End