Fallen Angel

Second Time's A Charm

CHAPTER 9

“SECOND TIME'S A CHARM”

            As soon as I stepped out of the café, I never looked back. I wanted to, but I just couldn’t. She just reminded me too much of Poppy, and how much regret I have for leaving her up there. Because inside my mind, I could still picture her blood-shot eyes back when my fate was being judged at the Court of Justice. I could see the hurt inside those eyes of hers, and till now, I still think about it. Questions were still wandering in my mind.

            How is she now?

            Was there anger in those eyes that day?

            Does she hate me?

            And no matter how much answers I try to come up with, I always end up questioning myself more. It was just so hard to think about it. Why had I been so selfish that day and left for Earth? Why couldn’t I cope with Heaven for Poppy? I loved Poppy more than I would have loved seeing Earth itself. I would have been happier with her company than be here for eternity. And I realized all that four hundred years too late…

            I wandered around the streets aimlessly and deep in my thoughts. I don’t know why the pain and regret never went away, but I’ve come to realize why Earth was the punishment given to me. The sky was out of my reach, and even if I could sign up to be an astronaut, I can never see Heaven anymore, just some empty dark space of dust and nothing.

            I’ve reached the part of my life where everything just made me number than ever. Yes, I feel the pain, but it seems like a normal routine now. Even though I could smile from ear to ear, it never seemed real but people remained blinded by it.  

            The sky moving swiftly from the inside of the taxi cab seemed to take me out of my thoughts. The color was the lightest of blue and clouds were scattered everywhere in an endless chain.

            “Where to?” asked a husky voice from in front, through the loud singing of an opera singer on the radio.

            It seemed that I had been to preoccupied by my thoughts that I had forgotten to tell the driver where the destination was, and we’ve been traveling for minutes now. “Uh, Maywood Boulevard,”

            The travel was smooth; no traffic to bug it. And the car was of satisfactory temperature since the driver decided it was a good idea to keep the air conditioning off, and it was.

            I got off in front of a school with large letters made of stainless steel, “Maywood Community Elementary School”. It was an alright school made of unpainted red bricks, with a basketball and baseball court on one side and a playground on the other side. The front of the school is like a tiny park with beautiful and inviting flowers planted everywhere.

            I could see little kids going into buses, while there were still children at the courts wearing uniformed red jerseys. And teachers and parents were smiling at me, which I returned with my own smiles.

            I decided to enter the school in search of the music class for Lily since it was half an hour before five. I had already taken two stairs, a few minutes later and it’s safe to say that I’m already lost.

            A little boy that was probably as tall as until my waist was giggling was skipping towards my direction. And as he came up close, a smile crept up on my face when I saw him light up from happiness. His cheeks rose up like a beer belly tucked in with a pair of tight pants and raised his arms at me.