Fields of Heaven

Some Beach, Somewhere

Andrew

             While Madison kneeled in front of her mama, declaring her love and dedication, I couldn’t help but want to hear those things from her.  I no longer saw the gap toothed seven year old I met in the field of daisies, with muddy knees.  When we reached the in-between she stood almost at eye level with me; like a real angel, she now wore long white robes that accented every curve of her body.  Whenever she smiled at me, I saw something different…I saw happiness.

          Daniel met us at the clearing of the field and he greeted us, like he never greeted anyone that I ever arrived with before, “I’m proud of you both.”

Madison smiled sheepishly, bowing at her waist as her hair flipped wildly in front of her face.

Beautiful.

“What did I do that I haven’t done before, Daniel?”  I was confused, annoyed even.  I still didn’t understand anything that he said to me.

Daniel rubbed his chin, “Andrew, you learned to love.  Do you remember how you died?”

No.  I didn’t remember.  Actually, I didn’t remember ever thinking about it.  The only thing I was sure about was the fact that I was dead, stuck in the in-between, helping other people get into Heaven.

“Well, you died overdosing on pain killers.  Your mother came home, drunk like every other night and in her slurred speech she told you that she hated you. ‘You look just like your father,’ she said, and you believed her…and so you stopped loving her.  That night, you breathed your last breath.”

It all began to come back to me and I felt sick.

“You never got the chance to forgive your mother, Andrew, but you did help Madison’s mother forgive herself and then you learned to love again—Madison’s life was meant to influence yours, and you, Madison’s, in life or in death.”

We looked at each other.  She was beautiful. She was perfect.

“So what does this mean, Daniel?”

Madison grabbed my hands in hers, “it means that we get to fly with the angels together.”

I lifted her right hand and kissed the back of it, “I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else, but you.”

Daniel smiled and snapped his fingers.  The clothes that I was wearing changed into a white robe, similar to that of a Greek toga.  Madison’s face beamed as she looked into my eyes, and I for the first time, ironically, in my life, felt deeply and head of over heels in love.

The clouds opened up above Madison’s field and a golden light broke through the clouds.  Trumpets sounded, high up above and suddenly our feet were no longer touching the ground.

“Look, Andrew, we’re Angels now,” Madison giggled, uncontrollably.

“Madison, you’ve always been an Angel—she smiled even wider—I could look at that face for eternity.”

And I did.