The Whisper of an Angel

The Whisper of An Angel: A Short Story

A woman's voice comes to me. My mother's voice, kind as always, yet shaky this time. Filled with remorse, too. Or maybe that's what I'd like to think. After all, I am just imagining it.

"Leave me alone," I shove the air away as if it were her peeking over my shoulder.

I kept telling her -warning her- that I was going to leave. I thought she'd care. But, how can I compete with her boyfriend? I mean, I'm only the kid she carried inside of her body for eight, almost nine months. And Adam is... Well, he's Adam, a muscular guy with a guitar and a criminal obsession with using my mother as his punching bag.
Every hit she got, I felt it, whether it came from Adam, my dad, or anyone else.

And God knows I tried to save her. I can't feel guilty for walking away, for saving myself. I wasn't going to stick around, stitching her up every time. All my life, ever since my dad died, my mind has made sure I felt every drop of guilt every time I ever thought of running away from the broken home I was in with mom. But that is not happening anymore. If this is being selfish, then so be it.

I tried opening her eyes but it's like she doesn't see me or she doesn't even care... I guess you truly can't help someone who doesn't want to be saved.

As I walk down the street, my feet knowing where I'm headed, I hear the noises of the city. It's always annoyed me how noisy this place is. But compared to Adam and my mom's yelling, I'd take traffic and frying food noise anytime.

I turn the corner to step into my friend's cafe and I notice the glass door slowly getting foggy, almost frozen, even. I look around to look at the rest of the glass windows. They're all normal.

"David!" Alice's squeaky voice takes me by surprise as she slams the door open. She takes her arm out, grabs my shirt, and pulls me inside. "There's no one here!" She shakes her hands excessively as she looks around in panic. "Why is no one here, David?" Her eyes pierce through me as if I were hiding the answer inside.

I take a look around. "Uh..."

Her shoulders drop as well as her brows, "What- What did you need...?" She hides he's frustration.

"A... bit of cash." I show my teeth slowly, hoping she can tell it is not easy asking.

Still, she grunts.

"David!" Her shoulders drop now to the floor, "look at this place, does it look like I'm making any money?"She curses the air as a loud noise back in the kitchen area cuts our conversation off. "Ugh, I gotta go!" She turns to leave, "ask your boss for a raise!"

I throw my hands in the air, "I was fired last week...!" I sigh, frustrated at her response. She knows I was let go.

Once I turn back around to leave, I notice the door handle turning frozen. I shiver as a squeaky sound annoys my ears. My heart stops as my eyes can't believe what they're seeing on the glass. The words "GO BACK" written on it as if a finger had done it. But I saw it the whole time, no one was on the other side of the glass.

"'Go back...?'" I frown but quickly after, I understand. "Alice!" I try to run to the kitchen but what I see stops me. The window of the metallic door to the kitchen froze too. I'm scared, but Alice is in there, so I run to it, ready to knock it down, imagining it was heavy.

It wasn't.

"Alice, we have to run, I think there are ghosts here!" My paranoid tone and look are not enough for Alice, whose face is partially covered in flour.

"David..." She sighs as she puts down the dough. I roll my eyes and exhale as she approaches me slowly, as if she thinks she's going to scare me. "I don't know what you're going through, with your mom at home, but you gotta remember, you have to be patient with the patient- her leg is still heal--"