A Series of Unconnected Stories

The Angel

This is the story about a nice young lady. She lived in a nice house. In a nice town. In a nice neighborhood. With nice parents. Everything on the outside was nice. Normal even. Growing up she learned a lot about secrets and expectations. How she needed to carry herself in public. How she should speak to her parents, and other adults. The difference between public and private affairs. All she knew was how to uphold the image her parents had of her. They raised her to be perfect. But it was never awful. She just never truly felt like she was expressing herself, but when she wanted to change that, the damage had already been done. 

Now this story is not about her childhood. It is not about whether she had trauma because in all honesty she lived a good life. Her parents were just very controlling. Nice, but controlling, if that makes any sense at all. No, no, no. This story is about how she wants to live. This story is about how she escapes from the expectations and rules she had lived under her whole life. This story is about Angelica.

It is a common thing to hear that the mind is a dangerous place. Nobody truly knows what is going through another person's head, or how their brain works, and this is no different for Angelica. Angelica is what some would call a special girl. Not literally. It is just the only nice word that pops into people's heads when you ask about her. While she was taught to keep things private, there are things that she does that make other people question what is going on. A shift of her eyes, the shake of her head. Actions she does to indicate that something is watching her or talking to her. While these are subtle notions, people take note of what is happening and spread rumors. 

Some say she is ADHD, unable to keep still or quiet. Some say it has something to do with Tourette's, unable to fully control some of her words and motions. Some just say that she is fully schizophrenic and deserves to be in a hospital where she can get proper treatment. All these rumors float around Angelica. None are confirmed or denied. The subject is always changed when it's brought up. Nobody notices Angelica's willingness to hide what they thought. Sometimes, she just can't help it thought, so people see her and take notice. Waiting for her to crack like an egg under pressure.

What people don't see is the smile on her face as she goes to sleep. Her sleep is the only time where she doesn't feel constantly judged or scrutinized. Nobody is watching under a microscope when it is just her and her dreams. And she always had such nice dreams. They brought her to a place that other people would kill to see. It was a placed filled with peace and free of expectations. It was here that she met her angels. The ones that would guide her and help her reach her full potential while in this wonderful dream land. 

These angels were the only reasoning that Angelica needed to keep putting on the façade. In her eyes, the only reason they were with her in the first place was to help her be the person she couldn't be to the rest of the world. And if she had to keep playing to the rules and expectations that her parents had for her, then so be it. She would do anything to see the angels. And that was it. That is how her mind works. It is how she thinks and sees things. She's a special girl, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Too an extent.

Despite everything wondered and assumed about Angelica, her life, just as stated before, is normal. She wakes up, sees her parents, goes to school, runs errands, goes home, does homework, and goes to sleep. The only thing that would be different is her sleep. She experiences that life she deserves with her eyes closed. All thanks to these angels, she gets to live the way others get to live. And it is a burden lifted off her that would rival most others. These angels make her forget about everything else. They help her keep a smile on her face. Some people look forward to the adventures of the next day, but thanks to these mysterious beings, Angelica gets to look forward to the night. She pushes through, does what she needs to do, to come back to her room and stay there and sleep. This sounds nice right? Sounds like a good gig? Well, I hate to burst the perfect bubble, but all good things must come to an end. And unfortunately, it hit Angelica a lot harder than anticipated. For her entire reason to get through the day just seemed to up and vanish before her eyes.

To continue the story, Angelica simply woke up on a typical Monday, and she was already in a depressive state. It wasn't the normal Monday blues kind of attitude. Angelica never cared about what day of the week it was. She was always at least a little happy. This day, however, was different. Even her parents noticed, which is a rare occurrence because they are usually too busy to pay her any mind these days. She got to school and couldn't focus. Every time she was called on to answer a question, she ended up making a complete fool of herself. She missed every dismissal bell. She hardly ate any lunch, and she took twice as long to get home. Everywhere she walked, she kept her head down. Occasionally she would just look up, but soon after, she would give a sigh and look straight back down to the sidewalk. Something was very clearly off with Angelica, and she wasn't telling anyone. There was hope that this was just an off day. However, that hope was quickly squashed when this happened over and over again across the next few days. And it was progressively getting worse. She had bags under her eyes, her clothes looked like they were slept in, and her demeanor became more and more slumped as the days passed. Honestly, it was a little scary. I mean, the girl who seemed perfect and unbothered by everything around her, was suddenly stuck in a saddened state of mind that nobody could get her out of. Not that they tried anyways. Nobody even knew her well enough to know what to really say to even begin to try let alone have any success. It wasn't until Sunday that something miraculous happened.

Angelica woke up early that day. Unusually early for a girl her age. Her family wasn't the church going type, so there was really no reason for her to be awake. However, today she just felt that pep that had been missing from her step. She put on her nicest sundress, did her hair and makeup, minimally of course, and she walked outside. She didn't exactly have a plan for where she was going, but that was the last thing on her mind.

This is where things get interesting. No one knows exactly where Angelica ended up walking or going. No one knows which paths she took, which views she saw, what stores she went into, or even if she went somewhere for breakfast. She didn't see anybody in particular, nor did she talk to anyone on her way. She didn't share what her plans were at all that day. The next thing anybody knew, she was at the church. In the bell tower.

The midmorning session was still going on, but Angelica had someone found herself in the bell tower. Much like most of her walk, there was no clear answer as to how she did this. All that is clear is that the view was beautiful. For reference, the church was at the edge of town. Close enough for everyone to get to without complaining about a long drive, but far enough away to have peaceful serenity and reflection. Which is something that Angelica was really enjoying right now. She still was not sharing what got her in such a happy mood but seeing her just smile with her eyes closed and her face shining with the sunlight was the best view in town that day. There's no telling how long she was up there as time seemed to fade away to quickly. Angelica herself probably couldn't tell you how long either. However, what can be shared is the moment she decided to leave. It was the first moment of the day where the sun was completely covered in clouds. Angelica's bright and shining face had left the sunshine but hadn't lost its sparkle. She stood up to head down the stairs, and her worst mistake was making taking one last chance to look back over everything before it disappeared behind the walls of the tower. And that last glance, changed the rest of her life.

From what can be understood, Angelica saw something amazing that day. Sitting there, right in front of her, just off the edge of the bell tower, was apparently an angel. A woman from Angelica's dreams. A woman that had made her feel like nothing else. Angelica felt nothing in that moment except for relief, and she started walking back towards the edge. She walked closer and closer, until there was nowhere left to go except down. And as she reached out to touch the angel's hand, she couldn't see the frightened faces of the dozens and dozens of people staring at her from the ground.

This was all that could be shared about Angelica.This was all that she wanted to share. She lived a private life. She lived anormal life. Nobody could see what was happening in her mind, and that was bothher greatest treasure and her darkest secret. Many people think about whatwould've happen if they just paid a bit more attention, or if they had justtalked to her more. But Angelica was never worried. Everything about her seemednormal and felt normal. There was never a reason to be worried. In fact, somemight say that there is still no reason to be worried. She made her decisionsfor a reason, and that is something everyone must accept. She was a happy girl,that got to experience all the joys that she could in this life. This was thestory of a wonderful young lady. This was the story of Angelica.