Rise and Fall

Angel's First Night

Chapter 5: Angel’s First Night

“Hello?” Peso ventured timidly, standing in the doorway. “Is it all right if I come in?”

Angel lifted her head up slowly. “Yeah.” Her voice was barely audible. She’d stopped crying a while ago, but she hadn’t let go of Shellington and it was still obvious that she had been crying. Her face was still tear-stained and covered in snot and her eyes were still bloodshot.

Peso approached her bedside, holding his medical bag. “I’d just like to give you a checkup, if you don’t mind”, he informed her politely.

“Okay.” Angel nodded and dropped her arms from around Shellington’s neck.

“I promise this won’t hurt a bit”, the penguin assured her.

And it didn’t. His examination was both quick and painless and when he finished up, he repeated his earlier words: “You just need to keep warm and get plenty of rest and you’ll feel better in no time.”

Angel nodded again. “Thanks.” She may have been grateful that he was taking care of her, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure it really mattered. What would happen to her once she was better? Where would she go?

“Would you like me to bring your backpack closer to your bed?” Peso offered.

“My backpack?” Angel bolted upright.

“Yes. Captain Barnacles came in here ages ago and left it here for you.” Peso picked it up and placed it at the end of the bed.

“My backpack!” Angel cheered, hugging it to her chest. “I’m so glad I got it back. Thank you!”

“Don’t thank me”, Peso replied. “Thank Captain Barnacles.”

“Oh. Well, could you thank him for me when you next see him?” the ten-year-old requested.

Peso frowned a little. “Don’t you want to thank him yourself?”

“No!” Angel cried a little too quickly. Obviously, the thought made her panic.

“She’s afraid of the Captain”, Shellington whispered to Peso.

“It’s all right, Angel. I was a little scared of the Captain when I first met him too.” Peso was trying to make her feel better, but scared wasn’t exactly the right word; he’d been intimidated by the Captain when they first met. “But he won’t hurt you.”

Angel didn’t answer. Instead, she unzipped her backpack and began to pull things out of it.

The first thing she unearthed was a white blanket with ducks on it. She cuddled it, explaining to the otter and penguin, “I can’t sleep without my blanket.”

(Well, she’d slept without it just before, but she’d passed out from sheer exhaustion.)

The girl continued to dig through the backpack. Her hands closed around her special stim toys: a headless, limbless, naked Barbie doll and a balloon stick, but no way was she pulling them out now. She’d been teased about them enough. Still, she was relieved that she’d managed to rescue them and her blanket the fire.

A lot of other stuff in the backpack was pure junk: crumbs and wrappers from long-gone snacks and crumpled up school worksheets she’d never really cared for.

Wait! There was something else important in there! She’d forgotten all about it! It was a leather bound journal that her year four teacher had given to her on the last day of school. Each child had received something and the journal had been Angel’s gift.