Flight

 

It's a scary thing really. Those moments before I became what I am today. Every one like me goes through something horrifying before they become what they are now. Just like I did. It's a basic necessity for all of us. To have these memories is actually considered a gift within our community. We use them to help the humans. That's what we do. We help them through the hard times in their lives.

I had a particularly hard task when I was helping a teenage girl after she had been sexually abused. She was completely innocent. She was a smart girl, getting straight A's every term in school. She was nice to people. She did nothing to deserve it. And she knew it too. The thing that destroyed her confidence was that she became pregnant from the assault. That's when I stepped in. I became friends with the girl.

Rosaline.

We became best friends within about two weeks. And that's when she told me everything, when she told me she was pregnant. Even though I already knew, I acted like I didn't and gave her words of confidence. I helped her through it. Dealing with her emotions over the experience was probably the hardest part.

"Did I do something to deserve this?" Rosaline asked me one night with tears in her eyes. She had a hand over her stomach.

"No! Absolutely not!" I reassured her. "You did absolutely nothing!" I pressed my lips together. "But I think you need to tell your parents..."

Rosaline's eyes widened. "How am I going to explain this to them? I can't exactly tell them I got raped! They'll go to the police and then you know who will come back and-"

"No. I won't let him." I grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "Don't worry about that. I'll help you tell your parents. Okay?"

She looked at me for a few seconds and considered it. She wiped her tears and nodded. I smiled and took both her hands and pulled her up off the bed. I kept one of her hands in mine as we walked down the stairs to her parents.

Rosaline's Mom was rearranging flowers and humming a song to herself. I squeezed Rosaline's hand as if to give her courage. Truth is, that's exactly what I was doing. My kind aren't supposed to use these powers unless we think it's necessary. We want the humans to learn something and be able to do things on their own. But it was completely necessary for Rosaline. She needed it. I willed the feeling of courage out of my hand and into hers. I saw it flow through her body until it reached her heart and her heart beat slowed a little bit, but not completely. The feeling of nervousness is good to a certain extent. It helps humans in ways they'll never understand until later in life. Rosaline took in a deep breath and walked down to her Mom.

"Mom?" She said quietly. Rosaline's Mother looked up and saw me.

"Hello Adaline." She said pleasantly.

I waved a little bit. "Hello Mrs. Davidson..."

"Mom, I have something I need to tell you and Dad..."

Mrs. Davidson's eyes grew worried. "Jack, get in here." She said loudly so her husband would here. Mr. Davidson walked in to the well decorated living room and looked back and forth from Rosaline and his wife.

"What's going on?" He asked with a worried look on his face.

I watched as Rosaline explained what had happened to her parents. Both her parents grew looks of shock across their faces. Rosaline's Mother covered her mouth and her Dad stood there with a blank look on his face. Rosaline grew panicked, but her parents collected themselves and pulled her into a big hug. They promised they would help her through this and Rosaline shed tears of joy and relief at her parents words instead of ones of sadness and depression.

Rosaline looked back at me. "Thank you Addie."

I walked down the stairs and pulled her in for a hug. "You're welcome Rose. I love you."

She laughed and hugged me tighter. "I love you too."

Rosaline had her baby seven months later. A beautiful baby girl she named Sophia. Sophia was healthy and had bright blue eyes like her Mother. Ironically, she had bright blonde hair like mine.

"She picked up on your sense of style." Rosaline said when I visited them at the hospital. I laughed and ruffled her hair.

"She picked up on your beautiful looks." I teased.

That was three months ago. Sometimes I visit to make sure Rosaline and her baby are still doing okay. I had explained to Rosaline shortly after her baby was born that I needed to leave. But I would visit every once in awhile.

Because that's how it goes with people like me. We wind our way into the life of someone who needs us, help them find their way, and move on. That's just how it goes.

All people like me, every one of us, lived a life of misery and pain. Before we became what we are, we suffered. And that's how we help people. That's how we become what we are.

Every Angel must die.