Angel// river pheonix

1973-1979

Things were fine and dandy.

They were poor but money doesn't buy happiness.

Arlyn and John decided to take River and Rain down to Venezuela, to join The Children of God cult.

They thought they were doing what was best by becoming missionaries for that god forsaken cult.

The group practiced child abuse and River had fallen victim to it.

He was too young.

I remember blaming his parents.

"How could you put your kid in that environment?" I screamed forgetting only River could hear me.

How were they supposed to know?

I should've been the one to protect him.

I'm his guardian angel for crying out loud.

Guardian angels can't break down doors.

They didn't get out of that cult until 1978. Later that year that Summer was born.

During the time in the cult Joaquin was born in 1974 and liberty in 1976.

The Bottoms Became the Phoenix's in 1978 too.

"We should change our last names, to show a rebirth of our family." John was trying to convince Arlyn that everything would be okay.

"What would we change it to?" Arlyn was skeptical.

I grabbed the remote control to the old black and white tv.

I switched the channel to an Arabian history tv show.

They were talking about an mythical animal called a Phoenix.

I gave the remote to Liberty so it looked like she was curiously fumbling with buttons.

"Phoenix" Joaquin repeated after the narrator on the tv.

Arlyn found a dictionary

"Phoenix means to rise up." She exclaimed.

"That sounds perfect"

I high fived River.

"I think that's a great name!"

"Cece thinks that's a great name too." River told his family.

That's right the kid gave me a nickname.

I mean I was gonna be stuck with him for a while, we might as well become friends.

His family regarded me as an imaginary friend.

But I was real.

I was comforting

Florida was rough, his family lived in poverty so some of the earnings came from the kids performing on the street.

"You are doing amazing, I'll go scope out people to watch you guys." I encouraged.

I walked passed a sea of people and spotted a women with curly hair and a black scarf on a pay phone.

"No I need to find talented kids, before Monday or my boss will have a cow, okay I've got to go." She talked on the phone.

I walked passed the women grabbing her scarf and luring her to the kids as if she were a cat chasing a string.

I led the scarf to the guitar case which was holding the earnings.

She looked up and I swear her eyes lit up.

"You kids have a real knack for talent!" She exclaimed.

"Thank you" Rain and River said in unison.

"Tank you" Joaquin still couldn't say his "th's" yet.

"Here's my card kiddos" she handed River her a business card.

"Have your parents give me a call." She continue

The card was from Iris Burton. A talent agent.

Things were looking up.

That's all folks
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