To A Sacred Heart

The Girl

    I was bored already. It was hot so when Mom and Dad were taking a nap, I asked if I could play with the hose outside. All Mom said was, "Yeah. Just make sure to turn it off when you're done." So I put on my favorite swimming shorts and went on my way. It wasn't long when I got bored. But I stayed out of the house. It smelled like dirt. I mean Dad was fixing the floors and Mom was helping. They were tired but I wanted to play in the water. Now I went to turn it of and laid down on the grass under the mesquite tree. I watched the branches move with the wind when I decided I wanted a snack. 

     I looked at the yard. We grew some trees like lemons, limes, grapes, grapefruit, and my favorite oranges. I also wanted some of the sugarcane, but I needed Dad's Machete for that. Heck, I needed Dad. Besides I'm only six. Maybe later I'll get sugarcane. For now, oranges sounded great. But I had to pick one. The good thing is I knew they were ripe. Mom told me so this morning. I thought about it, and when I thought how proud Mom and Dad would be if I told them I picked and peeled and orange all by my self, i had to do it. 

     I raced inside and put on my favorite worn white sneakers. Without socks though, mom would get mad if I got the socks wet. Then out I went to climb the tree. I looked first to find the right one to eat. I saw one high enough to climb, but low enough to be safe. So up I scrambled. I pretended I was climbing a mountain. I slipped a bit scraping my knee, but went on climbing like a good explorer. When I reached the branch with the orange I realized I might have to get on the branch. I looked down, now I know why they say not to in the movies. I was terrified for a moment, but again, I was going to be brave so I slowly crept up to the branch. I was careful, and once I was close enough to the orange I plucked it. 

      "I did it!" I exclaimed. I didn't know how to get down with the orange though. After some thought, I dropped it and scurried down. I ran to my treat and started working on prying open the yummy snack. I took a seat under the mesquite again and worked to the reward. That's when I heard her. 

     "You could have gotten hurt you know." I looked up to the mesquite branches where I saw a girl sitting there. She looked about my age and wore a white blouse and means. I watched her flipflopped feet swing as she looked at me too. 

     "But I didn't." I answered her. "Dad says I'll be an explorer one day. Because I'm so good at climbing." 

      She giggled. "You would have to climb much bigger trees." 

      I frowned. "I can do it. I climbed all of these trees. I bet I could climb the biggest tree in the world!" I countered feeling a little challenged. 

     She smiled. "I believe it. I think you can be famous for exploring." I felt happy when she said that. 

     "Thanks." I looked at her more closely. She had brown hair that was in a ponytail and brown eyes with olive skin. "I haven't seen you before, did you just move in?" 

     "Um, not really. I'm actually not allowed to be here at all. I just wanted to find someone to play with." She kept swinging her whole body. 

      "Careful. Mesquites have thin branches." I echoed my dad's warning from weeks ago. 

      She scrunched her nose angrily, "I know, but they won't break on me. I always- ah!" She leaned too far forward and started plummeting to the earth. However she wasn't above me and my body moved too slow to catch her in time, but I didn't need to catch her. 

     Instead of hitting the floor she was floating a few inches above it and a pair of white wings had spread as if to catch the air. "Close call." She looked at me. I'm sure my six year old face stared at her shocked. "Don't tell anyone what you saw, or about me, got it?" 

     I could only nod with a shocked expression on my face.

     "Good." With that she took off flying, without disturbing the grass or trees.

      I had completely forgotten about the orange I had abandoned when she was falling. All I could think of was the thing that just happened. Did I just see and angel? I though. I had always hear stories of angels appearing to prophets, but a kid like me? 

      After some time staring, I felt my mouth had gone dry, so I turned back to my orange. Thankfully, I still wasn't done peeling it yet, so I busied myself with the orange. 

     By the time I finished it, i had decided not to think about the girl. What else could I do? 

     Just then I heard Mom. "SHAWN!  WHY IS THERE  WATER ALL OVER THE HOUSE?!"

      "Uh oh." I scrambled to my feet. "Mom, I'm sorry, I wanted an orange, and I needed shoes I forgot to bring some outside so I ran in, but I didn't get my socks wet!" I explained. 

     Mom smiled for a second before continuing. "Good honey, but you have to wait until you're dry to come inside." 

      Dad let out a laugh. "His socks are clean though." Mom looked at dad and made a face. "So that's why your covered in orange juice." 

    I puffed out my chest. "I climbed up the tree and got it all by my self." I said proudly. 

   "Great job kid." Dad said ruffling my hair. "Now let's get you cleaned up."