Improv Short Stories

Glass wing PT 1

"That's why you should sleep well because there is always someone watching over you. The more faith you have in your guardian, the more faith your guardian will have in you." My father brushed a piece of hair out of my face.
"But how will I know what my guardian is?" My pipsqueak voice rang out from under the covers.
"It always proposes in a physical form. This is mine." He pulls his chain out from under his shirt. "His name is George. I trust him with my life."
I waved 'Hi' to George like I always did when father brought out the worn dog tags. "Will my guardian be human too?"
"I hope your guardian is a unicorn sweetheart. I know how much you love unicorns."

This made me feel so safe back in the day. But my faith in dad's so called 'Guardians' was diminishing fast.
My father swore George would keep him safe and he would die happily in his sleep long after my kids were grown. Of course that was before a drunk driver was on the wrong side of the interstate. I obsessed over every little trinket I found after that. Trying to find my guardian. Nothing I ever found felt quite right and I quickly became a hoarder.
My grandma, who became my legal guardian after the crash, sent me to therapy so I would quit junking up her house.
I went through so many before I settled on one I was comfortable with. Her name was Julie and she didn't treat me like a child. She treated me like every thing I said was valid. Some stuff less than others but still valid in their own way.
I swear she is more invested in helping me find my guardian than I am. We made a pact, I don't get too obvious with my hoarding and she will help me look for my guardian.
My grandmother knew about the pact but let it fly anyway because it was the only progress we have ever made.
She hated the idea of guardians but grandpa taught father about them and his guardian is all she really had left. We had a large extended family and once they all took their piece of grandpa, all my grandmother had left was his guardian and the books he wrote.
I've tried to read the books but most were tainted with heavy dementia. He started writing shortly after being diagnosed and died with the pen still in his hand.
"He died doing what he loved." My grandma sighed when she glance's at the current book of his that I'm reading.
She still hasn't read his last book. They were together 48 years before he passed.
She looked at them quite frequently when it was dusting day. We drank hot chocolate and dusted my unicorn collection. It was the only part of my hoarding that she approves of. But then again, she bought me most of them.
"Did you ever find your guardian Gamma?" I asked, knowing very well what the answer was.
"I found your grandfather sweetheart. You know that." She replied sweetly, she wouldn't dare taint dusting day with bad feelings.
"I know that, but what if your guardian proposed through your hobbies?" I tried to raise her optimism. She sat back in her chair and thought for a minute.
"Maybe, but then the question is, gardening or my recipe book?" She looks at me, us both knowing this is a double edged sword. I sipped at my hot chocolate, waiting for her to continue.
"You know that being your guardian is my 'Guardian'. I couldn't imagine a life without you."
I smile to myself. Sometimes I believe my grandmother is lying when she says she hated Guardians.
"I'm gonna go make you some cookies to take to Julie later. They will be in a box next to the door. Send her my best wishes and wake me when you get home would you?" She plants a kiss on my forehead.
"Of course gamma." My words follow her out of the room. Everything we do is like a ritual now. Dusting day leads to baking and my therapy appointment. I wake gamma from her nap when I get home and we make dinner, watch alittle TV and go to bed. All like clockwork.

Julie greets me at the door and turns me around immediately.
"Nope! We are going out today!" She does a little dance and shakes her keys.
"What's the occasion?" I raise an eyebrow.
"I missed my lunch break." She lies. We both know there is a new bakery across town and she is dying to go.
We chat about daily stuff on the way there as she crams Gamma's cookies in her mouth. I told her about Gamma saying Gampa was her Guardian and now that he is gone she chose to become my Guardian.
"Maybe she is." Julie murmurs through the crumbs. "I don't see why she couldn't be."
"Legally, yes she is. But I don't feel like she is THAT kind of Guardian." She never really fit the traditional Guardian rules. I lean back and gaze out the window, lost in thought.
"We will find your Guardian hon. I feel like something big is going to happen soon and I'm hoping it's with you." I know she is trying to cheer me up but I hope she is right. I don't want to waste my whole life searching. I want to finally be able to live.
She pulls into the parking lot, immediately spotting the only parking spot left with her attentive, dessert hungry, hawk eyes.
We are seated at a table And handed menu's. This place was fancy. As we look over our choices, we start the session.
"Found anything yet?" She asks as she sneaks a cookie out of her pocket.
"I found a triceratops horn casting that was really cool, not Guardian feeling, but cool."
She takes a second to swallow.
"That is really cool. You name it yet?"
She knows me all too well
"His name is Henry. He lives in my bathroom, I hang George on him while I shower." I unlock my phone and show her a picture of Henry as the waiter arrives.
We chat for a bit more until our food has come and gone. I'm starting to wonder if she is going to order seconds.
"I have an idea. We were handed a few pamphlets of charity work for some of the patients to do and it got me thinking. What if you got out of the house and went out? Maybe something will lead you to your Guardian. And if not, atleast you are doing someone some good." I knew I couldn't shoot down her idea. She loved helping others, that's why she became a therapist.
"Who would I help? Where would I start?" There is no way Julie would ask me if she didn't already have something planned.
"Maybe find a homeless person and clean them up and help them get back into society?" It's crazy to think this woman could legally tell me if MY goals were achievable. This was going rate for Julie.
"I'll look into it." My generic answer let her know I wasn't all that interested.
"I hope so."