Deva's Last Miracle

Deva’s Last Miracle

“Morning Deva,” my boss Celeste greeted as I walked into the Miracle Room. 

“Busy today?” Soft beeps mixed with an occasional buzzer resounded in the room.

“Eh, not too bad. I’ll take it after last Tuesday.”

I nodded. Tuesday was one of the busiest days I remember. I performed over a thousand miracles alone during my shift. I sat at my desk and placed my hand on the palm reader. The screen appeared before me. The left side showed miracles that had succeeded since I last logged off. Thankfully, the right side was blank. One by one, needed miracles appeared in the center. I shut off alarms to make people late, resulting in diverting a horrific accident. I put ideas in humans' minds to check on a loved one who needed help. Same miracles day after day. A deep sigh escaped my lips. It was mostly a thankless job. Very few realized there were miracles in the making. But every year seemed to get worse as humans fell further away, turning a blind eye to the miracles that happened every day.

A soft buzzer went off signaling a miracle fail. I glance at the right side of the screen. A young girl whom I’ve put two miracles in her path. There was not to be a third—no three strikes out rule here. My stomach rolled making me queasy. 

“Some humans just never get it, do they?” Ambros tsked behind me. The girl was leaning against a railing, looking down at the dam below. Her colors, once vibrant, were faded. 

“She needs to stay. Her work will save so many.”

Ambros laid his hand on my shoulder. “You’ve done two miracles. The choice is hers.”

I spun my chair around. “What good is it to be a Miracle Worker if we allow this to happen?”

“We can only do so much. Humans are foolish creatures.”

I stood up quickly, causing my chair to tip. “I have to do more.”

Ambros paled. “Are you foolish? You’ll get sent to the Endless Sea. Forget about her. There’s plenty of humans.”

“Not like her.”

“Listen kid, you can’t save them all. Go take a break, come back when you’re thinking clearly.”

I clicked offline and walked to the break room. Ice cold water in hand, I tried to forget about the girl. She wouldn’t be the first human I failed to save or even the fiftieth. 

“Humans were given free will. We must let them exercise that.” Words from my training rebounded in my head. 

I paced the break room. Maybe I should change departments. Two hundred years as a Miracle Worker was nothing to sneeze at. It was much longer than before we went remote. Baby Breath would be good, or the Welcoming Center. Or maybe I should just retire. 

The impulse to help this girl would not leave. My heartbeat throbbed in my head. It was against the rules to do anything more. But without this girl, many children will suffer and die. But if I do anything, I would be banished. The urge to help her was more powerful than anything I have ever felt. If I was able to save her, being banished to the Endless Sea would be worth it. I snapped my fingers and vanished from the break room. 

I haven’t felt a human’s colors in over a hundred years so I was unprepared for hers to slam into me, causing me to stagger. I took a deep breath, centering myself when I noticed Astryd from Last Breath standing near her. 

Astryd’s mouth gaped. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here.”

“I can’t let you take her last breath. She needs to stay on Earth.”

“It’s a done deal. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.” 

“Not if I can help it.” I went to step around him.

Astryd grabbed my arm. “You can’t talk to her. It’s against the rules.” He said quietly even though the girl couldn’t hear us. 

“I don’t expect you to understand. I have to do this.”

Astryd jerked his hand back to his side. “I’m to have no part of it. I’m not going to be banished.” He snapped his fingers and was gone.

Silently, I walked to her side. “Don’t.”

She jumped at the sound of my voice. With narrowed eyes, she said, “A person can’t look at the river?”

I stared into here eyes, making it known I could see into her soul. She bit her lip and turned away. “You can’t do this.”

“Actually, I can. It’s quite easy. A simple jump. Should have thought of this the first time.”

I took a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh. Why were humans so stubborn and blind to divine intervention when it was standing smack in front of them?

“You were stopped from ending your life twice. Don’t you think there was a reason for that?”

She stared at her scarred wrists. Moments went by before she whispered, “I miss her so much.” The anguish of her colors vibrated deep within me. “She was always there for me, even at her sickest.” Her voice hitched. “She accepted me wholly for who I am.”

“There will be others who will do the same.”

She shook her head. “Not like her.” Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “Who the hell are you anyway?”

“A Miracle Worker.” I paused. “Well, after talking to you, I’ll be banished.”

Her eyes shot daggers at me as she stepped closer, arms tensed at her side. “If you make miracles happen, why didn’t you save Maya?” She demanded.

“It wasn’t meant to be. Without her dying, you wouldn’t have the drive to work towards a cure. The research you start, that your daughter will finish, will save thousands of lives.”

“Someone else can do it.”

I shrugged. “Without you laying the groundwork and your daughter picking it up, it will take much longer. That means many more children will suffer.” She shrank, deflated in front of me. “Plus you carry on Maya’s dream. You create a haven for teens in her name. A place where they can be themselves, a place to let their anger and hurt out. A place where they know they are not alone and to stop them from doing something like this.” I gestured towards the river. 

Celeste appeared behind the girl, unsmiling. My time was up. 

I looked deeply into the girl’s eyes. “Think hard on it. What would Maya want you to do?”

The girl nodded, unshed tears in her eyes. Celeste touched my arm and snapped her fingers. 

The quiet was difficult to adjust to. Never before was there such an absence of sound, except for the sound of the sea. I laid back as the raft floated up and down with the waves. Before I was exiled to the Endless Sea, I was told I had indeed saved the girl’s life. Knowing this, I was content to float for the eternity that was my punishment.