ANGEL'S WINGS

ANGEL’S WINGS

   She walked up the steps to the porch and was just about to push the button on the doorbell, when suddenly all hell broke loose. The sound of the explosion pierced the air and lingered in her ears. Opening her eyes to see nothing but clouds of dust and debris was familiar to her. Instinctively, her medical training kicked in and took control as if she were having an out-of-body experience. So, she picked herself up, dusted herself off and got to work.

   She went around to the side of the house looking for a way into the backyard where the explosion seemed to have happened…and that’s when she heard a voice. She quickened her pace and headed toward the all too familiar sound of a voice full of panic, fear, and terror. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she began to clear a path, moving heavy pieces of debris as if they were weightless. Surprisingly, the gate was still intact and unblemished. With her hand on the latch, she closed her eyes and said a quick prayer before entering. She had already run through the worst possible scenarios that she could imagine, but nothing could have ever prepared her for this. 

   The entire backyard was covered with layer upon layer of building materials, tree limbs and the contents of what used to be the back of the house. Overwhelmed by not knowing where to begin looking for the person behind the voice, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and calmed her mind.                                                                                                                                                                             

   “Help me, help me please!” 

   She looked around but was unable to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. The only thing she did know for a fact was that this voice belonged to a little boy. 

   “Just keep talking, sweetheart, I’ll follow the sound of your voice until I find you.” She thought she heard a faint giggle from the little boy right before he spoke to her.

   “You’re probably going to need to go get Daddy’s ladder.” There were no indications of distress in the tone of his voice and in order to keep the little guy calm, she played along.

   “A ladder? Now, why in the world would I need to go get your Daddy’s ladder?” The little boy enjoyed knowing something the woman didn’t, so he let out another little giggle.

   “Because I’m not down there on the ground, silly, I’m up here! I’m in the tree house!” The sound of his laughter offered no indication that he had just been involved in a horrific accident which left him trapped and in a tree house, of all places.

   A wave of relief washed over her when she saw his sweet smiling face from a small window in what appeared to have once been the middle of the tree house. But the relief was quickly replaced by terror when she realized the severity of the situation. At that moment, the amount of danger the boy was in became quite prevalent. Her brain kicked into overdrive as she extrapolated the situation and determined that natural gas was the cause of this explosion…and there was yet another one on the way.  

   “I’m here to help get you out of that tree house, young man, can you tell me if you’re hurt?”  

   “Yes Ma’am, my arm hurts and I have a cut on my finger, see?” He put his tiny hand out the window to show her his injury, but he was too far away to be able to see anything. 

   “Ma’am, are you an Angel?” The way he asked the question was not out of curiosity, but from his apparent belief in Angels.

   She chuckled at his question and said, “Well, that’s what my Mama and Daddy named me. I’m Angel, sweetheart, what’s your name?” 

   “My Mama and Daddy named me Seth. I’m named after the Bible.” His little face reminded me of a cherub, sweet and innocent, yet there was something in his eyes that most little boys didn’t have. Wisdom? Courage? Or was he in fact an Angel?

   “Seth, are you hurt anywhere else? Are you able to get up and move around or walk?” Angel thought he was probably just frightened since he was alone and too afraid to try to get out by himself. The reasons behind why he was alone and how he got to the tree house were mysteries to be solved once he was safe.

   “No ma’am, I can’t get up or walk.” Seth’s voice had lost the cheerful tone that was there only moments before.

   “Sweetheart, is there something in your way keeping you from getting up or did something fall on you and you just can’t move it?” Come on, little guy, Angel thought to herself, give me some information, we don’t have much time. 

   “No ma’am, I’ve never been able to walk. My legs don’t work the same as other little boys.” He paused for a brief moment to scratch his cheek and when he looked back at me, his little cherub face was bright again and that contagious smile had returned. 

   “Mama says I have special legs.” There was no mistaking the pride in his voice as he continued to speak. “She says that God chose my legs and gave them to me himself and so that makes me special.” He hesitated for a moment before he asked her, “Miss Angel, did God send you here to help me?” 

   “Yes, Seth, I do believe he did. And I also believe that you’re here to help me, too.” 

   “Me, help you? But I’m all the way up here and you’re down there, and I have special legs. How do I help?” This little boy was sharp as a tack.

   “Well, you see, I’m a little afraid of heights, so would you please talk to me while I’m climbing up to get you? That would sure help me out a lot!” Angel really wasn’t afraid of heights. Her background as a first responder in Oklahoma City, back in the 90s, wouldn’t have been possible if she were. She didn’t want little Seth to be alone or feel afraid while she climbed her way to him. And this was also a good way to get more information about some lingering and necessary questions.

   “What do you want to talk about, Miss Angel?” Such a sweet boy, asking her to choose the topic of conversation to make her feel more comfortable. After all, she was supposed to be the one who was afraid, not him.

   “I would actually like to hear all about this tree house. Do you play out here a lot?” Hopefully, she would be able to find out where his parents were.

   “Oh, yes ma’am, my Daddy brings me out here every day before lunch and we play games until he goes inside to get the food Mama made for us.” He got very quiet for a few moments and just when Angel was about to ask him what his favorite thing to eat for lunch was, he spoke with a worried and confused tone to his voice. “Miss Angel, I’m really hungry. My Daddy went to get lunch and bring Mama to the tree house, but he didn’t come back, and Mama didn’t bring me lunch either. Do you know where they are?” Seth was wise beyond his years, but he didn’t understand what had happened. She felt tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away before he could see her. 

   “Well, Seth, I don’t really know for sure.” Her heart ached for this sweet little boy. She was pretty sure his parents were in the house 

   “Seth, why don’t we work on this right now and afterwards, we’ll work on that, ok?” Angel hoped it would deter more questions about his parents that she couldn’t answer. “So, tell me your favorite thing to do in your tree house.” 

   “Oh, that’s easy! When Daddy brings me over in the morning, he picks me up out of my wheelchair and carries me to the big basket. He pulls on the rope and I fly really fast all the way to the top!”  

   “Is that also how you come down from the top?”  

   “Oh no, I can’t tell you that, it’s a Seth-Dad secret.” Even though Angel couldn’t see Seth’s face, she imagined him emphatically shaking his head no, and locking his lips and throwing away the key.

   “What’s a Seth-Dad secret? Is it like a pinky swear?”  

   “It’s bigger than that. If you’re not Seth or Dad, you can’t know about it. Mama didn’t even know.” Angel reached her destination and gently climbed over the railing of the wrap-around porch. She landed on an area that appeared to be sturdy and in no danger of crashing to the ground.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

   “Wow, you’re really good at climbing, are you sure you’re scared of heights?” Seth asked inquisitively.

   Angel gave Seth one of her famous belly laughs as she looked around and weighed her options for a quick exit. Sad to say, she found only two viable ways out of the treehouse. She would need rappelling equipment if they went out the same way she came in or another person to take him through the trap door safely.  

   “Seth, do you know if there’s any rope around here?” Angel was hoping for a hammock but praying for a rope bridge.

   “Nope, neither one.” He immediately went back to playing with the two trucks that were next to him, oblivious to what could happen at any moment.

   That pretty much squashed Plans A and B and Angel was beginning to feel the immense pressure of getting this child out of harm’s way. 

   “Oh, Miss Angel, there’s a ladder in that closet over there,” he said, pointing towards it. “If that will help you any.”  

   “I don’t know if there’s very much I could do with a ladder.”

   “Oh, ok. But before it was a ladder, it was the rope bridge.” Angel made her way to the closet and tried the door. It was stuck, she pulled as hard as she could and when the door gave way, so did a small explosion that knocked her hard onto her back and brought ceiling beams down on top of her and she was pinned. Although Seth was completely unharmed by this, she knew that it was only a matter of time before the biggest one hit them. She had only been a Fed Ex driver for about 5 years. She didn’t understand why the two jobs she’d had in her lifetime both ended with explosions, blood, and death…it would be her death this time, she could feel it.   

   “Miss Angel, Miss Angel, Miss…” Angel could hear Seth, but she couldn’t answer him. Her eyes finally opened, and he was closer to her than he had been before. Sorrow filled her heart and tears filled her eyes because she knew that Seth wouldn’t make it out of this either. He scooted himself as close as he could get and held her hand.

   “Are we going to have another angel? Who will save us?” As if it were a gift from God, at that precise moment, they could hear the sirens from the Fire Trucks and Ambulances. She had never seen a smile as bright and beautiful as his; and she knew this would be the only time she would ever see it. 

   They heard the firemen outside calling Seth’s name and he replied every time it was said. In a brief moment, two firemen appeared at the trap door. One of whom she had worked with in Oklahoma City on that tragic day in 1995. They recognized each other immediately, regardless of how many years it had been since they saw each other last. 

   “Well, of all the tree houses in all the towns in all the world, you had to walk into this one. Hey, Wesley, how’ve you been?” 

   “I can’t complain, or I shouldn’t complain, I forget which one. How’s Bob?” Angel smiled at him and shook her head, “Last year. And how’s Janet?” Wesley did the same, “Two Years Ago.” Wesley walked over and kneeled next to Angel.  

   “Does your sister still live in Tampa?” 

   “She does, same phone number. Wes, I need you to make me a promise. I think Seth’s parents were in that house when…” 

   “Angel, yes they were, and now they’re both at the hospital and are going to make it just fine.” She had never heard better news in her life, and to her, it was a perfect ending. 

   “Wes, you get that boy to safety. I will see you later.” She smiled and gave him a little wink. He turned towards her and said, “Angel, I think this was a beautiful friendship.” With a smile and a wink, he was gone. 

   When the firemen were ready to take Seth from the tree house, he leaned over and kissed Angel on the cheek. And with tears in his eyes he said, “Thank you, Miss Angel, God Bless You." Angel held onto his hand as long as she could until he slowly slipped away.

Then she bowed her head and said a prayer...she knew she was not going to make it. They were loading Seth into the ambulance when Angel heard the unsteady rubble begin to creak and shift, it was only a matter of time now. 

   The ambulance pulled away and before they turned off the street, they heard the final explosion and felt the earth shake. Tears ran down Seth’s cheeks because he knew he really did have his very own Angel and she had just gotten her wings.