A Touched by an Angel story

By: Yvette Jessen

© 2001 not intended to infringe on any previously held copyrights.

*****

She struggled through the park, the hem of her costume dragging through the mud. She held a small paper bag in her hands, but it was empty. She had wanted to meet her classmates and go trick or treating for Halloween, but when she got to the place where they were to meet, the other kids took one look at her costume, burst out laughing and she ended up running away from them.

For 7-year-old Christina, Halloween was ruined. She had been so excited about it too, but the others could not accept the fact that she didn’t want to dress in a typical costume. She had practically begged her mother to sew her a special costume. She wanted to go as an angel, but her mother objected saying that angels only came out at Christmas. Christina made a compromise, and instead dressed as a fairy. If I have to go out then I want to dress as something magical, she thought to herself.

This evening her hopes and reality were two different things. She ran through the park in the direction of where she lived, her tears blinding her as she stumbled along. I hate Halloween she thought bitterly; I wish that October only had 30 days.

At that moment, she tripped and fell, her body lurching forward until she had landed hard on the knees. Tears of pain stung her eyes, but before she could do anything, there was someone at her side offering a hand to her. She accepted and looked up.

“Are you OK?” the man asked, and Christina nodded numbly. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” she sniffed her voice filled with bitterness.

“I thought all the children went out tonight?” the man asked, but there was a trace of sadness in his voice and Christina looked at him. He looked to be about 35, had long sandy blonde hair, and gentle green eyes.

“I don’t want to,” she said softly.

“Why is that?”

“Cause the others made fun of me,” Christina replied wiping her hands over her face trying to rub the tears away. All that she succeeded in doing was wiping some mud from the ground across her nose and mouth.

“My name is Andrew, and I promise I won’t make fun of you,” he said and smiled.

“I’m Christina,” she said weakly.

He reached inside his pocket and retrieved a handkerchief. “Here, your face is all dirty.”

She accepted the handkerchief and wiped it over her face. Once it was clean, she laid the small piece of cloth on her lap. “I hate Halloween,” she mumbled glancing down at her lap.

Andrew leaned over, “you want to know a secret?” Before she could offer him an answer, the Angel of Death continued. “So do I.”

Christina looked up. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you why if you tell me,” he said gently.

Christina nodded, “OK, I hate that the kids always dress as depressing things. I wanted to go as an angel, but my mommy said that angels only come out at Christmas.”

Andrew smiled ironically as the child continued. “I hate all that stuff about the grim reaper, or that people like to be scared all the time. I don’t like scary movies, they give me nightmares. All the kids say I’m a wimp.” She sniffed again.

“I don’t like them either,” Andrew said softly.

“Even my older brother wanted to dress as something scary, but I wanted to be something beautiful and nice,” she shook her head. “Dressing as a fairy was my mom’s idea, but I wanted to dress as something real.”

“You believe in angels?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah, don’t you?”

He stifled a smile, “yes.”

“Anyway, I told my mom that if angels only came out at Christmas, then they would have a really hard job to watch over all the people for only one night a year,” Christina said. “She told me that I shouldn’t get so dramatic about something that doesn’t exist. But, I believe, Andrew, really I do.”

“Why are you so certain?” He asked gently.

She sniffed again and wiped the handkerchief over her face. “Because, last year at the beginning of the school year, I saw one. She was so beautiful and it wasn’t even Christmastime. What happened was, I walking home from school, and I saw this mean man on the street. He was walking around and yelling at the kids. I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong, but then he started yelling at me, too. I got so scared, I ran into the bushes, through the park and didn’t stop until I was lost in the woods,” she paused swallowing. “I was so scared, this lady appeared right next to me, and she told me that she was an angel and that she would help me get home.”

Andrew smiled. “What happened next?”

“She told me her name was Monica and we walked back through the town and when we got home, I told her that I thought she was wonderful, but she said that God was, and that I shouldn’t forget him, that he has angels all around us, and that they want to help us as long as we ask God for help.” She looked at him earnestly. “Even you could be an angel.”

“Actually, I am an angel,” he said honestly.

“Really?” the innocent question of the small child made him smile.

“Yes, really, and Monica, she’s a friend of mine,” he said.

“Wow!” She looked at him shyly. “You don’t look like an angel, but you are really nice, so I believe you.”

Andrew chuckled. “Thank you, but sometimes I suppose I do look the part.”

“You were going to tell me why you don’t like Halloween,” she said after some moments had passed.

“Well, the reason I don’t like it is probably the same reason you don’t. It makes me sad to see how people see death as such a frightening and scary thing,” he said.

“Is it? I mean when my grandma died, everyone was crying and sad, and they said it was horrible,” Christina got tears in her eyes when she thought about her grandma. “I miss her, she was always so nice. She would bake pies for Christmas, and would play the piano and sing carols to us. I remember one year that she even sang my favorite song.”

“Which one is your favorite?” he asked.

“ ‘Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich’, it’s German, it means something like ‘Give us Peace always’. I love that song. My grandma was from Germany, and she used to sing all these pretty songs that most the kids here don’t even know of,” she said.

“I’ve heard it, and it is very nice,” he said.

“What’s your favorite song?”

He smiled, “oh, I don’t know, there are many nice ones.”

Christina’s smile suddenly vanished and she looked at him. “Andrew, since I think you know about this, what happens after we die? I think of my grandma all the time, and I hope she’s happy in Heaven.”

“She is, Christina,” he said gently. He reached over and took the child’s small hand in his and began to answer her question with one of his own. “How do you feel right before Christmas morning?”

“Happy, excited, but also nervous,” she said.

“Why nervous?”

“Well, I hope that my mommy and daddy will like the presents I give them,” she said. “I hope that they will hang the picture on the refrigerator or show it to all their friends.”

Andrew nodded. “And what do you think of when you think of death?”

“It’s scary,” she said weakly. “I mean, I don’t want it to hurt, but it scares me because then I’d be by myself without my mommy and daddy.”

“But you wouldn’t be alone,” he said gently.

“I wouldn’t?”

“No, God would be with you and an angel would be with you, too,” he said.

“You mean there are angels that help people who are dying?” she asked.

“Mm-hum,” he nodded. “I’m one of those angels.”

“Am I going to die?” she asked, her wide eyes looking at him. She could see that he had started to glow and she backed up slightly.

“No, don’t be afraid,” he said gently. “You just happened to meet me out here. Just because you see an Angel of Death, doesn’t mean that you will die.”

“I won’t?”

He laughed, “No, you won’t. At least not yet, you have your life ahead of you.”

She nodded as though she understood, and rather than moving further away from him, she inched closer, and reached out to touch his arm. “But, you’re still sad.”

“Yes, I am,” he said.

“Cause you don’t like Halloween?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “For an Angel of Death, Halloween is something that makes the job all the more difficult. I have to try and tell people that it is beautiful journey Home to the Father. But, with things like Halloween, it makes people not so easy to convince. They see it as dark and scary, but that is not as it really is.”

Christina looked at him and with her small hand, she reached over and touched his face. “But, you should be happy that you have such a wonderful job,” she said. “I would trade places with you if I could have seen my grandma going to Heaven.”

Andrew smiled, ruffled the child’s hair, and looked down at her.

“You know what?” she asked after some moments.

“What?”

“Being here with you is better than trick or treating, but still, I wish I could get some candy,” she said softly and after thinking for a few minutes, she glanced up into his eyes. “Andrew, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure you can,” he smiled.

“Will you go trick or treating with me? I mean just so I can get us some candy. I’ll share everything, 50-50, I promise,” she looked up at him, her eyes a sea of hope.

Andrew sighed and when he saw the hopeful eyes of the child, he stood up. “OK,” he reluctantly agreed. He reached down and took her hand and the two of them left the park.

*****

About an hour later, they returned to the park, Christina’s bag was no longer empty. She and Andrew sat down on the bench once again and she removed the wings from the costume she wore and placed them on the bench between the two of them. On top, she poured out the contents of her bag.

She looked at him, but could still see the sadness lurking in his eyes. “Thank you for giving me the best Halloween I ever had,” she said and once she had divided up the candy, she returned half of it to the bag she carried. Using the handkerchief he had offered her before, she wrapped it around the other half of the candy, and handed it to him.

“I don’t think I did very much,” he said accepting the handkerchief.

“Yeah you did, even though I saw your light, I know you’re an angel, Andrew!” Christina said softly.

He looked at her waiting for her to explain why she had just said what she did.

“Even though you don’t like Halloween, you went with me so that I could have some fun. Most people wouldn’t do that, but you did.” She wrapped her small arms around him and held him tightly. “Happy Halloween, Andrew.”

“Happy Halloween, Christina,” the Angel of Death said as he hugged the small child. When their embrace ended, he had tears in his eyes.

“You know what?” She said.

Andrew looked at her not knowing what she would say next.

“You had fun,” she whispered. “Maybe God would want you to live this day like all the others.”

“Maybe He just had to send a little angel to me,” he said smiling at her.

Christina giggled, but after a few minutes, she sighed sadly. “I guess I gotta go home now,” she said. “Will I get to see you again?”

“Perhaps,” he smiled. “You never know, maybe you will hear someone singing ‘Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich’ and then you will look up and I’ll be there to visit you.”

“Would it be too early to wish you a Merry Christmas, then?” she asked.

“No,” he smiled.

“Then Merry Christmas, Andrew! I love you,” she gave him a wet kiss on the cheek, grabbed the wings to her costume, bounded off the bench, and ran through the park in the direction of her house. “Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich…” could be heard as the small child began to sing as loud as she possibly could.

Andrew was left watching her as she disappeared through the trees. Smiling, he opened the cloth handkerchief and could see a hand full of candy resting inside. Shaking his head, he laughed softly to himself. Perhaps Halloween wasn’t so bad after all, as long as there are children like Christina still on Earth.

The End

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