A 'Touched By An Angel' story

By: Yvette Jessen

Fourteen-year-old Mary Stevens stood on the street in the middle of the town where she lived and as she watched the people walking here and there, she sighed deeply and continued her observations until the words of one of her classmates interrupted her and she was forced to look over to where about four or five other girls were standing.

"Come on Mary, I dare you to do it," another girl, Bobbie, said nudging her. "If you can actually get one, then you can be in our club. If not, well, then you'll simply go through high school as a social outcast." The girl's words emerged filled with spite, and Mary swallowed the unconscious lump that formed in her throat. "Let's face it, if you fail, you might as well bury yourself under a shelf of books in the library because to everyone who is 'in', you'd be dead anyway."

The leader of the group of girls pulled a cigarette from her pocket, stuck it in her mouth, and lit it as though it was the most natural thing in the world. As the 16-year-old girl took a draw on it, she pointed down the street somewhat where a man who appeared in his thirties was walking. "There's your connection, he looks like he wouldn't bite a fly, and even if he did, it'd be worth it because he's cute," she said snickering and the other girls in the group began to point to the handsome man who was walking in their direction.

Mary shook her head, "I don't know, Bobbie, look at him; he looks sad somehow." As her words emerged, she could hear the sounds of the other girls beginning to laugh and instead of thinking about what to do next, she started to walk towards the man, her head down, and her eyes constantly on the ground. "Excuse me," she mumbled when he was close enough and could actually hear her. When he said nothing, she continued, her words tumbling out in false bravado. "You got a cigarette?"

As soon as they were out, she glanced up and her eyes met the unhappy green eyes of the man. She immediately regretted her words and as the shame enveloped her, she stared down at her shoes and backed slowly away from him, but as she did, she lost her footing and stumbled backwards, thus falling on her rear end.

As she glanced back over in the direction of the other girls, she noticed that they were now laughing and pointing at her and she could feel the tears brimming under her eyes. As she sat there on the ground, she stared down at the hard concrete as the realization suddenly hit her that she had made a complete fool of herself. First, she felt stupid in the eyes of her peers, but that did not compare to the look of sadness and horror on the handsome face of the stranger now standing before her.

Mary tried to get back on her feet, but when she couldn't, she could suddenly feel someone's hand on her shoulder, and within seconds this man with those compassionate green eyes had offered her his hand and gently, but silently, helped her back onto her feet.

"I" her voice trailed and her humiliated eyes met those of the man.

"You didn't really want a cigarette, did you?" The man asked, his voice soft, but she could detect so much sadness in each word that she could only look shamefaced at the ground and shake her head.

"I wanted only to belong," she whispered unsure if he had even heard her words. She sighed sadly and tried to will herself to actually look at him, but when she could not, she opted to keep her head down. All the while, she wondered if a man who appeared to be twice her age would even understand how hard it was for a teenage girl to find her place in the world.

The man smiled gently at her when at last she managed to meet his piercing gaze. "Defending your principles is not always an easy thing to do, is it?" He finally asked her softly, his voice filled with the same sadness, but etched in his words was genuine understanding.

"I guess not," she mumbled. "Sorry if I bothered you."

"You didn't," he said kindly. "My name is Andrew, what's yours?"

"Mary," she whispered and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm really sorry about that, a little voice inside told me that asking you about that was not something I really wanted to do. It's just that…" her voice trailed.

"What is it?"

"Well, all the girls I know are in the clique and now I'm the outsider. It was part of the initiation to ask a grown-up for a cigarette and then I would have been accepted in it if I had gotten one. I know it's stupid, but to belong somewhere is important."

"What would you have done with a cigarette if you had gotten it?" He asked; his question thoughtful, but in his words there was also a trace of curiosity.

"I wouldn't have smoked it, if that's what you mean," she offered weakly, her voice almost bordering on defensive, but her sad expression somehow matched Andrew's. For the life of her, she could not fully understand why it was that he was sad about something as stupid as this.

After a few moments, she glanced down at her tennis shoes, the shyness overwhelming her, and she noticed that he had not continued his way down the street. After a few moments of awkward silence, she looked up at him, her sensitive nature taking over as she regarded his sad expression. "Are you OK?"

Andrew remained stationary, but after what seemed like hours, she could tell that he was deep in contemplation. Eventually, he looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine, but you know, your question really upset me, Mary. For me to see such a pretty girl looking for cigarettes makes me very sad."

"Why? It was just some stupid prank," Mary whispered, not really sure she believed those words as they escaped from between her pursed lips. Her shame reemerged and she could only look down at the ground.

"A prank?" He looked at her in disbelief and shook his head.

"Yeah, you know, like wrapping someone's locker or giving them a jelly doughnut filled with mustard?" She whispered. "It wasn't meant to do any harm."

"Perhaps not," his words were soft, but he looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. "Have you ever seen someone die from lung cancer?"

The young girl backed away from him, her fear replacing her other emotions and when she saw how unthreatening he appeared as he stood there, his voice never raising, she stopped moving away from him and simply stood there looking up at him. All the while, she tried to get her wayward emotions back in check. "No, I haven't," she finally said softly. "Did you lose someone?"

"You could say that, yes," he said.

"I'm really sorry," she looked back down at the ground, the shame enveloping her once again.

"I would like to tell you a story, it's about a 13-year-old boy named Kirby and how he was pressured into doing something he didn't want to do. Do you have time to listen?" Andrew asked.

The girl glanced skyward, it was beginning to look overcast and she feared that to hear the man's story would leave them stranded in the rain, but seeing his sad expression made the decision for her. "I guess so, but shouldn't we go somewhere else? I mean; it looks like it's going to start raining out here."

Andrew looked around and nodded. "Yes, you're right," he said and within seconds, Mary watched in horror as the street and the buildings around her suddenly disappeared and she was left standing in a grassy meadow and overhead, the sky was a deep shade of blue.

As she began to take in her surroundings, she finally looked over at him, her eyes widening. He no longer was dressed in the jeans and sweater he had been wearing on the street, instead he was dressed in an elegant beige suit, and he had a warm glow about him. "W-who are you?"

"Don't be afraid, Mary, I'm an angel, sent from God," Andrew began. "I'm actually the Angel of Death."

Mary looked at him, the fear in her expression all to familiar to him. "Am I dead?"

"No, you're not," he smiled gently at her as he shook his head.

"W-why did you bring me here?" Mary's voice was shaking as she tried to speak.

"Mary, when I told you that I had lost someone I told you the truth, it was only some days ago that I was sent to help a young boy deal with the death of his father through lung cancer. The reason we're here now is so that you can listen to what I have to tell you and make a choice about your own life," Andrew explained.

"But, where are we?" She asked as she backed away from him, and although she was trying to act tough, she was really frightened.

"We're in God's Country, which is basically somewhere between Heaven and Earth. I brought you here so I can talk to you about what happened back there, and why it is important for me to tell you this story. You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"O-only a little," she whispered honestly.

"I'd never hurt you," Andrew said softly. "I think you know that."

"I just didn't know what happened," she said feeling herself relaxing only somewhat in his presence.

"What happened was you asked me for a cigarette," Andrew said gently. As he spoke he offered her his hand and when she hesitantly accepted it, the two of them sat down on the ground.

"What have I done?" Mary whispered softly, her words etched with shame. "Is God mad at me? Is that why I'm here? Am I going to die because I asked the Angel of Death for a cigarette? What about…"

"Please, calm down," Andrew began resting his hand on her shoulder. Somehow that helped because she no longer appeared as though she was going to leap out of her skin. "First of all, no one is mad at you, not me and not God. Mary, I brought you here to tell you about Kirby, and there is no other reason, OK?"

The girl nodded and picked a small flower and looked down at it. "Andrew?" She spoke his name after a few seconds passed and before the angel could begin his story.

"What is it?" Came his gentle words.

"It's nothing, I just hope that you don't think I'm a total failure like the rest of them do," she said softly as she tossed the flower away. "My family just moved to this town, and I just wanted to feel as though I belonged somewhere. I don't have any real friends here and people aren't as friendly as I thought they would be."

"Oh Mary, I don't think you're a failure, and God doesn't either, but let me tell you the story, and maybe it will help you understand another point of view," he said gently and Mary could feel herself beginning to relax in his presence as he began to speak, his gentle voice emerging and she found herself listening to his every word.

Three weeks ago

The stormy gray clouds seemed to hang in the desert sky as Andrew and his two friends Tess and Monica arrived in the small town of Franklin, Arizona. "So who's our assignment, Tess?" Monica asked.

"Well, it's like this baby, we have been sent here to help the young people in this town understand something very important," Tess said simply as Monica glanced out the window and could see three young boys standing on a street corner. All three of them had cigarettes in their mouths.

"Tess they're just children," Monica objected.

"That's why we're here," Tess said. "Andrew, is everything OK with you?"

"Sure, Tess, it's fine," The Angel of Death sighed deeply as he watched the young boys lighting up. Seeing young people take up smoking always made his gentle heart break. How could he tell them that it would probably lead to emphysema or lung cancer once they were adults? He had seen so many human lives end from smoking that it tore him up inside. "My next assignment is Henry Martin, Tess and he's got lung cancer and it's in the latent periods of the illness. His time is, unfortunately, drawing near."

Present

"An assignment?" Mary interrupted him. "I don't understand."

"Well, it's probably the easiest term to use to describe the people we are sent to. In this case, I had been sent to Henry Martin because he would die soon, and what I had to do was to help him prepare himself for this transition," Andrew said.

"You mean; all those stories I heard about the guy in the black robe carrying the long knife aren't true?" Mary asked.

Andrew found himself beginning to squirm slightly, but when he looked into the eyes of the young girl, he shook his head numbly. "No, those are just stories, Mary, there is no truth to them at all," Andrew began. "Tell me something, do you think I look so threatening, like those stories portray?"

"No, you're really much more different than I expected," she said softly shrugging her shoulders. "You seem really nice, like you understand young people and how hard it sometimes feels to find our place."

"Perhaps, because I have been sent to a number of young people, Mary, and they have that same image of me that you just described," he said softly. "In fact, those stories make my job all the more harder and they hurt me when I try to help."

"Is it just because people are so afraid?" Mary asked.

"Yes," he whispered, but seeing the look of kindness in the girl's eyes, he continued to speak. "Shall I continue?"

"I'm sorry if I threw you off track, I just have so many questions I want to ask you, and I don't know where to start," she said softly.

"It's OK to ask whatever you like," he smiled gently. "But, now you know the truth and maybe that will help you not be afraid. Try to relax, I don't bite, I just brought you here so we could talk without getting drenched back in town."

Mary nodded and looked at him. "I-I'm still a little nervous, but I kind of like it here."

"Good, I'm really glad," he said and smiled gently at her.

"I-I think you're really a nice angel, Andrew. I mean…" she looked at him, her face flushing in embarrassment, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, she managed to continue speaking. "I never knew that there were actually angels walking around helping people before, and it's kind of a..."

"A surprise?" Andrew supplied with a smile, and once she nodded he reached over, squeezed her shoulder, and continued with his story…

Three weeks ago

"You're going to work as a nurse for his family, right Andrew?" Monica asked softly.

"Yes, you can drop me off in the center of town," he said softly as he took his sunglasses off and revealed a pair of compassionate green eyes.

"We'll be at the school for most of this assignment Andrew," Tess said gently. "Chin up, honey, you'll do fine with it. I have the utmost confidence in you."

"I'm not really worried about that, Tess, but I've been thinking about how hard it's going to be to get through to Henry's son, Kirby," Andrew said softly.

"The Father wants you to work with his son, too?" Monica asked, confusion evident in her pretty brown eyes.

"Well, He said that Kirby is now at a crossroads and could use a little divine intervention. My main assignment is Henry, but I will be spending time with Kirby as well," Andrew said softly. "Aside from Henry's health, Kirby has a pretty severe case of asthma."

"Good luck honey," Tess said as she pulled the red Cadillac up to a bank parking lot and Andrew jumped over the side and onto the street. Once the other two angels drove off, he looked around and took in his new surroundings.

This was a typical small town, he thought taking a deep breath. In the middle there was a white gazebo and all around the old-fashioned structure he could see unusual plants growing, mostly prickly pear cactuses and the budding flowers of the saguaros, the state flower of Arizona. The desert climate of the town made him begin to perspire, but as he wiped his hand over his forehead, he realized that the first thing he needed to do was to buy a bottle of drinking water.

As he walked in the direction of the nearest grocery store, he smiled when he reached in his pocket and found some wadded up bills there. Thanking the Father for this, he pulled two dollars out and continued towards the doors leading inside the old-fashioned store. As he walked into the store, he could hear the chimes jingling above his head, as well as seeing some of the shelves stocked with nothing except bottles of water and cold drinks.

He pulled a bottle of water down and went to the counter to pay for it, and as he did, he noticed some wrapped candies and decided to try a piece. He recognized that they were made with the jelly from the cactus plants. In all his adventures as an Angel of Death, he had never seen such a thing, and seeing as he liked to try new things, he concluded that he should try a piece.

"Hey," the man at the counter said smiling warmly at him. "You new around here?"

"Yes, I am, actually, my name is Andrew," he replied and almost freely added. "I'm the new nurse for Henry Martin."

"Ah, yeah, I heard about you coming today. I guess you needed some refreshment for our unusual climate here," he nodded towards the bottle of water and offered a weak laugh. "Anyway, Henry, poor guy, he's really gone downhill in the last week or so."

"You know him?"

"You could say that, he and I went to school together. Both of our families have been living in Franklin probably since the town was founded about 60 something years ago. My name's Paul Johnson, I own this store, well me and my wife do."

"I see," Andrew said as he paid for the water and the piece of candy he had bought. He continued to stand near the counter and speak with Paul as he opened the small wrapper and popped the candy into his mouth. After about a minute or so, he had to spit the offending candy into a handkerchief as he felt his mouth beginning to swell up. "Uh, Paul what's the story with this candy?"

Paul laughed, "You're allergic to it that's what the story is with it. I wouldn't worry about it. There are a number of people who complain about the effects that candy leaves on them. Once you get the taste out of your mouth, that strange feeling will go away. You probably should open that water and drink some of it. I'm sure you'll want to as soon as you step outside anyway." He paused and he looked at Andrew with amusement in his eyes. "I suggest that you always keep your water nearby, and around here, you're definitely gonna need it. I'd also recommend that you not touch anything else made with cactus jelly."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," Andrew said as he left the store.

Once outside, he walked along the street until he found the address for the Martin home. As he walked up the steps and onto the front porch, he rang the doorbell.

Some minutes later, the door opened and he was looking into a pair of wide blue eyes. "Yeah?"

"Hello, you must be Kirby," Andrew said and he smiled at the 13-year-old boy standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, that's right, who are you?" The boy asked, his voice neither friendly nor aggressive, it seemed if anything, unemotional.

"I'm sorry, my name is Andrew and I'm here to look after your father, I'm the nurse that was sent here from Phoenix," he explained trying to ignore the punk-rock appearance of the young man. The words of Tess returned to his consciousness about not judging one's appearance, but he could not help but look at the boy in profound disbelief.

He was quite a sight to a rather conservatively dressed angel, or, as the boy perceived, a live-in nurse.

On one side of Kirby's head, it was completely shaved, the other side a clump of hot pink hair hung over his left ear. In his right ear, Andrew could see four, no five, earrings, some with feathers hanging down the side is various colors. The boy's clothing looked as though he had arranged it by digging around binds at flea markets, because nothing seemed to match, and the jeans he wore had holes in the knees. The T-shirt he wore was black and appeared to have skulls and crossbones on it, the images making the Angel of Death cringe, but Andrew could only conclude that this shirt was a souvenir he had gotten when he had attended a heavy metal or punk rock concert.

The boy seemed to notice that Andrew was staring and he looked at the angel with a calm demeanor, his smirk matching the amusement dancing merrily in his blue eyes. "Yeah, OK I know, it's been established that I'm not the poster child for a cover page of 'GQ'."

"I'm sorry Kirby, I didn't mean to stare," Andrew quickly apologized.

"Don't sweat it man, around this hick town, they all call me 'the peacock'," he grinned sheepishly, but started coughing and Andrew regarded him with concern. "I hate Arizona," he muttered as he reached in his pocket and retrieved his inhaler. Once he had used it, he hit his fist against his chest and looked at Andrew. "Listen, if this stupid asthma doesn't kill me first, then my folks will if I leave you standing outside in this heat, so why don't you come on in?"

Andrew nodded and followed the boy inside the house. Once the door was closed, he could see that contrary to Kirby's rather unusual appearance, the house was conservatively decorated, the sounds of the swamp cooler humming, and cooling the house somewhat. "So is my dad the only reason you got sent to Hicksville central from Phoenix?"

"Yes," Andrew said as the boy sat down on the couch and smiled at him. The boy had a warm personality, and Andrew discovered that once they got comfortable on the sofa and started talking, that he could overlook the appearance and see a really nice kid beneath the strange exterior. "Have you ever been to Phoenix?"

"Yeah, I was there a few times, I used to go with my friends to watch hockey matches," Kirby said. "For a long time I couldn't even go into restaurants after the games though, because my asthma would go haywire. It used to be so bad that I couldn't even breathe, but when they stopped allowing smoking in the restaurants then at least now I can go with my mom to eat out once in awhile."

Present

"Andrew, I don't mean to interrupt, but if Kirby has asthma and his dad has lung cancer, wouldn't the smoking leave an impact on Kirby's health, too?" Mary found herself asking. As the angel had told her the story, she found herself inching closer to him, and now she sat right next to him. As she spoke, she looked out over the beautiful grassy meadow and could feel the breeze wafting through her shoulder length brown hair.

"Yes, and it did, but keep in mind too, that there are a lot more cases of asthma in Arizona because of the dry heat there. I didn't know this until Kirby had told me about it. Anyway, Henry never smoked so much at home, in fact, his wife didn't like it at all and because of Kirby, she wouldn't allow it," Andrew explained. "But, this still did not stop him from making this decision and getting sick as a result of this particular lifestyle choice."

"My dad stopped smoking about a year ago," Mary said softly. "His doctor said that either he stop or he would get sicker. As a result, today he has a latent state of diabetes. You know, it's strange how much people can ruin their health with it, and yet, kids my age think it's so cool. I wish I could understand what the significance of this is."

"Sorry, I cannot tell you this because I don't fully understand it myself," he said gently. "But, what you said is true, young people do think it is cool, but tell me, what do you think?"

"I think I was stupid," she said softly looking down at her lap. "I mean, I should have known that it was wrong to have asked you for that cigarette."

"You weren't stupid," he smiled gently at her. "You just didn't know."

Mary sighed deeply, but looked out over the meadow. "This is really a wonderful place. I wish I could always stay here, then I don't have to deal with all the junk I have at school."

"You know something, Kirby had to deal with the same kinds of pressures," Andrew said gently. "This is something that is rather the norm with the young people of today."

"So what happened to him?" Mary asked as she laid back down amidst the flowers and he continued to tell the story.

Three Weeks Ago

Kirby arrived at school the following morning and he looked around for some time before seeing some of the boys from his class. He walked closer to them and smiled weakly when he reached them. "Hey guys," he said smiling warmly.

"What's up dude? How's your old man?" The boys began to ask him, their voices not really etched with concern, but not exactly cold and distant either.

"He's fine, he got a new nurse last night, this guy named Andrew, he's pretty cool, but when he first arrived, he looked at me as though my ship just landed." As he spoke, one of the boys pulled out a pack of cigarettes and began to open the small carton.

"You guys want a smoke before we go inside?" The boy asked.

"You know I can't, Larry, my asthma would go completely haywire, besides, look at my old man, he's dying of lung cancer for crying out loud," Kirby said as the other boys took the offered cigarettes.

"Oh come on Kirby, one smoke isn't going to kill you, besides, just because your old man is dying doesn't mean you will. Look at my Aunt Mabel, she's pushing 90 and she's been smoking for over 60 years," Larry said.

"That may be so, but I don't want to," Kirby said curtly and walked away from the boys. As he did, he began to cough and tried without much success to reach for his inhaler. Once he stopped, he managed to pull it out and use it as he walked inside the building.

I just don't get it, he thought to himself as he walked towards his homeroom class. My dad's dying. He sighed deeply and shook his head as he nearly walked into Tess and Monica as they were coming down the hall.

"Hey baby, you got something on your mind?" Tess asked and Kirby looked up at her and smiled ever so slightly.

"I guess, I've just been thinking about stuff is all," he replied. "Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No, it looks as though you have other things on your mind besides where you're going," Monica said as they looked outside the nearby window and could see Kirby's friends outside smoking cigarettes.

"Yeah, the pressure," Kirby said and sighed deeply. "I may look like something the cat dragged in, but I don't smell like it." With that he walked slowly away leaving the two angels staring after him.

"He's really feeling the pressure, isn't he, Tess?" Monica asked as she stared after the teenager.

"Yes, and if we are able to keep one kid away from smoking, it will be that one," Tess said softly.

"You're not kidding," Andrew appeared just then and looked at them. "One cigarette will do him in. If Kirby smokes even one, I'll have to take him home Tess. His asthma is that severe. Second hand smoke is damaging enough to him, but for him to smoke would kill him…" his voice trailed off and he shook his head.

As he spoke, one of the other boys named Joshua was coming down the hall and he stopped as he overheard Andrew's words. Seconds later, the boy walked by them and offered them a warm smile before he disappeared in the distance.

"What was that all about?" Monica asked.

"I don't really know, babies, but let's not allow this to stop us from fulfilling our intended assignment," Tess said softly.

Andrew nodded and disappeared.

Present

Mary's face was pale as Andrew stopped speaking and he looked at her. "Are you OK?"

"One cigarette could kill him?" She whispered softly. "That's why you were sad, he did it…" As she felt the tears streaming down her face she could feel the guilt overwhelming her and for some reason, she broke down and cried.

Andrew inched closer to her and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you this."

Mary looked up and shook her head; the tears were tumbling down over her cheeks. "Andrew…" her voice trailed off and she continued to shake her head. "Y-you're going to tell me he died, and…"

"Mary, it's OK, shhh, it's OK," Andrew reached over and took her trembling hands in his. "Calm down, please."

"I can't," she continued to feel the tears streaming down her face, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Mary, look at me," Andrew finally took her chin gently in his hands and tipped her face up so that she would be looking at him. "Yes, Kirby did die, he gave into the pressure that same afternoon and I had to take him home, but before he died, his classmates Joshua Vickers and Jennifer Johnson started an anti-smoking campaign for the student body at their school. Joshua and Jennifer both knew about the dangers of smoking, because they had both lost family members to smoking related illnesses." As he continued to speak, he could see the tears that continued to wash down over her face.

"Y-you don't understand," she whimpered.

"Tell me," he said gently.

"M-my parents and I just moved here from Franklin, and last year, I attended that school," she whispered as she covered her face. "Jenny was my best friend and I haven't heard anything from her since I moved away."

Andrew nodded, now so much about her made sense. It was no wonder that this young girl was so gripped with the story. It had affected her more profoundly than anything else that could have been told.

"Why did this happen?" She asked when Andrew did not speak.

"I don't know, Mary, I suppose many people are affected by peer pressure, just as you were pressured into doing something you didn't want to do."

Mary nodded slowly, as she covered her face with her hands once again, and could feel the tears streaming from beneath her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Andrew wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly. "You know, to hurt you was never my intention, I just don't want to see anymore young people destroy their lives with this. People like you have a wonderful gift, Mary."

"I don't," she whispered.

"The people here don't know it yet, but do you remember when you were living in Franklin, and Kirby and his family were your neighbors? This was for about a year or so before your parents sold the house and moved to the other side of town?"

She nodded numbly. "I thought I knew Kirby, as you were talking about him. I mean, I thought maybe it was just coincidence, but then you started describing him, and I knew it was him. He was always called the Peacock in town." Despite her tears, she could feel herself smiling weakly. "Anyway, I kept remembering before hisuh transformation, how he had been this squatty little kid from my third grade class. I guess he still saw himself in this light, huh?"

"Yes, I think that was how he saw himself and he gave you something about seven years ago. It was not something like a present, but he gave you one of the greatest compliments that one friend could pass on to another," Andrew said softly.

Mary nodded as the tears streamed from beneath her eyes. "He told me that one day I would probably be the next Whitney Houston."

"That's right, and he told you that no matter what happens, he would always be your biggest fan," Andrew said smiling gently.

"I remember that, it nearly made me cry," she said softly.

"I know," Andrew said gently. "His favorite song was always 'The Greatest Love of All' and he said that when you sang it, you sounded like an angel."

Mary looked at him. "Is he happy now? I mean; I thought I had forgotten him."

"Yes, he is, Mary, he's very happy," Andrew said gently.

She looked down at her lap. "Andrew, what do I do now?"

"I don't know, but I do know that God is with you no matter what you decide to do. He won't forsake you, Mary, and if you chose to honor Kirby's memory, then I am to help you do it."

"Y-you will?"

"Mm-hum, and I want you to know, there was a reason why I met you today, and I know that through talking about and remembering Kirby, we will both heal from this," Andrew said softly.

"I won't forget him again, Andrew, I swear, I won't ever forget," she said softly as the tears continued to tumble down her cheeks.

"I know," he said gently.

"Why did Kirby give in?"

"He wanted to belong, just as you did," he said. "I couldn't interfere, Mary, and I wanted to stop him, but Kirby had free will, and he chose to smoke that cigarette, even though his asthma was extremely severe and it was dangerous for him to it."

"S-so you thought you were taking his dad to Heaven, and then you had to take him instead," Mary said softly. "It doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"Sometimes, no, it doesn't, I arrived here in town right after taking Henry home. But, now Lorrie Martin is alone, no husband and no son," Andrew said softly as he shook his head. "She's now trying to understand what happened and why, and I cannot provide her an answer."

"Your friends, they are with her now?" Mary asked.

"Yes, they are," Andrew said softly.

"I think it would be comforting to have an angel come and console me when I'm sad," she said softly as she shrugged her shoulders. "Will you tell me how it happened, please?"

"I don't know if I can," Andrew said.

"Because it's hard?" She asked softly as she reached up and touched his face with her fingertips. "Andrew, you told me you were going to tell me about Kirby. Please, you have to tell me what you know."

The angel finally nodded, and knowing that the young girl was right, he began to speak.

Three Weeks Ago

The afternoon sunlight was streaming through the windows of the old school building as the final bell of the day rang dismissing classes and the students left. Kirby stood up and walked towards the door leading out into the hallway. His friend Brad was standing near his locker as he went to retrieve his books to take home. "Hey, pal, you ready to light up?"

"Brad, why do you keep asking me about this? I already told you once, 'no'."

"Well it's the cool thing to do, it's Friday, and we're done, I usually celebrate the end of the week with a couple of smokes," Brad said firmly as Joshua Vickers approached all the while dragging along a large placard behind him. "Oh look at that geek," Brad chortled loudly enough that the other kids could hear, and they regarded the 'no smoking' poster with contempt. "You think you're going to get people to sign up for 'Geeks Anonymous', Joshua?"

"Maybe," the boy said, "but at least I'm not trying to pressure someone else to do things he doesn't want to do."

"Let me ask you something, Kirby," Brad asked. "You want to turn out like that nerd-burger? I mean, you may have the look of someone cool, but actions speak louder than words."

In the distance, Tess and Monica were watching this exchange in angelic form. "Tess, if he does it…" Monica said, her voice trailed off and she looked at her supervisor with surprise and sadness in her gentle brown eyes.

"Yes, baby, and in a couple of days the number will be up for Henry Martin," Tess said as she continued to watch the events taking place in the hallway of the school.

"Oh Tess, if Kirby only knew," Monica said softly.

"If he knew, we would be robbing him of his free will," Tess said softly. "You know we can't do that."

"But, if he did then he would know what it is he will be leaving his mother with," Monica objected.

"Look, Angel Girl, I care about this family as much as you, but we cannot interfere with their free will. If Kirby makes this choice, he will have to face the consequences of that choice, but so will Brad as well as the other kids at this school."

"But Tess, if these kids just knew what they were doing," Monica said softly.

Tess shook her head and patted the hand of the younger angel. "Andrew's here now, Miss Wings, let's follow them, I think they're heading outside." She looked at Andrew and offered him a small smile. The Angel of Death looked devastated.

"You know, Tess, during the last couple of days, I thought I had reached Kirby, now this may happen and I don't know if I can do this."

"Baby, just keep the faith," Tess said.

"They're going to do it," Andrew said, the tears now falling from beneath his sad green eyes.

The three angels followed the two boys outside.

*****

It had happened quickly, on the first try, Kirby began to cough, his eyes glazing over and he collapsed to his knees in a fit of coughing. "What's happening dude?" Brad asked his voice failing when he saw the pale cheeks of his friend.

"Brad, you moron," a voice emerged as a heavyset girl approached and she pulled the lit cigarette from the hand of the gasping boy. Once she squashed it with the toe of her tennis shoe, she helped Kirby lie down. "Don't just stand there, you idiot, go call 911."

Brad took off across the school ground as the girl looked down at Kirby. "You silly boy. Oh, Kirby, you know you shouldn't be smoking, not with that asthma." She brushed the pink hair from Kirby's brow and when she saw Joshua standing about ten feet away, she called out his name and he came running over to where she was sitting.

"Jenny, what's up?"

"Oh God, he tried to smoke a cigarette, Joshua, and now look at him." She leaned over and tried to detect if Kirby was now exhaling. His face looked even paler than before, and she leaned down to where she would only be a few inches from his nose and mouth. When she felt no warm air from his breath, she looked up, her voice bordering on hysterical. "We need help Joshua, Kirby's not breathing!"

She glanced up and could see that someone had approached, a man clothed in a dove gray colored suit. "A-are you here to help him?"

"Yes, but not in the way you both think, Jenny," the man spoke as he sat down on the ground next to them and rested a gentle hand on the unconscious boy's forehead. "Kirby, it's me, Andrew. My friend, it's nearing time for you to come Home. I'm an angel, and I'm with you and God's with you."

"Y-you are the Angel of Death?" Jenny asked as she looked at Andrew.

"Yes," Andrew nodded.

"Oh where's that ambulance?" Jenny asked her voice once again getting hysterical.

Joshua looked up and could see that Brad was still straggling around the door leading into the school. "That idiot, he's wasting time. Jenny, you stay with Kirby, I'm going to get some help, OK?"

Jenny nodded and could feel the tears streaming from beneath her eyes. "Kirby, can you hear me?" She looked down at his nearly lifeless face, but after a second, back up at the angel. "Y-you're not going to help him. How could you call yourself an angel and not help him?"

Andrew looked as though he had been slugged in the stomach, and after a few moments, he closed his eyes as the tears streamed from beneath his compassionate green eyes. "Kirby, it's time," he whispered as he ran the back of his hand against the face of the boy, and he died wrapped in Jenny's arms.

Jenny was still sitting on the ground when Andrew returned some five minutes later from the sad task of having taken Kirby Home. The young girl was still holding the boy's lifeless body in her arms, when the ambulance arrived and they were left to reach the sad conclusion that Kirby Martin had died that afternoon.

As Jenny got up off the ground, she walked slowly and with weighted steps towards the door of the school when she saw Brad standing near the door. "You killed him, you monster!" She screamed as loud as she could as she tried without any success at lunging towards the boy. "How can you even call yourself a person? You talk about being cool, but now he's dead, dead! It's all your fault…" As she spoke, she could feel a comforting hand on her shoulder, but instead of noticing Tess behind her, she found herself collapsing to the ground, her tears falling and her sadness overwhelming.

The young girl continued to cry hysterically, her tears falling freely. After a few moments she looked up at Tess. "M-my parents were friends of theirs," Jenny said softly as the angel got down on her knees and wrapped the sobbing girl comfortingly in her arms.

Andrew approached them by this time and he touched the girl's head as she buried her face against Tess' shoulder.

"Jenny," he said softly causing her to turn around.

"Y-you took him away," she managed to whisper.

"Yes, I did," Andrew said softly.

"W-why?"

"Baby Andrew didn't want to, but your friend was very sick, and he knew of the risks," Tess said gently as she brushed Jenny's tangled hear out from in front of her face.

The teenager looked into the sad green eyes of the Angel of Death and then looked at Tess. "H-he was a good guy," she said. "He wasn't usually someone who would do this. H-he loved his mom and dad, and with Mr. Martin being sick…"

"I know and he knows that too," Andrew said gently. "You were always his friend."

"Our families go way back, you know, my dad and mom own the town store, and well, we were always invited to the Martin family's home when they would have parties and stuff." She looked at Andrew with sadness in her face and after a few moments passed, she shook her head as she tried to get back on her feet. "He died in my arms," as the words escaped from between her lips, she once again collapsed onto the floor, the tears streaming down over her face, and she wept, her trembling body now being held comfortingly by the Angel of Death, as he could feel the tears now streaming from beneath his sorrow filled green eyes.

"I failed, Father," he whispered under his breath, and unbeknownst to him, Jenny had heard those words and when she looked up, she could feel his tears falling against her face.

Present

"Andrew?" Mary spoke; her voice was soft as the angel stopped speaking. When he looked at her, she found the courage to speak. "You didn't fail."

"Yes, I did, Mary," Andrew said softly. "I tried to talk to him, and tried to help him, but he didn't listen to me. I guess; I didn't do enough."

"You said he used free will, and you said an angel can't control what we decide to do," Mary said. "You couldn't stop me from asking for a cigarette, but you did make me realize that I was acting foolish." As she spoke, she could feel the tears in her own eyes. "Andrew, I'm sorry, forgive me, I never meant to hurt you when I did what I did."

Andrew looked at her, his sadness evident. After a few moments of silence had passed, he nodded weakly.

Mary sighed sadly as she looked out across the meadow. "When I was little, I used to daydream about places like this. Arizona is hardly paradise, I mean, I've had more run-ins with cacti than I thought was possible."

"Many people think the cacti are beautiful," Andrew said.

"Yeah, but they have thorns, just like some people do," Mary said sadly. "They may be beautiful to look at, but when you get closer, then you realize that they are pretty, but they can damage or hurt someone..."

"…Just like people sometimes do," Andrew said softly. "Some people, Mary, are beautiful to look at, but then they can damage someone else, just like those girls tried to do with you and Brad did with Kirby."

"Andrew, there is one difference, though," she said.

"There is?"

She nodded. "Do you what the Saguaro blossom is?"

He shook his head.

"The blossom comes in the springtime and these are the flowers that are on top of those really large cacti. They are some of the most beautiful flowers in the world," Mary paused before she was able to continue. "You are like that flower, Andrew, you're beautiful and majestic like that which towers above the world and looks down upon us with love and beauty and teaches us of our mortality, of that which we can become and reminds us of that road we have already gone down."

He looked at her and smiled, his eyes filling with tears. "You see me as being like that flower?"

"Symbolically, yes," Mary said nodding her head. "I used to write poetry when I lived there and the Saguaro blossoms, the flowers of these large cacti were my favorite subjects to write about. I remember as a little girl how I would look up and see these gigantic cacti, and I remembered how small I felt in comparison. After we moved away and came to this town, I realized that I missed it because that was where I felt I belonged, and here, I'm just a stranger. My poetry is misunderstood, my love of music is overlooked, and my only friends are those I left behind."

"I understand now," Andrew said softly.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Mary, thank you," Andrew said gently. "You made me understand why you needed to feel as though you belonged. It wasn't that you wanted to smoke; it was that you felt alone. Now, I can see it, you're lonely, just like Kirby was lonely, and he was afraid to tell someone how afraid he truly felt."

"I think most kids are afraid though," Mary said softly. "People don't try to understand us, they see us as hooligans or something, but they don't understand that we have problems and we just want to be accepted in this world."

"I know, at least now I do," Andrew said gently as he reached for her hand and was smiling weakly as she offered it. As he curled his fingers around her hand, he could see some scars that were across the side of her hand, the scars from the cacti that she had described. Seconds passed and he could feel the pressure as she squeezed his hand, and they stood up.

Within seconds, they were once again standing on the street in the town where they had been when she had first approached him. They looked around and could feel the drizzle of rain as it had started to fall and they ran towards one of the businesses that lined the streets.

"Andrew?" She spoke once they were inside a large dress shop.

"Yes, Mary?"

"Thank you," she said softly as she reached out and hugged him with all her might.

Andrew wrapped his arms around her and looked down at her. "Thank you, too." When he could see that she was looking up at him, he brushed the tears from beneath her sad blue eyes.

"I guess this is it, huh? You're off to help someone else?" She asked softly.

"Not exactly, do you remember what I asked you in God's Country?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, do you still want to help me?" He asked.

"Are you kidding? Like you even have to ask me that," she smiled and nodded.

"I take that as a 'yes'," he asked.

She smiled weakly. "If there is any possible way I can honor my friends then, yes, that's my answer."

"Great, then I'll meet you after school tomorrow and we'll get started," he said and smiled. Before she could say anything else to him, he had disappeared and she was left alone. In her hand was a small pink flower, and when she inspected it closer, she realized what kind of flower it was and tears stung her eyes as she brought the blossom to her nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance.

*****

As promised, Mary emerged from the school building the following afternoon and smiled when she saw Andrew standing next to a pick-up truck. As she ran over to where he was standing, she called out to him. "Hey, Saguaro, how goes it?"

"What?" Andrew looked at her somewhat confused once she had reached him.

"Saguaro, that's the nickname I picked for you. Don't angels have nicknames?" Mary asked. "My friends back home used to call me 'Tinker Bell' from 'Peter Pan'."

"Why?" He asked.

"I dunno, I guess because I always liked to tinker around with things like models and my dad used to let me put together bookshelves and things. Now you have to tell me yours, Andrew."

"Do I?" He looked at her and arched an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, just tell me, I mean; we're friends, right?" She asked as they got into the pickup and he drove them in the direction of the local print shop.

As he looked over at her, he could see the isolation evident on her face, for the first time since meeting her, he noticed that she had started to relax and he knew that she was in need of a friend. Finally, he smiled weakly as two words emerged. "Angel Boy."

"What?"

"My friend, Tess calls me 'Angel Boy'," Andrew said softly.

"You never told anyone that, huh?" Mary asked.

"No," Andrew said softly.

"It's obvious," she smiled weakly. "Andrew, if you don't want me to call you 'Saguaro' then I won't, but I think that it's a pretty nickname and most of my friends back home actually have nicknames too. We called Jenny, 'Sunshine' because she's always so cheerful, and then we called Joshua, 'Einstein', because he's so smart and Kirby…" her voice trailed and she could feel the sadness enveloping her.

"Peacock," Andrew supplied and Mary nodded slowly.

"I can't believe he's gone, I mean; when you told me about him yesterday, I kept hoping that it was about someone else, but then…"

"I'm sorry, Mary, if I could have changed these events, then I would have," he said softly as he took his hand off the steering wheel and touched her shoulder.

"I know it's not your fault, but it's all like a bad dream," she said. "When I told my parents last night, they could completely understand how horrible it must have been for me to have to hear this."

"Did they know Kirby?"

"Yeah, everyone did, my parents and the Martins were pretty good friends, and of course in that small town, just about everyone knew everyone else. It was nice, not like here," she sighed deeply. "I wish we could just move back and let things be as they were before. The girls from that group gave me a hard time today because of what happened yesterday, they called me a 'clutz' and 'stupid' because to them I failed."

"You didn't," Andrew said.

"Perhaps, but sometimes it feels like it," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said gently as he pulled into a parking lot for the print shop. As he shut the motor off, he looked at her. "Mary, I never meant for you to be hurt by all of this."

"I know; you probably needed to talk about it as much as I needed to hear about it." Once she had spoken those words, they got out. "Besides, it's really no big deal. I mean; I should be used to being an outcast, it looks like it's going to be the story of my life at least until I get out of school."

"Mary, you don't mean that, do you?" He asked gently.

"I don't know what I mean, Andrew, I feel numb about everything," she whispered. "It's just not easy being a kid. I guess you never were a kid, so you wouldn't really understand any of this."

"No, I suppose I don't really know all about the pressures young people face, but I try my best to understand how you feel," Andrew said gently.

"You know, my friends back home would probably never believe me in a million years if I told them that I'm hanging out with the Angel of Death and I'm actually having fun. You know, life is hard, but I think you're really great, you know that?" Mary said as she closed the passenger side door.

"As are you, 'Tinker Bell'," Andrew said, his eyes sparkling and he smiled gently at her as he joined her.

"So, does that mean that you're OK with me calling you 'Saguaro'?"

"I suppose it does, but don't offer me any cactus jelly, please, because I'm allergic to it," Andrew smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder and they went inside, both of them laughing.

*****

The following days, Mary and Andrew worked to help the students at the school say no to smoking. As they tried to make the community aware of the issue, Andrew noticed that Mary's heart and soul went into the project, and though many of the other kids scoffed it off, he could see the positive effect this was having on her. She was starting to feel good about her work, she could not help but notice that many of the kids were still avoiding her, and her dependency on the friendship she shared with Andrew was becoming all the more strong.

As she and Andrew had organized a campus club and that afternoon would be their first meeting. As soon as the final bell sounded and the school started to empty out, Mary practically ran to the classroom where the meeting was to be held.

As she arrived she could see that Andrew was standing there waiting and after a peek inside the empty classroom, she sighed deeply and looked at him. "Andrew, do you think anyone will come?"

It was obvious by the tone in her voice and the fact that she had called him Andrew and not 'Saguaro' that she was sad, and seemed at a loss. "Mary, the work you did on this project will reap results, just don't give up."

"But, what's the point?" She asked weakly as she turned back and looked inside the empty classroom. "They're right, I'm an outcast. I might as well bury myself in the library and stay there until graduation." After she said that, she looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Mary, they weren't right," Andrew said softly as he reached over and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. When she didn't turn around and look back at him, he reached over and turned her around so she would face him. "Don't give up."

"It's hard not to," she whispered and went inside the room and sat down at a desk. As soon as she disappeared inside, Bobbie and a small group of her friends came down the hall and stopped when they saw Andrew standing in front of the classroom.

"So this is where Mary is having her lame meeting," Bobbie said loudly and cast a look inside the classroom to see Mary sitting at a desk with her head down. "I figured as much," she said to some of the other girls.

"You cast her aside because she won't do what you want," Andrew said, upon overhearing her words.

"Yeah, so?" Bobbie said.

"Did you know that she lost a very dear of hers to smoking?" Andrew asked.

Bobbie looked at the other girls and shrugged her shoulders. "No."

"It's true, before Mary and her family moved here, she had some very good friends back where she lived, and one of them had severe asthma. He tried to fit in, and died."

Bobbie looked at Andrew. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"No, I'm not, Bobbie," Andrew said. "Mary's friend Kirby died some weeks ago, and I told her about him about a week ago."

"But you were the guy we all saw on the street, the one…" Bobbie's voice trailed off.

"You said wouldn't hurt a fly," one of the other girls said.

"Yeah," a third girl said.

"Yes, my name is Andrew, and I want you to know that what you did to Mary really hurt her," he said softly. "Imagine moving from here to another place and trying to find a way to fit in or to belong. People don't want to be accepted based on conditions, they just want to be accepted and treated with respect simply for the merits of being who they are. Mary is a very good person, she's a very caring person."

Bobbie looked at him. "You really got to know her after we tried to initiate her, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, and I found a true friend in her," he smiled gently. "But, soon, I will have to leave here, and Mary will have to continue to make the best of things on her own." As he spoke he started to glow.

"Woah, wicked!" One of the girls shouted out as stared at him.

"Oh my God, you're an angel," a second girl said and Andrew nodded.

"Mary actually asked an angel for cigarettes?" Bobbie's eyes widened, and she looked up at him as though she was going to pass out, but hidden in her expression was a sense of awe.

"Yes, but I'm not just an angel, Bobbie, I'm an Angel of Death, and I have taken many people Home to God because they made lifestyle choices that eventually killed them," Andrew said softly. "Maybe you should ask Mary about her friend, Kirby."

"Oh geez, I don't know what to say," one of the girls said looking at Andrew.

"Well, Melissa, tell Mary, don't tell me," Andrew said softly and without looking back at the others she nodded and walked slowly into the room.

Andrew was left looking at the four girls who were still standing in the hallway. "You will always have a choice as to where your lives will go. God loves you, regardless of what choices you make; He will always accept you into His love without having to prove anything. You girls have grown up with conditions being placed on you, now you realize that there is no such thing as being an outcast, there are only levels of which people connect to one another. Now you can walk away from someone without giving yourselves the chance to know them, or you can try and you might discover a friend for life."

"We really screwed up, didn't we?" Bobbie asked.

"No, but you did make some unhealthy choices, and now you must decide now where you will go from here," he said.

Bobbie nodded and stared for a few moments before she walked slowly inside the room.

*****

Mary was still sitting alone in the classroom as the five girls slowly filtered in. She kept her head down, but when Bobbie spoke, she quickly stood up and turned around.

"Is this where the anti-smoking club meets?"

As she made eye contact with the other girls, she found herself nodding. "Y-yes, but I was thinking about canceling it."

"Why?" Melissa asked. "You know, I was in a club once, and the first meeting was a flop, and then by the second or third meeting we didn't have a free seat in the room."

"She's right, Mary," a third girl said. "Sometimes it takes a while for things to catch on, and sometimes it takes an angel to help us catch on."

"Yeah," Mary said softly and looked towards the door. When she saw that Andrew was now gone, she could feel the tears in her eyes. "Andrew's really cool."

"And to think that he's the Angel of Death," Bobbie said, but she pulled the package of cigarettes out of her pocket and tossed them to the ground. "You know, I didn't like smoking that much anyway. My younger brother always said that I smelled like I licked an ashtray."

As soon as the package was on the floor she smashed it with the toe of her tennis shoe. Three of the other girls pulled similar packages out of their pockets and tossed them to the ground as well. One girl hesitated.

"I'm not going to do it," she said, her face earnest.

"Well, then you're not welcome at an anti-smoking club then," Bobbie said and put her hands on her hips, her voice filled with stubbornness.

"Wait a minute, you guys are just gonna toss me out? Just like that?"` Melissa asked.

"No," Mary interjected, "but we will try to convince you to give it up."

"I will not give up my candy cigarettes!" Melissa shouted, and then when she saw the shock on the faces of the other five girls, she burst out laughing. "Gotcha!" With that she pulled out a package and opened it and began to pull out pieces of white candies in the shape of cigarettes.

"Melissa, what's the story, I thought you were smoking like the rest of us," Bobbie asked.

"I was for awhile, but I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with asthma, and then I told him I had been smoking cigarettes. Instead of getting mad, or getting me into trouble with my parents, he suggested that I try these candies, and that it might help wean me off the nicotine. So after a hard time with it, I found out that it worked, but now I'm addicted to candy cigarettes."

"What would your dentist say?" Mary asked.

"Well, these are sugar free, so I won't get cavities either," Melissa said smiling. "They look like the real thing too, but sure taste a lot better."

The six girls laughed, and from the other side of the room, Andrew watched in angelic form. Seconds later Adam, his fellow Angel of Death, appeared.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Andrew, who do you think Melissa's doctor was?"

"You?"

"Who else?" Adam smiled impishly and the two angels disappeared.

Epilogue

A week later, Mary Stevens returned to Franklin with her parents. All around her, she could see the blossoms of the Saguaros as it was still April and the flowers were budding, their beauty and majesty filling her with joy as she remembered her meeting with Andrew and the last day she saw him.

She watched as her parents walked towards the Johnson's store, and after a few moments of staring off in that direction, she looked around and could see two women standing near a ruby red Cadillac convertible.

Slowly she walked towards them, and began to listen as they spoke, their words filtering across the square and reaching her ears.

"Miss Wings, what are we going to do now? Angel Boy's not even here to help get my baby back in working order." The older of the two was speaking and she was sitting inside and turning the key impatiently. "I can't start it at all."

"You probably need some water for it, your car's probably not used to Arizona climate," Mary found herself speaking as she came even closer.

The two women turned and looked at her. "You seem to know a lot about cars," the older of the two said.

"No, not, really, but I noticed you have Nevada tags on it, so I figured that you were just passing through here. I think cars are like people, they react to the weather the same as we do. Around here, if we don't get enough water, then we dry up and eventually look like one of those prickly pears over there."

The two women began to chuckle as Mary smiled and introduced herself. "My name is Mary."

"You know about this kind of thing, the weather, I mean?" The younger woman asked.

"Yeah, I grew up here, but my family and I moved back east about a year ago. We came back to see friends for a few weeks," Mary said smiling. "We just got in this afternoon actually."

"I see, well, my name is Tess, and this is Monica," the elder of the two spoke, and Mary found herself breaking into a large grin.

"I know you, I mean, I heard about you guys a few weeks ago, you're angels, right?" she smiled as the two of them nodded. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but see, I met Andrew about three weeks ago, he's been helping me get an anti-smoking campaign started at my school. He also helped me realize how stupid peer pressure is because he told me about my old friend, Kirby Martin."

Tess smiled and nodded.

"You know, Andrew was very sad about what happened here, but through his story, I was able to remember Kirby, and how much of a good friend he was," Mary said softly.

Tess smiled as she looked at Monica and spoke. "Why don't you go over to the store and get some water for the car? Something tells me that Mary's right."

Monica did as Tess said and left them. As soon as the younger angel was gone, Mary looked around the area and then back at Tess. "I remember so much about this place. It's weird because I feel like I've never been away from here," she said trying to find something to say to one of Andrew's friends that wouldn't sound utterly stupid.

"It's always nice to come home after being away for so long, isn't it?" Tess asked and pointed towards the gazebo and Mary could see that Jenny was walking towards them.

"Is that Jenny?" Mary asked as she nodded upon hearing Tess' question.

"Yes, baby, why don't you go over and say 'hello' to her?" Tess said softly.

Mary did not hear the rest of the angel's words; she practically broke into a run and nearly tackled Jenny once she had reached her. "Hey, long time no see, Sunshine."

"W-what are you doing here, Mary?" Jenny asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Anyway, my parents and I drove down today because I wanted to visit everyone," Mary said softly as she lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "I have something really intense to tell you, I met an angel."

"You met Andrew," Jenny said.

"Yeah, but how'd you know?" Mary asked.

"I-uh, told her," Andrew's voice and the two of them turned around and looked up to see that he was now standing near them and Mary broke into a small smile.

"You know you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Mary said feigning to be upset, but Jenny only offered her friend a sly smirk.

"You forget that he's an Angel of Death, Mary, it's part of his job to sneak up on people like that," Jenny said dramatically and both girls began to giggle.

"No it's not," Andrew said and looked at the two girls all the while trying look injured because of Jenny's comment. Eventually, his earnest expression melted away and they could see the embarrassed smile that now covered his handsome face.

"Wait," Mary said abruptly. "I thought you were mad at him. I mean, from what you told me in the meadow, Andrew. Jenny was angry. What on earth happened?"

"We talked, a little bit about everything, he told me that you guys had met, and that he had been helping you start the anti-smoking campaign at your school. Anyway, after he left you, he came back here so that I would have a chance to really talk about Kirby, Brad, and what had happened here," Jenny said softly and she looked at Andrew. "I blamed you for what Kirby did, because I guess, deep down inside, I blamed myself for it, but through everything, you told me that I wasn't at fault for it, and you helped me to see that."

"I only told you the truth, Jenny," Andrew said softly.

"Yeah, but it helped," she said.

"Yeah, sort of like the flowers in the poetry I used to write. Do you remember?" Mary asked. "Andrew's like that flower that's on top of those cactuses." With sadness in her voice, she continued to speak, her voice cracking as her words emerged. "I nearly did the same thing Kirby did, Jenny, I nearly gave into pressure instead of following my heart. In fact, that's how Andrew and I met. I wanted to belong in my new school in the worst way. I wanted to find my place in this world."

Jenny embraced her friend. "You know something, as long as you have me and 'Einstein' as friends, 'Tinker Bell', you're always going to have a place here, you're always going to belong. So what? OK, so the miles separate us, but that's why we have email, letters, and the telephone, they help us stay in touch. I mean; it's not like we said good-bye forever once you and your folks moved away." She looked at Andrew. "We'll see Kirby again one day, right?"

"You will Jenny, one day you will," Andrew said gently.

"You really told him about the Saguaro?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, and about my poetry, and about how that flower is so beautiful," Mary said softly as she felt Andrew wrapping her in his arms and hugging her.

"You're leaving now, aren't you?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," he said softly. "One day, you'll see me again."

"Before?"

He nodded and Mary looked at her friend. "Jenny, we'll see a part of Andrew every year in April with Saguaros blossom and we can see the beauty of the majestic flowers on top of the cacti."

Jenny smiled. "You know, I will leave the poetry and symbolism to Mary, and I'll just say thank you, Andrew."

The angel hugged her and before he turned around to walk away, he spoke, his words gentle. "God loves you, both of you."

As soon as he was gone, Jenny and Mary embraced once again; the tears falling from beneath their eyes, but when their hug loosened, two small white flowers drifted onto the ground and as the girls bent down to retrieve them, they glanced skyward and could see a white dove taking to flight and disappearing over the desert horizon.

The End

Back