Angels on Earth
by Cyberchao X

August 13, 1997
A beach in southern California

“Promise me we’ll be together forever!” the little girl begged her companion.

“Of course, Megan,” the boy, four years her senior, replied, “I promise. Together forever.”

July 20, 2009
A ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea

18-year-old Megan Wako, along with her best friend, 19-year-old Christy Johnston, was searching for someone from her past. “You’re not going to find this guy,” Christy told Megan. “Why are you even doing this?”

“I may not be able to remember much about him…but I know he’ll remember me, and he’ll be able to bring it all back.”

“You haven’t seen him for six years. He might not even look the same. You probably don’t look the same. Has that man been following us?” She pointed out a man who looked to be in his early thirties, maybe late twenties.

“You’re paranoid. I’m going to sort this all out. Excuse me,” she called to the man, “my friend here has this strange idea that you’ve been following us. Is she just being crazy?”

“A bit. I may have looked over towards you two a few times. Not often you see a couple of civilians of your age in this part of the world. Er, that is…I guess I’m a civilian now, too, aren’t I?”

“Oh, you were serving over here? I was looking for someone I knew when I was younger. He became a soldier. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to remember his name… I’m Megan, by the way. Megan Wako.”

“Nice to meet you, Megan. I’m Christopher Olerson; you can call me Chris. Exactly why are you headed for Israel, then?”

“Oh. Well, there was this one thing…”

March 16, 2003
Israel

“Dr. Wako, what are you doing?” A sixteen-year-old boy was standing on the side of a road. On the double-yellow line of the road stood a scientist and his two children, a fourteen-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl. They had their index fingers extended to the sky.

“It should be around here somewhere…”

“What should be around here somewhere?” the older boy asked, crossing the road when there was a break in the cars.

“Why, Jacob’s Anti-Gravity Spot, my boy! No, you won’t find it on that side of the street, I’m sure.”

“Could you please get out of the middle of the street?” the teen assistant asked, crossing again. “It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Right, right.” There was a three-story brick building on that side of the road. “Could I have been off slightly?”

“What exactly is Jacob’s Anti-Gravity Spot, sir?”

“I’ve told you a thousand times not to be so formal with me. As for your question, it is my theory that ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ was not a ladder at all, but rather simply a place where it was possible to ascend to heaven as if one had wings. There should still be some vestiges of that power remaining.”

“You mean the story where Jacob wrestles the angel? You actually believe that the events of the Bible happened?”

“I believe that they’ve been embellished a bit, but…there are things in this world that cannot be explained. Like that,” he said, as the fourteen-year old had been hopping towards the brick building and on his third jump had crashed through a third-floor window. “I think we’ve found it. You okay, Steve?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. This glass is so old that it pretty much just crumbled back into sand when I hit it.”

“Hmm…” The older boy went up to the building and tried jumping up. He made it most of the way up the side of the building and was able to use the brickwork to easily propel himself high enough to see onto the roof.

“What’s it like?” Megan asked.

“It kind of feels like there’s a really strong wind coming from directly below me. You might want to be careful, though.”

“Stand by to catch me if I fall?”

He smiled. “Always.”

July 21, 2009

Megan tripped over something, falling to the deck, and Christy fell on top of her. Chris had to hold back laughter. “Are you okay?”

“You’re laughing.”

“I’m sorry, it was just kind of silly seeing the two of you fall like that. Now, you’re not hurt at all?” he asked, helping her up.

“Nah, I’m fine. I’ve suffered worse.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me how I am?” Christy asked indignantly.

“You didn’t fall directly on the deck.”

“We’ll be arriving tomorrow. Keep in touch?” Megan asked. “Here’s my cell.”

“Well, I have nowhere in particular that I have to go. And I’m kind of intrigued by this phenomenon you were referring to.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“Think nothing of it.”

September 1, 2006
Southern California

“Sweet 16, and never had…well, anything. Come on, Meg, you’ve got to learn to live a little!”

“Cut it out, Chris; you know full well why I haven’t gone out with any of the boys from our school.”

“Yeah, I know; you want to wait for ‘Mr. Right’. But what if he never comes? How do you know that you’ll meet your Mr. Right?”

“Because…I’ve already met him.” They started across the street, when something made Megan stop. “Uh, Megan…you OK? Megan? MEGAN!!”

July 22, 2009
Israel

“So, this is Israel…a nice place when it isn’t under attack.”

“It’s been so long…I hope I can still find the place. Chris…thanks for coming along with me.”

“You’re welcome,” both the male Chris and the female one said at once.

“Uh…”

A tone from Christopher’s cell phone interrupted the awkward silence. “Must be an update…I try to keep up with my favorite teams even when I’m away. These things can be so useful…well, well, it seems the Angels have won yet again. Still undefeated in the second half…”

“Oh, are you from SoCal, too?”

“Yeah. You’re from around there?”

Megan nodded. There’s no way he could be…

June 18, 2003
Southern California

“You silly, you can’t go into the Army yet; you’re not even seventeen!”

“I’ve got it all taken care of. For all intents and purposes, my date of birth is now July 13, 1984. An easy enough ruse for me to pull off.” The boy did look as though he could pass for nineteen.

“This is silly. You’re not even out of high school. And how can you outfox them like that? This isn’t World War II, you know!”

“Megan, this is just something I have to do. I promise I’ll come back in one piece. And alive.”

“No, you can’t go!” Megan was in tears. “I’ll be so lonely without you!”

“You won’t be lonely, sweetie. You still have your parents, and Steve.”

“I don’t want them. I want you! Please…don’t leave me…”

“I’ll come back. I promise you.”

“I’ve had enough of your promises! By doing this, you’re breaking a promise you made to me.”

“I am?”

“Six years ago, on the beach. Remember? Together forever. Don’t you dare leave me now.”

The soldier-to-be sighed. “I had a feeling you’d get like this.” He took a locket out of his pocket. “So I saved a piece for you to keep here. Long hair isn’t Army regulation, after all.” The inside of the heart-shaped locket contained a lock of his curly hair. Engraved on the outside was “C+M”. “Look for news about the 249th, okay? That’s where I’m going to be. Or rather, the absence of news—any news is likely to be very bad.”

July 22, 2009

Megan fingered the locket. “We’re here.” The brick building had fallen into disrepair. “The building was nicer back then…there’s where Steve crashed through the window. So it should be…” She felt for the wind that signified the area where gravity was almost naught. Finding it, she leapt into the air and gracefully pirouetted about. Christy just stared, mouth agape, but Chris saw something wrong. A sudden fault in the beautiful aerial dance.

March 16, 2003

“What’s it like?” Megan asked.

“It kind of feels like there’s a really strong wind coming from directly below me. You might want to be careful, though; you have to stay right in the center or you’ll fall too quickly. Either way, it’s kind of a quick drop.”

“Stand by to catch me if I fall?”

He smiled. “Always.” She jumped up and spun around. “Wow…this is incredible!”

“Be careful up there, Meg!”

“You worry too much!” Then she stumbled, and the stream of air or whatever it was seemed to have trouble supporting her. “Whoa…” She fell.

“Are you alright?”

“I should be asking you that question. I’m fine, of course. Thanks for being there for me, Chris.”

July 22, 2009

Rushing forward, Chris practically ran up the wall, pushing off of it to catch the falling Megan. “Must’ve gotten even weaker,” he suggested. “You okay?”

She nodded in response to the question. “Nah, I just forgot how fast the descent could be…” He remembered, though. “Say, I never asked you…how old are you?”

“Oh? I’m twenty-five; just turned last week.”

“Really? You don’t look 25.”

“…I don’t?”

“…You look older.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’ve been told that before.”

July 13, 2009
Southern California

“Hello?”

“Hello again, Mrs. Wako—or should I say, Mom. Is Megan still staying here during the summers, or does she have her own place now that she’s a college student? I thought she might want to celebrate my ‘25th’ birthday with me.”

“…Actually, she’s only just going to be starting college this fall. There was…an accident.” She seemed apologetic, knowing how touchy the subject of car accidents was with Chris. “On the day of her sixteenth birthday. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going…even now she still doesn’t have all of her memories back. I’m not even sure if she’d remember you.”

“I highly doubt that she’d forget me…”

“The doctors said that we shouldn’t bring up anything that could provoke intense bursts of powerful memories. She remembers you to some degree, though; otherwise she wouldn’t have gone off to the Middle East to search for you.”

“She didn’t know that I was coming home?”

“Like I said, we’ve been trying to let her recover the memories by herself. That means no contact with you as such…”

“As such?”

“If you run into her, and she remembers…show her this.” It was a newspaper clipping, the corrections section dated September 2, 2006.

July 22, 2009

“So then, you were born in 1986?”

“Y-no, 1984. Did you hit your head?”

“Not recently.” Megan took out a cigarette and started to fumble around with a lighter, but Chris snatched it away. “Sorry…I’m not really fond of cigarettes. Besides, aren’t you a little young to be smoking?”

“I’m only four years younger than you, you know.” She emphasized the last two words, and Chris realized that she knew who he was.

“Megan…I’m sorry. I had to pretend it was the first time we met. The doctors’ orders…”

“I know. No intense bursts of powerful memories. Wait…how did you?”

“I went back to California. You had already left for Iraq by then, though. I got back to Iraq as quickly as I could, figuring that you’d probably come here next…”

“…No.” The word was almost silent, and Megan’s eyes went wide. “No, that’s not right…you, you’re an angel, aren’t you…”

September 1, 2006

“Sweet 16, and never had…well, anything. Come on, Meg, you’ve got to learn to live a little!”

“Cut it out, Chris; you know full well why I haven’t gone out with any of the boys from our school.”

“Yeah, I know; you want to wait for ‘Mr. Right’. But what if he never comes? How do you know that you’ll meet your Mr. Right?”

“Because…I’ve already met him.” They started across the street, where a newspaper box showed the latest updates on the war in Iraq. “249th Regiment wiped out”, read a small headline in the lower right-hand corner of the front page. Megan froze, shocked. No way…he promised he’d come back alive…he can’t be dead…he just can’t be… She didn’t even see the car coming or hear her best friend’s screams. Then everything went black.

September 3, 2006

Wha…where am I? Who am I? She overheard a conversation.

“Even if Megan does wake up, she’ll probably have severe memory loss. Her brain got hit pretty bad, but other than the amnesia, she should be able to lead a normal life if she does recover. You should probably let her try to rediscover her own memories, though. Any reminders of the past could bring an uncontrollable flood of returning memories which could lead to shock.”

Megan…is that me? I’m Megan? …Yes, that sounds right. But how did I get here? And why is he saying “if” I wake up? I’m awake right now! Tell him, Mom, tell him that I’m awake right now!

July 22, 2009

“Oh, no…that memory just returned, didn’t it? The accident…your mother warned me of this. She told me to show you this.” He pulled out the newspaper clipping. She read it:

In yesterday’s paper, we mistakenly reported that the 249th Army Regiment had been wiped out by an enemy attack. It was actually the 248th Regiment that was attacked. We apologize for unnecessarily causing grief to those with loved ones in the 249th.

“Chris…” Megan broke down in tears. “Chris, I’ve missed you so much…”

“I know, sweetie. I’ve missed you too. Every day…I thought about you every day. I love you.”

“I love you too. Together forever, like we promised when we were children?”

“Don’t you know it. By the way, whose cigarettes were those?”

“Mine, and she hates them, too,” Christy said, “Can’t imagine what would’ve happened if she was wrong about you and she had to actually light up.” She went to take them back from Megan. “Uh, Meg…your hand…” Megan looked at her hand, and was surprised to find a ring that hadn’t been on her finger before. “Chris…?” she asked expectantly, and he nodded.

January 11, 1998
Southern California

“So after a year as Christopher’s foster parents, you want to adopt him as your son, correct?”

“Yes,” Dr. Wako said, “We love Chris, and our children have really taken to him. I’m sure they’d love for him to be their older brother.”

“No!” a tiny voice cut in.

“Megan?”

“Sorry, Dad, I tried to keep her busy, but she insisted on coming in here,” Steve said.

“You don’t want me as your brother?” Chris asked, seemingly hurt.

Megan shook her head. “If we were brother and sister, then we couldn’t get married! I want to grow up to be Mrs. Olerson!”

Her parents laughed. “Fine, fine…he’ll still be Chris Olerson. But we can’t let him be moved to another foster family, you know?”

“Of course not! We promised we’d stay together forever!”

“It was her idea,” Chris quickly said, not wanting to be accused of taking advantage of the young girl’s innocence.

“I’m not surprised,” Mrs. Wako replied. “That sounds like something she’d do.”

The three kids left the room. “Do you think she’ll remember long enough to hold him to it?” Dr. Wako asked.

“Probably not, but you never know. I’m betting she finds someone else that she loves even more before she gets the chance, though.”

December 19, 2009
San Diego

“We are gathered here today to join in holy matrimony…”

Author’s notes: I don’t really know much about the armed forces, so that bit had to be a little vague. The flashbacks that reappear with more details later on do so because Megan has remembered something new. I’d always planned to have them be from southern California, though it wasn’t until later that I saw the opportunity to use that to toss in a third reference to angels—a recurring theme I decided to go with to allow for a better title than the original one, Anti-Gravity. The ages for each event were chosen first; the years chosen were crafted to fit around the start of combat operations in Iraq in 2003 (the opening was originally going to be 1996, but that would’ve messed things up with Chris going off to the Army.) And for the record, Wako is pronounced like Waco, Texas, not like wacko. This story is a bit odd, though…but what do you expect from something I came up with half of in my sleep? The falling down on the boat, the flashback to the beach as kids, and the flashback to the initial search for Jacob’s Anti-Gravity Spot—yes, complete with the reference to the biblical tale of Jacob and the angel—are all culled from dreams, just half a day before this was posted up here. Hope you enjoyed it.