Sand Angel

Somewhere, beyond the human world, in a place that cannot be seen, heard, or touched other than by those who reside there, a new face appeared. A young boy, maybe 10-years-old, with a mess of dirty blonde hair resting upon his head and vivid, curious blue eyes stood silently, taking in his surroundings and looking a bit lost. A short distance away, a young woman watched him with interest. They locked eyes for a moment before the young boy looked away with what was probably uncharacteristic shyness. The woman smiled faintly and approached the child, who offered a hesitant grin of his own.

"Hi…" he mumbled, more to himself than to this new stranger.

"Hello and welcome. I can see you're a bit lost, are you new?" The lady asked kindly.

"Umm…yeah. I don't know where I am. Can…Can you help me find my mom and dad?" This time, the boy looked up with a bigger, hopeful smile that broke the other's heart. Her smile faded and she stooped down to his level. He picked up on this change instantly and donned a worried expression when she sighed.

"Honey…" the woman began slowly, brushing her long, wavy brown locks behind her shoulders "do you not know what's happened?"

"No…"

"You're in Heaven sweetheart. Your mom and dad aren't here. Not yet."

The boy's blue eyes grew wider with every word and he spoke with a quiver in his voice. "Who…are you?" he asked.

"Karrington." She answered with her smile slightly returning. "And who are you?"

"Quentin." He whispered, looking away.

"Are you okay, Quentin?" Karrington asked.

"Am I ever gonna see them again?" Quentin asked in a treacherously shaking voice that was threatening to break if he didn't get the answer his heart needed.

Karrington sighed for what seemed to her like the hundredth time that day. "I won't lie to you, buddy, not for a while. You'll see them when they come to Heaven."

Quentin's welled with tears. "So I'm gonna be alone until then?" he asked.

Karrington shook her head. "No, of course you will not be alone. I'll be here with you, and I'm sure you can make new friends. Did you even notice the halo above your head? Or beautiful wings you have?"

Looking up with a gasp, Quentin absorbed the sight of the golden ring floating three or four inches above his head and the large white wings now part of his body. He also noticed the pure white gown he was wearing that reached down to his ankles.

"You're an angel, sweetheart." Karrington said softly with a gentle, calm smile. Quentin was put at ease by that smile and returned it, a little smaller.

"An angel…" he echoed, awe taking over his face.

Karrington straightened up, and Quentin noticed for the first time her halo, gown, and wings too. He must've been pretty shaken up, because now they seemed impossible to miss.

Holding a hand out to the boy, Karrington said "Come, I'll show you around."

This time Quentin's smile reached his eyes as he took her hand and nodded, saying "Thank you. I'd like that."

Quentin didn't know it, but at the exact same time he was exploring Heaven with Karrington, life for his family was Hell on Earth.

Robert Toronzo was popular in high school. He was the star quarterback on the football team in addition to his good looks, and needless to say, had no problem getting attention from the female students at Snowy River High School. But one in particular caught his attention. Isobel Harris was a book-smart, witty sophomore when she met Robert, and like a fairytale, it was love at first sight. Years later, on a beach in Florida, Robert proposed to his high school sweetheart and they had their only child, a boy whom they named Quentin, two years later.

Life has a way of giving you all you could ever ask for and then yanking it away in a matter of seconds, and when a drunk man sped down a quiet road where a little blonde-haired boy was swinging a stick as if it were a sword, life itself was yanked from the child's grasp barely after he even got a grip on it. The drunk man, whether it was the fear or alcohol, didn't find the need to stop, and left Quentin for dead.

The funeral was held that Saturday, five days after the tragedy, in a church near the Toronzo's home. The weather was bright, clear and cloudless on that day, as if it was trying hard to be happy in the midst of this obviously melancholy event. Robert and Isobel's fairytale life was changed in an instant to a Shakespearean tragedy; tear-jerking sad, and world famous. Perhaps it was the injustice of it all that drew nearly the whole town to the funeral. Some didn't even know Quentin, but came to pay their respects anyway.

The boy's short biography was told, along with some personal stories about him that caused tears and laughter and sometimes both from those listening. Person after person spoke about how Quentin influenced their lives in small or profound ways, and everybody gave their condolences to the mother and father. Quentin was then buried and one by one, people dispersed until only Robert and Isobel were left staring at the granite stone inscribed with

Rest in Peace

Quentin George Toronzo

January 12th, 2002- May 3rd, 2012

You are dearly loved and forever missed.

Eventually, they wordlessly turned to leave, hand in hand, with red eyes and tear-streaked faces.

It was almost unheard of for an angel to leave the happiness and perfection in Heaven and return to Earth. They can't do anything down there anyway, angels cannot interfere with humans, it is impossible for an angel to touch or speak to one. But Quentin didn't know this, and being the child he was, he wanted to see his mom and dad again.

Standing in his living room, he was overjoyed when he saw them.

"Mom, Dad, it's me!" he yelled in delight.

His parents didn't respond. In fact, they didn't even acknowledge him.

"Guys?" Quentin faltered, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Again, there was no response. The child tried again and again to make his parents notice him, but was ignored each time.

"But…don't you love me?" Quentin choked out with tears spilling out of his eyes and falling down his face. When he once again got no response, he sat, put his head in his hands, and started sobbing.

"Of course they love you sweetheart."

Quentin started, looking up quickly. "Karrington?"

The angel in question smiled. "Hi there, Quentin."

"If they love me," Quentin challenged sadly, "then why are they ignoring me? I thought they'd be happy to see me, and hug me, and tell me how much they've missed me. I thought…"

Karrington sat down next to him. "I should have told you this before bud. As an angel, you cannot talk to humans. You cannot touch them. Quentin, they have no consciousness of us. They will automatically walk around us, though they will not know it. They love you very much honey, they just don't know you're here."

"So I'll never be able to speak to them?" Quentin whispered with his eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry, Quentin."

Without answering, he got up and left. Outside, he began walking through a nearby forest that he and his friends used to play around in almost every day. He smiled faintly at the memory of climbing trees and catching bugs. He stopped at a patch of sand and stooped down, writing 'I miss you' with his finger.