Angel and the Storm

On the night of the 23rd, a storm was brewing. The sky gloomed and loomed over the town as roofs cast shadows down the streets and nooks. In a small, two storey house halfway up the hill lived Emily. She lived with her mother Emilia, her grandmother Emma, and her grandfather Paul. Emily was knitting a small burgundy scarf to gift her friend when her hands froze as she heard the roars of the sky. After a moment to look outside the sky, taking note that the window was still dry, she continued knitting.

A clicking sound came from the hallway as the doorknob turned. Emily’s mom, Emilia, came home with a muddy rag of timbre for fire. Emilia struggled with both her hands, grasping at the diagonal ends of the rag to drag it in. After reaching the fireplace, she unwrapped the rag and started gently placing the timbre one by one inside the flame. The stack of logs was unstable, as if one small move would make it collapse, killing the fire at any minute. Emily stopped her hands again, turning her head and observing Emilia.

“Need any ‘elp, ma?” She asked

“Nah, it’s fine. Can you call grandma over? There's some shrooms in the rag we can use for t’night and I wanna know if they’re safe.”

“Aight.”

Emily ran up the creaky spruce stairs to call on grandma. She opened the bedroom door but only grandpa Paul was there, reading the front row columns of the news.

“Grandpa, you know where grandma Emma is?” Emily asked.

Paul glanced up from the paper and shook his head. “No, she popped outside fer sommat earlier but I’ve fergot. Should be back in a jiffy, though.”

Emily went back downstairs and popped into the kitchen where her mother was now at to tell her the news. Then she returned to the living room and sat by the window to continue her knitting.

As she continued on her hands, she was finally around two thirds done with the scarf. By then, the sky had completely darkened and rain droplets were streaming down the window. Grandma Emma was still not home.

With dinner time coming closer and closer, Emilia got worried about her mother. Her raincoat was still hanging on the coat rack and none of the umbrellas were taken. She wondered if her mother was stuck inside a building, waiting out the rain, or, in the worst case, soaking wet in the harsh winds of the storm. That latter thought filled Emilia with dread. She frantically gathered Paul and Emily to inform them about the situation.

“Mam’s gone missin’. We’ve gotta get out there an’ look fer ‘er!” Emilia said in a panicking tone.

“Whar do ya reckon she’s gone t’? It’ll take ages for us t’ find ‘er! Best we ring the police.” Paul objected, trying to calm Emilia down.

“Ma, you can ring the police. I’ll go out to look for ‘er.” Emily said, putting on her coat.

“No, you ring the police. I’ll go out lookin’ for ‘er.”

Emilia put on her coat and headed outside to look for Emma and Emily rang the police. She informed them of what little she could recall of her this morning, as well as grandpa’s testimony earlier this evening. It wasn’t much to go off of, but they said they’ll try their best.

An hour, maybe two, had passed, and nothing had happened. Emily and Paul were anxiously waiting at the dining table, waiting for the sound of jingling keys to break the tense atmosphere. That sound never came. As an ultimatum, Paul decided that he’d go out to look for her as well. Emily tried to convince him to stay, but she was also secretly thinking that she should join him. Paul sternly told his granddaughter to sit still and behave while he went out looking for Emma. He put on his worn down trench coat and an umbrella and headed out.

It was nearly midnight, yet Emily was still alone in the house. The house was empty, but the sound of wind and rain filled the walls and roofs of the house, echoing all around. Emily started to grow worried. Then, dreary. The thought of all her family being dead crossed her mind; more than once even. However, she kept shaking it off, grasping at hope that they’d all come back with a big smile and cozy up by the fireplace to warm up from the rain outside.

The sound of rain was interrupted by Emily’s stomach growling. She hadn’t eaten anything for nearly half a day, and she could feel it. Her stomach was grumbling at the fact that no nutrition had entered the body since noon. As she curled herself up, her eyes fleeted over towards the kitchen.

She went to see what was inside. Mom’s rag was there with timbre piled on it. On the kitchen top, though, she saw mushrooms. They were washed and seemed to have been boiled. Not being able to resist the hunger, she stepped into the kitchen and started munching on the mushrooms. They weren’t great, but at least they were edible.

As she was consuming the shrooms, a knock came on the door. She excitedly ran to get it. Opening the door, she was disappointed to realize that it wasn’t Emilia, Emma, or Paul. Instead, it was a brunette boy with a weird ring on his head.

“May I come in?” The boy asked.

“Who’re ya?”

“My name is Gabriel. I am seeking shelter from this rain.”

After contemplating for some time, Emily said, “aight, but you better not try anythin’ funny.”

The boy seemed to be quite tall and elegant, possibly one of those fancy university students. He had an outfit that definitely felt out of town, at the very least. However, scanning his scrawny body, Emily thought she could easily take him on if anything ever happened. Gabriel came in, wandering his eyes around the cramped and dark interior.

“Look, it ain’t nothin’ much. Stop judging my ‘ouse so much. Jus’ sit down an’ wait fer the rain t’ pass.” Emily said.

“Your parents… and grandparents… they are missing, aren’t they?”

“H- how’d you know?” Emily said, her eyes popping out of her sockets at what he said.

“If you go now… It is not too late.”

“Who… who are you?”

“I told you; Gabriel.”

With what almost felt like a spell, Emily felt tempted to believe in this boy’s words with all her heart. Maybe she could really find where ma, grandma, and grandpa were if she went out to look for them now. With a stern expression, masking some of the fear of going out in the dark, she grabbed an umbrella and headed out. Before she did, she turned around. The boy wasn’t there though, as if the knock a couple minutes earlier had never happened.

The harsh winds of the storm pounded on the umbrella, each raindrop sounding louder than the last. Emily persevered through, making her way down the slippery road with careful steps to not tumble over. She knew that the town was far too large to wander aimlessly around in. She needed to think of a place, or a building where her family members would most likely be at.

First, she tried the church. Grandma often went there whenever she felt down; her connection to God was her greatest medicine. She wasn’t there. She then tried the library, where both ma and grandma would hang out before picking her up from school. They weren’t there either. Grandpa used to hang out in the bar a block south from the library, but he was nowhere to be seen there.

Panic stirring in her chest, she ran down to the park, where at the very least there was a small gazebo to cover her from the rain. She stood in the middle, hope fading from her eyes. Then she saw someone she recognized. They were wearing an exotic, fancy outfit. It was the boy… what’s his name… Gabriel.

She called him over, but he was out of range to hear her. Then, with a sudden gust of wind, Emily shielded her eyes and squinted them hard. When she opened her eyes again, he was gone. Nowhere to be found-

“Are you looking for something?”

Emily jumped at the voice coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw Gabriel looming over her.

“How’d ya get ‘ere so fast?” She exclaimed.

“I travel fast.”

Emily scanned Gabriel’s body once again, however she found it weird that he was completely dry. His hair seemed to be fluffy with no moisture at all, and even his clothes were as dry as the townsfolk’s sense of humor.

“What on reyt earth are you?” Emily asked.

“I am an angel.”

“Swear?”

“On God’s holy name, I am telling the truth.”

“Then can you ‘elp me find my family?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I am not supposed to interfere with human events. I am here for a different purpose.”

“That is?”

“I can not say.”

The wind was getting stronger, and rain started flying in from the sides of the gazebo, hitting Emily’s face from the left. She tried to ask more questions, but the angel cut her short before leaving again. After processing what had just happened, she also realized that she was exhausted. Her legs were gelatinous from all the running around town she did. Though drenched in rainwater, the bench was still a better option than standing.

She opened her umbrella and tried what little she could to shield herself from the shivery wind. Her eyelids grew heavy, and despite it being so cold, she fell to her left and passed out on the bench.

Emily woke up to a warm ray of light piercing her eyes. She woke up to see that the storm had completely cleared and there were puddles of water around the grass. There was a rainbow out and the town had never looked so vibrant. She made her way back to her house with a gloomy expression. However, opening the door gave her an unexpected surprise. Emilia, Emma, and Paul were all waiting at the dining table and welcomed her in with open arms. Emilia saw that Emily was still slightly shivering and brought her a burgundy scarf to warm her up. Breakfast seemed to be prepared, as Emily noticed when sniffing the air. She looked down at the scarf her mother wrapped around her. A burgundy scarf to warm her up.