Wings.

Beth and I walked down the hallway as dogs barked as us. we were at the vet store, which happened to be a vet also, looking for a puppy for Beth. She was dead set on finding a wolf. she tugged my hand and squealed in delight. I looked at the dog she was pointing and and grinned.

“would you like this one?” I asked. she nodded her head vigorously. I looked at the teenager . “we’ll take this one, please.”

“sure. Come on back up to the front.” He said in a monotone voice. I rolled my eyes at him but fallowed. We got to the counter and I paid. The teenager went back to get the husky.

“mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look! There he is!” Beth shouted jumping up and down with excitement. She ran and hugged the dog. He licked her forehead and that’s when I knew this dog would protect her with his life. I smiled and hooked the leash onto it’s dull collar.

“ what are you gonna name him?” I asked Beth. She looked at me, then the dog, then me, then the dog again. she stared at him for a long time while petting his ear.

“I’ll name him…. Pip!” she said. I chuckled and patted her head.

“come on, we’ll drop Pip off at grandpa’s while we go to the store.” I told her as we walked out. She jumped in her seat and patted the seat next to her and Pip jumped up instantly.

“aw! Mom! Can’t Pip come with us! pleeeaaasse!” she begged. I leaned in the car and buckled her up.

“I’m sorry Beth, he can’t come in the store with us. he’ll be okay with Gramps, I promise.” I told her. she sighed and continued scratching Pip’s ear. “I’ll buy ice cream.” She brightened up. I leaned in and kissed her forehead.

It took all of five minutes to get to dad’s house, Drop Pip off, and get to the store. I pulled in and shut off the car. I hopped out of the car and unbuckled Beth. “piggy back ride! piggy back ride!” she shouted with glee. I chuckled and let the little monkey crawl on my back. I walked into the store and set her down in a cart. Of course she had to be adventurous and sit in the big part where all the food goes.

“what do you want for dinner, Beth?” I asked. she looked back at me and shrugged. I sighed and walked around for a while before deciding on pasta. Beth likes noodles and I’ll put shrimp in it to get some protein.

“Ms. Turner? hey!” I looked behind me to see Emalia waving at me. I waved back. she walked the short distance to us and smiled at us.

“ooh you’re so pretty! Mommy! Look!” Beth said. I looked at Beth to see her pointing at Emalia. I chuckled.

“ miss Emalia, this is my daughter Beth. Beth, this is miss Emalia.” I told Beth. I held onto Beth’s hand. she had crawled over the edge of the cart and stood up.

“well you are so pretty to!” Emalia cooed. I watched the two interact with an amused look on my face. I saw a man in his mid-twenties looking at us. he had dark hair and blue eyes. he was tan and wore black slacks and a black button up shirt. I cocked my head to the side when he seemed surprised I could see him. then the realization struck, he was dead.

Yeah, its one of my not so many “gifts” being the daughter of the high priestess, I could see the dead. He walked over to us slowly. “you can see me?” he said, his voice was airy. I just nodded.

“oh! Gabriel! This is my art teacher Ms. Turner and her lovely daughter Beth.” Emalia introduced a teenager who I hadn’t seen standing behind her. he looked like the ghost man. My heart sank, probably his father.

“it’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Turner.” Gabriel said. he took my hand and kissed it.

“like wise mister Gabriel.” I told him. he turned to Beth and she grinned at him. she thrusts her hand out and giggles as he kisses it, her cheeks growing bright red. I chuckled.

“well, I’ll see you tomorrow Ms. Turner!” Emalia said happily. “it was nice meeting you Beth”

“bye Emalia! Bye Gab-el!” Beth said. Gabriel chuckled at the mispronunciation of his name but never corrected her.

“good bye little Beth.” He said to her. he turned to me and smiled. The two siblings walked away talking quietly to each other. I glanced at the ghost man but he was fallowing the teenagers.

~~

It had been a week, a long, long week. I pulled onto my street and into the drive way. On the way to the door I heard Beth calling my name. I looked up and my heart stopped. She was on the roof.

“ Bethany!” I cried. She didn’t look down at me. I raced into the house and up the stair and to the roof. I stood on the roof behind Beth. “Bethany!” I could feel the hot tears running down my cheeks.

“mommy, I’m going to go see grandma” Beth said not looking back. I was petrified.

“Bethany. Grandma is in heaven, you can go see her.” I told her. I inched my way closer to her.

“yes I can! Yes I can! I wanna see grandma!” she cried. She looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with me. she grinned and started to fall.

“NOO!!!” I cried as I ran and jumped over the edge. I grabbed onto her and stretched out my wings. I wasn’t quick enough, the ground was to close. I closed my eyes and flipped us so my back was facing the ground. “I love you Beth” My back hit the ground and my head snapped back against the sidewalk. My head was fuzzy and pain exploded. I tried looking around but it hurt. I laid my head back on the cold pavement and everything went black.

BEEP.BEEP can some one turn off that noise?

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Seriously? Turn it off!

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Turn the god damn noise off now!

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. God damn it! Turn the damn thing off before I turn it to dust!

I snapped my eyes open and was blinded by a white light. I groaned and closed them. “great I’m dead, and heaven decided they didn’t want me so I got sent to hell.”

“grandpa, what’s hell?” Beth said. I chuckled. Then I realized. Beth! Beth jumped off a roof! My eyes snapped open again and I looked around the room for her. she was sitting next to me on the bed. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her into me.

“what were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt!” I said still holding her. she wrapped her little arms around my neck and held on.

“I’m sorry mommy, I just wanted to see grandma!” she cried. I rubbed her back.

“I know. I know honey. Just don’t do it again okay?” I whispered. I felt her nod. I heard a knock and the door open. I sniffled and moved Beth so she was curled into me. I couldn’t let her go yet. I almost lost her.

I looked up to see the most beautiful man on the planet walk in. he was pale, tall, blonde hair that was pushed out of his eyes, his golden eyes. I instantly made his perfect god like appearance to those of my students. Although they were beautiful he just trumps them. I felt a tug on my heart that pulled me to him. I ran my hand through Beth’s hair and I could tell she was falling asleep. As I calmed down I felt the pain kick its way into my back and skull. I winced but didn’t move.

“hello Ms. Turner, my name is Dr. Cullen. What happened?” good god his voice was like angels singing.

“ I was getting home from work, and Beth was on the roof! I don’t know why her GRANDFATHER wasn’t watching her.” I turned to glared at my father. He was looking down at his shoes ashamed. Good. “and I ran up there. She tripped and I caught her before she hit the ground.” I said simply.

Dr. Cullen was staring into my eyes and I began staring to. He cleared his throat and nodded. “yes well. She is perfectly fine. You on the other hand, have a concussion. A couple bruises, mostly to your back. but other than that you are okay. You were very lucky.” He explained. I nodded.

“I know.” I whispered. I was studying his perfect face. I just wanted to reach out and touch his beautiful face.

“well, I suggest staying up tonight. Make sure you don’t go into a coma. Not that you will. Just making sure.” He said. I nodded.

“don’t worry. I have paper’s to grade anyway.” I joked. his eyes locked with mine as he smiled and laughed. Dear lord. What is this man? Why is he so…. Perfect?