Tom, meanwhile, oblivious to all that went on in heaven, was grieving in his own way. He was angry. He wanted Annie back. He wanted everything to be back to normal. And more than anything, he wanted to see his mother and father laugh again. He wanted to hear laughter! He stared out the window. The churchyard’s snow angels seemed to stare right back at him. He knew he had to listen to the priest try to comfort his parents, and then the priest would talk to him, and to be honest, he didn’t want to talk with anybody. He wanted to awaken from this nightmare and play with Annie, but instead, he sat in the backseat stoically, awaiting their exit from the car, so the nightmare could continue.
Father Mark had come out of the church to meet their car. Tom’s parents got out of the car, but Tom held back a bit. He wanted to watch the priest and find out just how he would respond to all the snow angels. Father Mark hugged Annie’s mother and shook Annie’s father’s hand.
“Are you coming out, Tom?” he questioned gently.“Yeah, I’m coming.” Tom opened the door. It seemed foolish to delay the inevitable. Father Mark shook Tom’s hand and patted him on the shoulder.
“I bet this whole thing has been pretty awful, hasn’t it?” he spoke softly to Tom as they walked behind Tom’s parents into the church.
“The worst,” Tom agreed. He couldn’t help but notice the hundreds of angels which lined the walkways. “These are pretty amazing, though,” he stated grudgingly.
“Yes, they are,” Father Mark agreed. “Yes, they are, indeed!”
The small group walked into the church. Tom was actually glad to be inside the church. It was quiet, and there weren’t any snow angels to see. To be honest, he was getting tired of the whole thing. He was angry at Annie because she had left him alone to deal with all of it! He was the one who had to see how sad his parents were. He was the one who had to feel the empty gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. And he was the one who had to shake hands tomorrow with practically the whole town after the funeral! Oh, he was so angry! Tom looked at his parents talking with Father Mark. He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. “…such a tragedy….snow angels…a miracle?...what could it mean?” and on, and on, and on. Tom walked around the church touching the statues, looking at the stained glass, reading the scripture quotes, and wondering.
He sat down in the first pew, as far away from his parents as possible, and put his chin in his hands. This was all so crazy. It couldn’t be real. He looked up at the giant crucifix which hung from the ceiling. He would trade everything just to see Annie again. The snow angels made him believe in things he had never thought about, but he still needed to see her, to talk with her. He closed his eyes.
Annie’s angel had been watching him out of the corner of her eye as she played with Annie. She looked at Annie, and before she had even realized what she was going to say, it was out of her mouth with a rush.
“I really think you need to help your family on earth, now.”Annie looked at her quizzically.
“What do you mean? I thought the snow angels did the trick, and they were OK?”
Her voice sounded a little nervous to her angel’s ears.
“Look, Annie, I’m not supposed to show you this, but look at them.” With a wave of her hand, Annie was able to look through the clouds, right into the church!
“How did you do that?” she whispered.
“I’m an angel, remember? I can do anything, you know!” Annie’s angel answered a bit smugly.
“Oh, look at Tom’s face. Look at Mum and Dad. Are they crying? What can I do to help them?” Annie had tears in her own eyes, now, and Annie’s angel knew it was time to try a last-ditch effort to make them understand.
“Talk to them.”“How can I? I’m dead!” Annie was crying softly to herself.
“As if that could stop anyone from talking. You humans really don’t know much, do you? Whisper to whomever you wish to talk with. If they are listening, they will hear. Remember, humans are notorious for being very poor listeners!” Annie’s angel sighed. This would be difficult. She never knew when humans really listened, but this was the last chance. She pushed Annie closer to the magical opening in the clouds and patted her on the shoulder.
“Go ahead, Annie, make it better.” Annie took a deep breath and thought carefully about what she would say.