Annie’s family all went through the motions that night. Annie’s mother tried to think about dinner, but somehow food didn’t seem important. She looked at her husband’s sad eyes and broke down into tears. Annie’s angel watched helplessly. Annie was fine, she knew that, but Annie wasn’t in her house anymore, and that was so hard on her family. Annie’s angel looked out the front window and thought how happily Annie and Tom had run out that front door just this morning. Her eyes fell upon the snow angel that Annie had made earlier.
That’s it! she thought to herself, I’ve got it!The little angel gently floated over Annie’s family, watching them all in their misery. She wondered if her plan would work.
After a sleepless night, Annie’s family was starting another day…their first full day without their dear Annie. Annie’s mother couldn’t cook breakfast; she just sat at the table with her head in her hands. Annie’s father pretended to read the paper, his eyes red from not sleeping and from his tears. Tom looked awful, he wasn’t the same Tom who had joked with his sister the morning before.
Annie’s angel knew she had to get busy, and busy she was! She floated out the door and went to work. Then she floated down the street and found the funeral parlor, the church where the funeral would be, and the priest’s home. Next, she found the cemetery.
Meanwhile, Annie’s family tried to go through the motions of getting things ready for Annie’s funeral. They were so sad that it was hard to talk without crying, but everyone they spoke with was very understanding. Somehow, they got through the morning, and everything seemed to be done. “I’m going out for a while, OK?” Tom’s voice quivered as he spoke to his parents.
Annie’s mother whipped her head up from her hands. Once again, she was seated at the table, holding on to her head for dear life with the hands that would no longer hug her darling daughter. It was all more than she could bear.
“NO!” she cried. Her voice frightened both Tom and Annie’s angel, they had never heard her speak so before. “You can’t go outside, you might fall or get hurt, and you can never walk by the river, do you understand? Well, DO YOU!” Her voice was almost a scream, and her husband jumped up from his chair and rushed to his wife’s side. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently back and forth, murmuring quietly in her ear, as she sobbed into his shoulder.
“It’s OK, Tom,” he said to his son quietly, “just be careful, very careful, Son.”Tom nodded, looking furtively at his mother. He had never seen her this way before. She was always so happy, so giggly, everything had always been so wonderful…maybe all their joy had come from Annie. He pensively walked to the front door, grabbed his coat from the front closet, and opened the door to let the afternoon sun into the hall.
