The Bracelet

Lily was a quiet girl. She never spoke to those who she had never met before. But for some reason, one icy day in the middle of June, one man changed everything.1

It was on her way to her new summer school when she met this man. It was a fairly cold morning, the wind whipped her long brown hair around her frozen face. The chill of the lashing wind grew stronger as she forced her growing and maturing legs to move forward and keep going. Today was her birthday, why she was walking to school this day, she did not know. 2

Her will to fight grew stronger as the cold hair began to scratch her cheeks with a sudden burning, slicing sensation. She closed her eyes tightly, shielding her brown eyes from the long dirt road ahead. Lily was used to walking alone by now, her mother had gone to school and was left dragging her frozen feet along a deserted road. Her mother had no common sense that morning due to the raging alcoholic binge she had taken last night. How she whined and continued to cry and complain about how she regretted ever having Lily.3

Lily was at that fragile age of beginning to learn what was good and bad in the world. But even she knew that her mother was in that class of "bad" people (that many grown ups had talked about at her previous school). 4

Lily hugged her body with her near frozen arms, struggling to stay warm underneath her flimsy purple jacket her mother had thrown at her today. It was the only jacket she had since her underage mother couldn’t drive yet and didn’t have her license to buy her a new "child friendly" one.5

Lily moved forward, a few more steps and her knees were beginning to buckle under the freezing wind. Her feet had grown numb, all circulation had been cut off. Even though she had been walking for almost 25 minutes, Her fragile and cold body couldn’t handle such abuse. She towered her head over the collar of her jacket, hoping that her ears had not frozen yet. Her hands trembled underneath her boney arm pits. Her lips had cracked and blood was soon spilling out of the open wounds that had formed on the bottom of her trembling lip. 6

She dared to look up, to open her eyes for some sign of a savior, a warm car to warm her frozen feet in, to have some type of feeling again within her body. She stood there, hunched over in unbearable pain, wishing the cold would stop. Her whimpers had gotten lost in the raging wind. She silently thought to herself ' why?' 7

Why was her mother the way she was?, why was she walking alone in weather that was surely suitable for winter, not in a summer-like month such as June. Lily closed her eyes in defeat, no one was coming for her, she realized as her knees buckled from under her frozen feet and she collapsed to the cold dirt she had been traveling on for what seemed like an eternity. Her death was near, her vision blurring with shadowed visions of unconsciousness. Spots of black shadowed her vision as the spots began to fade into one big dot and she laid there, unconscious and with no one to help her. Hope still lingered in her breakable soul that was now fading, almost reaching the steps of heavens door. As her body shut down her mind marveled the wonders of heaven, of death.8

As her mind continued to swirl with swirling images of warmth and peace, suddenly she felt her atmosphere turn from a chilling cold to a warm and cozy atmosphere, one she had never experienced before. The transition from hot to cold instantly sent her body into shock. The stinging from the cold became evident and showed its monstrous teeth in the blazing heat from what seemed like a moving vehicle. At first she thought it was her grandmother, or even her mother perhaps who had suddenly decided to become a parent and take care of her only daughter. But the sent in the car, the smell was foreign to her frozen and sensitive nostrils. It was a sweet smell, a smell of fresh roses or freshly baked cookies. 9

Her senses slowly ,but eventually, began to come back. Her toes were no longer frozen and her plastered face of ice no longer stung. Her eyes slowly opened and she saw that she had been laying down on a couch like seat. It was a car, she was right about that, and was a tad bit glad that her prayers had been answered. God had sent someone to save her, she thought quietly in her winding mind. As she slowly sat up from her slouched position against the soft cushions in the back of the car the rear view mirror turned toward the back seat, revealing two very icy blue eyes. Not of a females eyes, they were rounded and a bit hard to look at. Lily blinked her aching eyes as she sniffled and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. She was relieved to find that her hand was no longer frozen and that it did not sting when she wiped the cold green goo from her nose. 10

She looked around in the warm and very cozy car. She studied the colors of the seats, a light shade of gray covered the plains of the fluffy yet smooth looking seats. She looked outside of the window, the cold air not able to reach her. She smiled a bit as he looked at the passing trees. She looked further down the window, lightly pressing her forehead to the windows pane. She tried identifying the color of the car she had been placed on, but she couldn’t. Her small and very short body wasn’t tall enough to reach over the car doors handle. She tried to inch her way up and over the handle but she couldn’t. Her curiosity and perseverance to pursue this obstacle grew within her. Her concentration was broken when a smooth and fairly young voice cleared its voice in the car. Lily immediately jumped and slumped down in the seat. 11

A light chuckle came from the young voice in the front of the car. Lily sat up straight, thinking the person in the front would speak to her, so she wanted to keep her posture just right so that whoever it was would act nicely towards her. 12

Blue eyes watched Lily intently in the back of the seat. Lily sat there, her hands folded and her legs kicking and swaying in the empty space between her and the cars floor. Her eyes darted out of the window a couple of times, she studied the trees and their green leaves, Some leaves had died and had turned a rough and ugly brown color. Lily decided not to look at the trees anymore and decided to study the cars inhabitance again. 13

Her wandering eyes then met the rear view mirror and her eyes gazed upon this strangers blue eyes. They reminded lily of similar eyes she had seen when she was first born. The cool icy blue that swirled in the strangers eyes seemed to comfort Lily as she sat there, studying their true meaning and intention. She was a small child with a developing mind, but she knew what was dangerous and what wasn’t. So, she was cautious. 14

The strangers eyes looked at Lily once more, but with an unknown sadness and reluctance behind them. Almost a feeling of some type of regret that lied deep within them. Lily looked up at the exact same moment he had looked at her that way. As she gazed into his blue eyes, a feeling of warmth and need filled her heart. She didn’t know why, but it did. 15

Her brown eyes danced with glistening concern. She didn’t know this person, but for some reason she wanted to. There was something about this kind stranger (she had already presumed that this person was kind, because they DID save her life from a chilling and slow death),that she wanted to reach out to. A yearning of some sort that grabbed her attention and without knowing it, she spoke, "Thank you" in a gentle soft voice, such as any child would sound like. A small chuckle came from the driver and their eyes began to light up a little in the rear view mirror, crinkles stretched across the stranger's skin, deepening around their eyes.16

The stranger replied "You are very welcome" . It was indeed a man. So, he was a kind man and his voice proved it. It was a voice that you could recognize instantly, just by hearing it once. His voice was gentle yet rough and a bit low but still ,he sounded very young. Lily thought about his voice and came to the conclusion that his voice could be compared to an angel's voice. So , with that being set in her mind, she deemed him her angel. No matter where they were, no matter if they never met again (for their chances of ever ending up in the same place twice was very slim) she would have this man as her angel forever in her heart. The kind angel who saved her life. 17

Lily smiled at the thought of having her own personal angel , something that she had all to herself. Something that was hers, for once in her short life. 18

The car came to a sudden stop. Lily's thoughts were disturbed by this sudden stop. She didn’t want to go, she felt safe with this person, whoever they were, she felt safe with her blue eyed angel. 19

The young man slowed to a stop, then looked in the rear view mirror, he noticed the disappointment stained on her young face. His eyes lowered then sparked with an idea. Lily slowly inched her eyes away from the car floor, constantly repeating her want to stay within her mind, she glanced up and saw the young man heading toward the back seat she sat in. 20

Her need to stay burned in her. She hoped the man noticed but instead he opened the car door and allowed her to unbuckle her seat. She did so, unwillingly, but she did. The cold air had lessened since she had last been outside. Her warm body took a quick liking to the forgiving wind. An easy calm flowed through her body. A calm she had never experienced before until now. She stepped out of the car door, carefully maneuvering her feet so that she could reach the bottom of the car.(which she was successful)21

The man closed the car door gently then turned his direction toward a wandering lily. She looked at him and noticed his face, she had seen him in a dream she had a few night before. A dream about her savior. The man looked at lily with kind eyes, she then, without noticing at all, smiled at this kind yet familiar stranger. Her angel. Her straight teeth shined in the beams of light that broke through the gray clouds above. She felt the excitement and happiness rise within her small body. She had never felt this warm fuzzy feeling before. A feeling of pure and true happiness. She felt like she belonged with this man. She felt that he was the sanctuary she had been searching for all along. 22

While she stood there smiling at him he held out his hands and guided her to the back of the car. His warm hands embraced her small ones. She wanted to cry tears of joy , of happiness. But she did not want to show any false sadness towards her angel, so she held them back. As they reached the back of the noticeably white car he suddenly let go of her hands and reached in his back pocket and took out a shimmering silver bracelet. The bracelet was filled with hanging jewels and rejoicing angels. Gold angels flew around the bracelet, forever stuck in one motion, never leaving nor moving. 23

He handled this bracelet with care and carefully handed it to Lily, who cupped her hands before taking this obviously special and wondrous gift. She smiled as the gold glistened off her shinning brown eyes. The suns rays danced off of the golden angels wings, illuminating the perfection in each angel. 24

The man took Lily's right wrist and carefully wrapped it around her small wrist and secured it in place. He made a few minor adjustments to it then gently let go of her wrist. Lily looked up into his blue eyes which seemed to spark a feeling of trust and security within her. She smiled at him again, he smiled back and chuckled a little then directed his gaze towards the opposite direction in which they were standing.25

Lily looked passed the white car in front of her and noticed that she was standing in her front yard. Her old toys scattered across the yard. Sadness overtook her happiness she had before. She didn’t want to go home, she was afraid to. Her eyes started to form tiny tears which silently fell from her disappointed face. She didn’t want to leave her angel. She wanted to stay with him, but she knew she couldn’t, and it broke her heart. Her first true heart break.26

She turned around and gazed up into her angels blue eyes, hoping he would understand and take her home with him, or just take her away from this place. He looked down on her with solemn eyes and disagreed with her plea. His eyes told her she must stay, but she could feel that his heart didn’t want to let her go. A wave of sadness and heart break washed over both Lily and her angel. She looked down at her bracelet then back up at him. His eyes had brightened up, still, not even his cheerfulness could cheer up her saddened eyes. His hand lifted up to her chin, tears began to stream down her rose like cheeks. His thumb lightly brushed against her fragile cheek bones, his eyes still filled with encouragement. 27

Lily pleaded through her tearful eyes, 'please, please don’t leave me' her tears fell down her cheek but were caught by her angel's soft hands. He looked at her, then looked down at the shimmering bracelet then said in a soft tone " I will never leave you and you will never be alone. Look at your bracelet and remember me, your Guardian Angel." With those final words, everything disappeared, Lily closed her eyes and found that she was alone, standing before her deteriorating home, realizing how badly she wished he could have stayed with her.28

Lily's eyes wandered around her yard and across the dirt road, searching for some sign that he was still here. But nothing prevailed. Lily tried to hold back to tears that desperately wanted to stream down her face right now, but she couldn’t. Instead, she looked down at her shining bracelet that seemed to illuminate her surroundings. She looked up into the sky and saw those blue eyes she would never forget. A smile spread across her face as she turned toward her house with courage and faith, faith in her angel. 29

As she approached the doorway of her house she remembered the words he had spoken to her before he left " I will never leave you and you will never be alone. Look at your bracelet and remember me, your Guardian Angel." Lily held her bracelet close to her heart and stepped inside the door way of her household, awaiting the screeches from her mother and her drunken friends inside. But still, she held her head up high now, though she is still saddened by her angel's sudden disappearance she continues to think about him, what he would look like now, what they would do together, and how happy she would be with him by her side. 30

Ever since that day, lily never took off that bracelet for anything. Her faith in her angel has never faded, but it has only been fractured by minor problems as she grew up. She never forgot about him, she never forgot about those blue eyes, how they lit up, and she never forgot about how he changed her life forever. She still wonders if he's still out there, she still wonders if they will ever meet again, through fate and by pure chance.