The Guardian

Genre  Noel Nightmares       Author/Pen Name  Jean Booth   eBook Yes

The Guardian

Charity fell to her knees; tears’ streaming down her cheeks with the injustice her human was born into. Children were to be blessings, treasures from God that needed to be loved, protected, and cherished. The abuse her human dealt with from those charged to protect and love her was heartbreaking to the young Angel.

Year after year, Charity held the young girls' hand, guiding, encouraging, and gifting her with hope of a better life. Year after year, Charity was forced to watch, protecting the child in the small ways a Guardian Angel could. Charity held her tightly as she cried, pushed her out of mortal danger, and bore the scars of the child's abuse. Every time Charity couldn't protect the child, her pristine wings blackened, until all that was left were the shiny, ebony wings of a fallen angel.

She only hoped her sacrifice for the girl was enough.

The young girl's ninth Christmas was around the corner and while every other child was giddy and bursting with excitement. Charity's child simply sat quietly, the pain of the continued emotional abuse weighing on her small shoulders. Helpless tears trailed down her cheeks as she watched the other children laugh and play with their families, celebrating the holiday, as she knew it should be celebrated.

Songs of worship and thanksgiving echoed through the wind and the child didn't know Charity's arms wrapped around her. Charity's arms were strong with how tightly she held her human, although the girl would never know. All she did know was that when her family was gone, she felt a sense of peace she could never understand or explain. Like now, with Charity's arms embracing her, the child felt a surge of hope, sent from Charity's heart to hers.

"When I have a family, my child will only know love. We'll sing and decorate and celebrate like those families and my child will be happy." The young girl whispered to herself, her words a soft and determined vow that Charity knew would define her character as she grew.

The angel hugged her tightly, helping to solidify her convictions.

For the next few years Charity watched as the girl grew. The child abandoned God, finding solace in cutting. Charity wept, as she couldn't protect the girl from herself. The cuts would forever remind her of her failure as a Guardian Angel.

The abuse lessened as the girl grew into her teens, but was always brewing, just beneath the surface.

Charity watched from the sidelines. When the girl abandoned God, her faith broken and pushed aside, Charity was supposed to leave her human and find a new one to protect. Without faith, a Guardian Angel was simply an observer. With so many new humans entering the world, the angels weren't allowed to just observe. They had to guide and protect. It was what they were called to do.  

When a human abandoned their faith, their belief in angels, the Guardians had no other choice but to move on. Charity couldn't simply leave her girl though. She remembered the young girl's vow and knew in her heart that the girl would need her again someday.

Charity refused to fail her.

The girl grew from surly teen to drug addicted adult. Charity wept for the girl-turned-woman as she continued to follow a path angels couldn't follow. Charity faded, other children calling out with their first cries of life, needing a Guardian to claim them. Charity stubbornly refused to abandon the woman she held so often as a child.

It was Christmas of the woman's twenty-second year of life when she discovered she was pregnant. After taking the test, she ran to the nearest church, tears streaming down her sunken cheeks. Her hands shook with the start of withdrawals.

"Oh God! What am I going to do?" she whispered, letting her barriers drop as she embraced her faith once more.

Her shaking hands rubbed her slightly protruding belly, the only mass on an otherwise skeletal frame. Tears streamed from her eyes, falling faster and faster as a peace she hadn't known since childhood enveloped her.

Charity wept with joy and renewed strength, her arms wrapping protectively around the woman she loved. She wished she could tell her that she wasn't alone, that she never was, but the rules of a Guardian were strict.

With a newfound hope and encouraging nudges she learned to feel from the angel she couldn't see or name, the woman cleaned herself up and found a way to ask for help. Eventually, she gave birth to a daughter.

That first Christmas was meager in the eyes of society. However, if anyone truly took the time to look, they'd see just how richly blessed they truly were. The woman held her tiny daughter in her arms as she sang songs of blessing and thanksgiving next to a miniature tree. The baby cooed and laughed as her mother sang.

And while they didn't need her protection, Charity held them close, her blackened wings glowing in the soft light of the room as tears of joy streamed down her face. Her human had finally found love.