Angel (2 page)

Shane was up on his knees firing questions at David. ‘Where are your wings?'

‘Haven't got any.'

‘What about a halo? Where's your halo?'

‘Haven't got one of those either.'

Shane turned his head to one side thoughtfully. ‘Well, what makes you an angel? Aren't you just a ghost or spirit or something like that?'

‘Oh no,' said David. ‘I'm definitely an angel.'

Shane shook his head. ‘I think they've made a mistake.'

David frowned. ‘Who?'

‘Whoever makes angels.'

‘Why?'

‘You're no angel.'

‘Yes I am. Look at me.' David spun round like a model on a catwalk.

Shane looked at him glowing with silver light. ‘But what about all those things you used to do to me? Those mean things.'

David couldn't remember anything mean. Sure, he'd teased Shane a little from time to time, that was all. ‘I was only teasing you,' he said. ‘I was never really mean to you.'

‘You told me you hated me lots of times!' protested Shane.

‘I was only saying that to tease you or make you do what I wanted you to do.'

A few seconds of silence followed as Shane thought of other incidents that might discredit David's angel status. ‘What about the bike? Do
you remember the bike?'

‘Of course I remember the bike … which bike?'

‘My first bike. The little red one with the clown face on the seat. The one you wanted to teach me to ride. The one you sat me on, aimed at the rose bushes and pushed as hard as you could.'

David did remember. He'd got into awful trouble over that. He remembered thinking what fun it would be to see his little brother pedal his way uncontrollably into the needle-sharp thorns of a rose bush. He hadn't thought about pain or injury; he'd just wanted to see what would happen and had watched with delight as Shane wobbled his way towards disaster. Shane's arms had wrestled with the handle bars, his chubby little legs had pushed awkwardly at the pedals and his head had tipped this way and that as he struggled under
a helmet that looked far too heavy for him. Then, CRUNCH!

David had an image in his mind now of Shane's mouth stretched to its limit as an ear drum-bursting scream echoed around the neighbourhood and tears had filled his eyes as the scratches on his hands and legs turned blood red. The memory made David feel uncomfortable. He pulled his shoulders in and hunched them up to his ears.

‘Okay,' he said sheepishly. ‘I admit it. That was a horrible thing to do and I don't know why I did it, but I'm sorry. I don't think I really wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to see you crash. You know, like in the funny movies.'

Shane lifted his top lip. ‘Yeah, well, I crashed all right. I was covered in scratches and Mum had to cover me in that slimy white cream stuff. I looked like a cream puff and it stung like hell!'

The word “hell” brought Shane back to his original point. ‘So, how did you get to be an angel?'

‘I don't know,' said David, looking skywards. ‘It just happened.'

‘Have you done any good things for anybody?'

‘No, not yet — but I will soon, I reckon.'

‘So what have you been doing for the past year?'

‘Learning to be an angel.'

Shane frowned. ‘Who shows you how to do that?'

‘The teachers.'

‘What teachers?'

‘The teachers at angel school.'

Shane's face buckled with disgust. ‘You mean even when you die they make you go to school? That's unbelievable!'

‘It's not so bad,' said David, smiling. ‘They teach you some great things. Watch this.'

The light around his body flickered with sparks as he slowly, and without effort, drifted up and over Shane's bed.

Shane watched in awe as his brother performed flying feats around his room. Even in that limited space David could spin, glide, hover and dive. Shane chuckled softly to himself.

‘Wicked!' he whispered.

It was like the fun times with David when he was alive. The times they spent lost in imaginary games on rainy afternoons. The times they jumped on their mum and dad's bed for a family tickle-tackle. The times, at night, when David would tell Shane the rude jokes he'd heard at school. They'd giggle until tears filled their eyes and their bellies hurt. Remembering all those times made Shane happy.

David skimmed Shane's head and turned himself upside down. His thin black hair fell away from his face and his mud-coloured eyes
sparkled playfully. Then, with a twist and a turn, he glided gracefully down to the bed. He faced Shane, folded his arms and crossed his legs. ‘Well, what do you think? I'm just a beginner, remember.'

Shane was stunned, so stunned he was almost speechless. ‘You're amazing … wicked.'

‘It's pretty easy really,' said David coyly.

‘What else can you do?' asked Shane, expecting more mind-blowing entertainment.

‘Well, apart from reading minds, flying about and disappearing I can throw soul sparks and mould energy balls in my hands.' David paused thoughtfully. ‘Oh! And I can glow a bit brighter as well.'

‘Show me,' said Shane, bobbing about excitedly. ‘Show me all that stuff.'

Just as Shane was keen to hear about angels, David was keen to hear how earth life had been since he'd left. ‘I'll show you everything later.
Let's just talk for a while, Shane.'

Shane nodded and then they both started talking at once.

‘Did you know that Mum and Dad …'

‘You should see the stars over the …'

After a good laugh together, David talked about crashing in flying lessons, controlling his glow and angel teachers.

Shane talked about basketball, bubblegum and his own teachers.

Time passed unnoticed.

Shane was sitting face to face with his brother, completely relaxed. Any doubts he had had were long gone.

But then, suddenly, in the middle of it all, David stopped and peered out the window.

‘Oh no! I've got to go.'

Shane didn't want him to. There was so much more to talk about. He was just getting used to having David around again. He didn't want the
emptiness back, but he could feel it coming. The quiet car rides and tea times, the empty room he walked past every time he went up the passageway. He leant forwards, clutching at a glowing arm that couldn't be held.

‘Don't go yet, David. Stay a bit longer, just a bit.'

‘I can't, Shane. I've got to go.'

‘Why?'

‘Look, I can't argue with you. I've got to go and that's that. Tell Mum and Dad I'm okay will you?' David threw a worried glance skywards, then looked back at Shane. ‘Please tell them. Promise me you'll tell them you've seen me and that I'm okay. They don't have to worry about me.' David's form began to fade …

A frantic feeling gripped Shane. Desperation, then panic, then anger. ‘You'd better come back!' he growled. ‘You'd better come back, not like last time. You shouldn't have died anyway. I
was really angry with you, you know!'

David hovered above Shane's bed, stunned by the sudden outburst. ‘But I'd been sick for ages. You knew I wasn't going to get better. We all knew.'

‘But Mum and Dad spent all that time at the hospital with you. I had to stay at Aunt Sue's and eat weeds and sleep in that room with wallpaper that looks like spew!'

Shane was spitting his words out now, saying everything he could think of in case David didn't come back. He wanted to say how he'd felt the past year. He wanted to get it out, to tell somebody, even an angel that he might only be imagining. He needed to say how sad and empty he'd felt. How lonely, how desperate, how scared. And how miserable his mum and dad had been. ‘You didn't even try, did you? You didn't even try to hang on. You just let go, didn't you? Didn't you?'

David moved towards the window. He had his back to Shane, his head bowed. His voice echoed in Shane's head as he faded. ‘I'd been sick for too long, Shane. Everything hurt. I just couldn't hang on any more. I was too weak to fight.'

Shane was hunched on all fours like a crazed cat ready to pounce on a bird. David turned to face him. Shane looked into his mud eyes. As he looked, David's face changed somehow and Shane suddenly had an image of him in hospital, struggling to take every breath but still smiling — his face gaunt, eyes glazed, skin pale. He had been so brave.

That's why they'd made him an angel. There'd been no mistake. Shane lifted himself onto his knees. His bed covers lay twisted beneath him. ‘I'm sorry,' he said. ‘Will you come back?'

‘Of course I will,' nodded David. ‘Here, have a present before I go.'

David cupped his hands in front of him and a ball of soft blue light formed inside them. ‘This will make you feel good,' he said. ‘Let it hit you.'

David tossed the ball and it fizzed and spun through the air. Shane was mesmerised. It hit him in the chest and sent a buzz of electric emotion through his body. Wide-eyed and almost breathless with delight, Shane watched David's form fade into the night.

Shane sat, stunned, and stared into space. His body prickled with excitement. Hours passed, he couldn't sleep. He lay on his back, clasped his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. His head was spinning and his stomach churning.

How was he going to tell his mum and dad?

Should he tell them at all?

How was he going to make them believe him?

He'd have to sit them down and tell them quietly. He couldn't just blurt out! Could he?

The sounds of morning clattered, splashed and rattled up the passageway towards Shane's room like a crazy percussion band preparing for a concert. The smell of burning toast hung in the air and fingers of morning sun made his whole room glow with soft yellow light.

His eyelids started to flicker then lift slowly. He squinted. He rubbed his eyes and kicked at his tangled quilt. A strong yawn slowly pulled his mouth open as he arched his body in a stretch. He could hear his father chinking a razor on the hand basin in the bathroom and his mother
clanging a spoon around the nearly empty coffee jar. The kettle whistled to a steamy boil, then died with the flick of a switch. The radio was on too but it was all just confused babble to Shane.

He heard his mother call. ‘Rob, wake Shane up will you? He'll be late for school if he doesn't get a move on.'

His father grunted and appeared almost immediately at Shane's door with only half a beard. He liked having a beard and had had one for as long as Shane could remember. But from time to time he liked to shave it off completely and start a new one. He said it tidied it up. ‘Come on mate, be an angel and get out of bed will you?'

Angel! Shane sat up as if he'd been zapped by a bolt of lightning. David fizzed into his memory. ‘David!' he cried. ‘David's one of those.'

Shane's father was heading back to finish his
shave when he heard Shane cry out. Dabbing a wet towel on some blood spots under the shaved half of his chin he turned quickly back to his son. ‘What was that?' he asked, leaning in the doorway. ‘Did you say something about David?'

Shane rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He'd promised to tell Mum and Dad about David, but not like this. He looked at his father with half a chin covered in beard and the other half streaked with white shaving foam. He was smiling, trying to look calm and relaxed.

‘You've had another dream, haven't you?' he said, walking into Shane's room.

Shane gritted his teeth. ‘No,' he answered softly.

His father sat on the end of the bed and patted Shane's leg. ‘But I thought I heard you mention David.'

‘I did.'

Shane's father was puzzled and the look on
his face displayed his confusion. ‘So … you did mention David, but you didn't have a dream.'

Shane was cornered, trapped — there was no way out now. He had to tell him.

He took a deep breath. ‘That's right. I didn't have a dream, Dad … But I saw David last night.'

‘What?' asked his father, giving him a curious sideways glance.

Shane leant forward and couldn't hide his excitement. ‘It was fantastic, Dad! He looks great!'

Shane's father wasn't ready for this: it was too early in the morning. He held up two hands as if he was stopping traffic in an emergency. ‘Look, Shane, I know you miss him, and God knows we all do, but you've got to let go — he's gone.'

‘Yeah, he has, but not far — he's an angel now!' Shane's head spun as he recalled the experience. ‘He's cool, Dad. He can fly, glow in the dark and do heaps of other things that you
wouldn't believe. It was no dream, honest. He was really here.'

Shane's father was far from convinced. He felt panic-stricken, sure that Shane had finally gone crazy. He was speechless and sat in a daze listening to Shane ramble on.

‘He couldn't come and see you, but he told me to tell you and Mum that he's okay. You don't have to worry about him.' Shane paused, raised one hand and moved it slowly through the air. He had a glazed look in his eyes. His voice was soft and mysterious. ‘He just faded into the night, Dad … just faded into the night like a moonbeam.'

Shane's father turned away. Anxiety overwhelmed him. ‘
Jenny! Jenny! Come here quickly!
' he shouted.

Shane's mother arrived with a coffee cup in her hand. ‘What on earth's the matter, Rob?' she frowned.

Rob pointed at Shane. ‘T … tell your mum what you just told me.'

Shane stood on his bed and repeated his story with waving arms and sound effects.

His mother was stunned. As he spoke her face twisted from shock, to sadness, then back again. By the time he'd finished, she was a mess. She bent down and in a fumbling fashion tried to put Shane's slippers on for him.

Shane pulled his feet away. ‘What are you doing, Mum? I've got to get ready for school. I don't need my slippers.'

Words stumbled from her lips. ‘Well no, well not today. I … think we'll take you down to Dr Pratt. Rob, give her a call and get the car ready.'

Mr Hamilton sat staring at the ceiling, shaking his head. His wife suddenly jabbed him hard with her elbow. ‘ROB! Call Dr Pratt and get the car!'

Shane wasn't quite sure what his next move should be. His parents hadn't believed a word
he'd said. As far as they were concerned, he was crazy. He'd lost it.

‘We'll get … we'll get … to Dr Pratt,' Jenny stammered, pushing Shane's arms into his dressing gown. She pulled Shane in close when she'd finished. ‘You'll be all right, Shane, there's nothing to worry about.'

Shane leant away from his mother's embrace. ‘I'm fine, Mum. There's nothing wrong with me. It wasn't a dream. It was different from the dreams.'

Jenny pulled a shaky brush through Shane's hair. ‘Yes, of course Shane, of course it was.'

Shane turned to her, his eyes sparkling. ‘You should see him fly, Mum — he's amazing.'

Jenny put a fist to her mouth.

The run to Dr Pratt's office was like a roller coaster ride. Shane's father drove like a maniac, revving off at traffic lights, weaving from lane to lane.

‘I wish you'd believe me,' said Shane from the back seat.

His father squealed around another corner. Shane held the door handle. ‘He just wanted me to tell you that he was happy, that's all.'

Shane pushed his feet hard to the floor as they went straight through the roundabout and decided to stop chatting until they got to Dr Pratt's office. He wondered how
she
would react to the news.