“Angel!” my Mom cried, motioning for her to come forward. She comes toward her slowly, limping. I try to ignore the pathetic look on her face. Her fur is stained with tears and her left leg is wobbly from having been stood on all day. I know I should be thinking about her suffering, but I’m just being selfish. Selfish in thinking it’s okay to ignore her pain just because I don’t want to lose her. I look away just as my Mom picks her up and brings her to her food. I don’t know how this happened! It feels like one day she was running after her dog toys and playing happily with Megan and me. Now all she does is mope, glancing sadly at the spot in our living room where Megan used to sit when she came over. It has been ten years since the day we found our little fallen angel under that fence, and a lot has changed since then. I wouldn’t know where to start filling in the blanks of the past decade, so I’ll give you the short version. Megan and I grew up. We stayed with each other through the first days of High School. We stood up for each other when no one else would, and comforted each other through our first heartbreaks. We were there for each other every day of our adolescent lives, all the way up to graduation. The day we threw our caps in the air was the last day I saw Megan. I never even got to say goodbye before she drove off, ready to start her adult life. She had gotten accepted at NYU and she left early to settle into her new apartment, leaving me behind. I didn’t find out she was gone until I went over to her house and her Mom told me. It was then that I realized how much had really changed. It used to be me taking trips to New York and living an exciting life. My family and I used to drive up to water parks and throw parties spur of the moment. That was all until my parents decided they wanted a quiet life. We started to slow down a little, and around the same time Megan’s family sped up. She started entering essay contests that brought her to different states while I stayed home and watched TV. We completely switched places. Angel finishes her food and Mom sets her down slowly on her dog bed. I take a deep breath as she walks over to me, because I know what my Mom wants to talk to me about. The subject has been coming up a lot lately, and I’ve been considering it more and more. I just don’t think I’m ready to act yet. Sure enough, she motions for me to sit down and she takes the spot next to me, puts her arm around me and starts talking. “Honey” she starts in a whispered voice so as not to let Angel hear us, “I think it’s time”. A tear rolls down my cheek “I really don’t wanna do this!” I whisper a little too loudly. I sniffle as several tears start falling all at once. “I’ve thought about it but I just don’t think I could do it!” I start crying uncontrollably and she pulls me into a hug. She whispers in my ear “We’ll do this however you wan’t. You can take all the time you need to say goodbye.” We both look over at Angel snoozing on the couch. Through the muffled sound I can hear her whimpering. That was the end of that conversation. Not another word was spoken from either of us for over two weeks. Angel’s health took a turn for the worse, and although everyone tried their best to ignore it, we all knew it was time. The time finally came one evening when the three of us came home from a midnight showing of a popular movie. We started through the door and expected to see Angel curled up peacefully in bed, but instead found her crying. Feathers were all over the living room having exploded from a pillow when Angel bit into it. She had been up this whole time, fighting through the pain. It was then that I knew it had to end. I woke up the next morning to the sound of a conversation in the dining room. As soon as my eyes opened I wanted to go back to sleep. I wanted to forget all about what was going on, but instead I bravely made my way downstairs for breakfast. I quietly instructed myself not to cry as I walked into the dining room to face my parents. But it wasn’t just my parents that were sitting there at the table. At her usual spot on the right side of the table sat my best friend Megan. I couldn’t stop myself. I ran up to her as she stood up and threw my arms around her. We both burst into tears knowing that there was no way to stop what was happening. We were losing our Angel. For two whole hours the three of us layed on the couch, Angel sandwiched in between us. We went through photo albums and rehashed the details of the day we found her. “She was the best thing that ever happened to us.” Megan stated through tears. “Before we found her our lives were so boring. She made everything fun.” We cried in the backseat the whole ride to the vets, where we drove to put her down. When it was all over, we decided it was time to cheer ourselves up a little. So we went on a walk just like we used to when we were nine. We talked the whole way there, and as usual, I talked and Megan listened. Finally we made it to our destination. We walked bravely up to the fence where we first found Angel. The fence was still torn from where Megan knocked it over. The family who lived there moved shortly after that incident, though they said it was for financial purposes. Just as I started crying all over again I saw Megan reach into her bag. “What are you doing?” I asked sniffly. She didn’t respond. She pulled out a tombstone shaped like a paw print, and placed it in the spot where Angel got stuck under. I moved closer to get a better look, and in engraved writing it said the sweetest thing. In loving memory of our little Angel You changed our lives and brought us together
And even though we cried when we thought of her, we also smiled. The last thing she did was bring the two of us back together, and we will never be apart again.
The epilogue to “A Fallen Angel”
“Angel!” my Mom cried, motioning for her to come forward. She comes toward her slowly, limping. I try to ignore the pathetic look on her face. Her fur is stained with tears and her left leg is wobbly from having been stood on all day. I know I should be thinking about her suffering, but I’m just being selfish. Selfish in thinking it’s okay to ignore her pain just because I don’t want to lose her.
I look away just as my Mom picks her up and brings her to her food. I don’t know how this happened! It feels like one day she was running after her dog toys and playing happily with Megan and me. Now all she does is mope, glancing sadly at the spot in our living room where Megan used to sit when she came over.
It has been ten years since the day we found our little fallen angel under that fence, and a lot has changed since then. I wouldn’t know where to start filling in the blanks of the past decade, so I’ll give you the short version. Megan and I grew up. We stayed with each other through the first days of High School. We stood up for each other when no one else would, and comforted each other through our first heartbreaks. We were there for each other every day of our adolescent lives, all the way up to graduation. The day we threw our caps in the air was the last day I saw Megan.
I never even got to say goodbye before she drove off, ready to start her adult life. She had gotten accepted at NYU and she left early to settle into her new apartment, leaving me behind. I didn’t find out she was gone until I went over to her house and her Mom told me. It was then that I realized how much had really changed. It used to be me taking trips to New York and living an exciting life. My family and I used to drive up to water parks and throw parties spur of the moment. That was all until my parents decided they wanted a quiet life. We started to slow down a little, and around the same time Megan’s family sped up. She started entering essay contests that brought her to different states while I stayed home and watched TV. We completely switched places.
Angel finishes her food and Mom sets her down slowly on her dog bed. I take a deep breath as she walks over to me, because I know what my Mom wants to talk to me about. The subject has been coming up a lot lately, and I’ve been considering it more and more. I just don’t think I’m ready to act yet.
Sure enough, she motions for me to sit down and she takes the spot next to me, puts her arm around me and starts talking. “Honey” she starts in a whispered voice so as not to let Angel hear us, “I think it’s time”. A tear rolls down my cheek “I really don’t wanna do this!” I whisper a little too loudly. I sniffle as several tears start falling all at once. “I’ve thought about it but I just don’t think I could do it!” I start crying uncontrollably and she pulls me into a hug. She whispers in my ear “We’ll do this however you wan’t. You can take all the time you need to say goodbye.” We both look over at Angel snoozing on the couch. Through the muffled sound I can hear her whimpering.
That was the end of that conversation. Not another word was spoken from either of us for over two weeks. Angel’s health took a turn for the worse, and although everyone tried their best to ignore it, we all knew it was time.
The time finally came one evening when the three of us came home from a midnight showing of a popular movie. We started through the door and expected to see Angel curled up peacefully in bed, but instead found her crying. Feathers were all over the living room having exploded from a pillow when Angel bit into it. She had been up this whole time, fighting through the pain. It was then that I knew it had to end.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of a conversation in the dining room. As soon as my eyes opened I wanted to go back to sleep. I wanted to forget all about what was going on, but instead I bravely made my way downstairs for breakfast. I quietly instructed myself not to cry as I walked into the dining room to face my parents.
But it wasn’t just my parents that were sitting there at the table. At her usual spot on the right side of the table sat my best friend Megan. I couldn’t stop myself. I ran up to her as she stood up and threw my arms around her. We both burst into tears knowing that there was no way to stop what was happening. We were losing our Angel.
For two whole hours the three of us layed on the couch, Angel sandwiched in between us. We went through photo albums and rehashed the details of the day we found her. “She was the best thing that ever happened to us.” Megan stated through tears. “Before we found her our lives were so boring. She made everything fun.”
We cried in the backseat the whole ride to the vets, where we drove to put her down. When it was all over, we decided it was time to cheer ourselves up a little. So we went on a walk just like we used to when we were nine. We talked the whole way there, and as usual, I talked and Megan listened.
Finally we made it to our destination. We walked bravely up to the fence where we first found Angel. The fence was still torn from where Megan knocked it over. The family who lived there moved shortly after that incident, though they said it was for financial purposes. Just as I started crying all over again I saw Megan reach into her bag.
“What are you doing?” I asked sniffly. She didn’t respond. She pulled out a tombstone shaped like a paw print, and placed it in the spot where Angel got stuck under. I moved closer to get a better look, and in engraved writing it said the sweetest thing.
In loving memory of our little Angel
You changed our lives and brought us together
And even though we cried when we thought of her, we also smiled. The last thing she did was bring the two of us back together, and we will never be apart again.