PART 6

PART 6

The first sun rays started to cross the blue sky announcing the beginning of a new day, waking up the birds and the other creatures that inhabited the ever green woods.

Andrew finished to prepare breakfast and divided it in two parts: one half he placed inside a picnic basket. The other, he left on a folding table, carefully packing it to avoid the ants attack. Then, he looked at the ground and saw that Joy had already eaten an entire bowl of dog food and was staring at him with anxious black eyes and happily wagging her tiny tail.

“Wow, that was fast, huh? You were really hungry, weren’t you, little one?”

A double bark was a reply to his question, and he smiled:

“… yeah, I know: you’re always hungry!”, the blond angel grabbed the basket containing the breakfast and checked his surroundings for the last time, “Well, I guess it’s all set: when Tess wakes up her breakfast will be ready and everything is clean. Now, let’s go find your mom?”

Joy barked again and both left to the woods.

*

Monica was not far from the campsite. The Irish angel had found a small clearing and was kneeling on the ground, with her hands open. In them, there were some crumbs of bread, which were being eagerly devoured by lots of little birds that had come down the trees and perched on the angel’s arms, hands and shoulders, with not a single sign of fear. Monica had a content smile on her meek face and anyone could tell how happy she was to be in that place:

“I’m glad you like breakfast…”, she spoke, “I just wish I’d known you were so many! The population increased a lot since the last time I’ve been here!”

But that peaceful moment was interrupted by a loud and rather angry puppy bark: Joy suddenly showed up and rushed towards her mommy, scaring the birds that were eating in her hands and causing them to immediately fly away form that place. Monica stared at the little dog with a perplex look on her face:

“Joy! Why did you do that?!”, she exclaimed, with surprise. But the little animal went on barking, now at the trees, as a warning to the birds not to come back. Only when she was sure nobody would dare to return, the grouchy puppy dog turned to the Irish angel: wagging her tiny tail as if nothing had happened. Monica took her in her arms:

“Hey, what’s going on with you, huh?”

“She’s jealous of her mom!”, Andrew said, coming closer to his dearest friend and offering her his hand. Monica stood up and stared at her precious baby even more surprised:

“Jealous? Do you really think so?”

“Yes, she is, for sure, Monica!”, he answered, finding the dog’s annoyance really funny. “She practically shoved the birds from here and even warned them not to come back!”

Equally amused, the Irish angel looked at the puppy and stroked her soft black fur:

“But doesn’t she know how much I love her and that I would never change her for anything in this entire world?”

“Yes, but she doesn’t want to run any risk! Besides, this little one doesn’t want to share you with anybody else other than Tess and me!”, a pensive expression appeared on his face, “And you know something? I think we should do something about it… I mean, we are her parents and, consequently we are responsible for her education!”

Giggling, the Irish angel patted Joy on the head:

“Well, I guess it’s just a phase, and it’ll be over when she gets older… despite the fact that she’ll be a puppy forever…”

“But we have to agree that she can be really temperamental sometimes.”

“Well… yes, we can’t deny that our wee one has a strong personality. But she’s also kind and warm; just look how she manages to conquer everybody’s heart! Even Sam likes her! And remember how long he had to stay with her?”

Knowing exactly what she meant, Andrew laughed:

“Yeah, you’re right. And I have to recognise that my little one here is also a brave girl! She even saved a life in her first assignment!

“You know what? Our precious baby is just adorable!”, Monica concluded, holding Joy tightly in her arms and kissing her little head, receiving lots of kisses in reply. Finding that scene really cute, Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulder:

“Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

They left the clearing and started to follow a small trail:

“You know something, Monica?”

“What?”

“I don’t blame this little one. After all, I too like to have close to me all the time!”

Immediately blushing with his kind words, she smiled:

“Even with me being a wee bit clumsily sometimes?”

He stared at her as if he had just heard the most absurd thing:

“I wouldn’t say something like this, honey!”

She stopped walking with a slight surprised and amused look in her eyes:

“Oh no?!”

Andrew also stopped and stroked her cheek:

“I’d rather say you’re a very active and creative Angel Girl! And you know what? I don’t like monotony!”

He bent down and placed a tiny kiss on her giggling angel’s nose.

*

Some time later, in a flowered field, under the shade of a huge tree:

“Yes, you were right again, Monica. This place is amazing!”, Andrew said, lying on the short green grass. Monica was lying next to him, with her hands resting on her stomach and using his left arm as a pillow; and little Joy was trotting around the 2 angels. They had just finished to have their breakfast and a gentle breeze was blowing on their faces. The towel with a big bottle of coffee (now empty) and some remaining pieces of cake, bread and pancakes was still on the ground, near them.

“I told you it was. And having the opportunity to admire such a wonderful gift from the Father is always a blessing!”

“Yes. It makes us feel grateful and, most importantly, it makes us want to give thanks for everything that surrounds us.”, the blond angel agreed.

Monica looked at him with sparkling brown eyes:

“That’s how I’m feeling now. I’m grateful for being here and, most importantly, I’m grateful for being here with the ones I love most in this entire world!”

With a warm smile upon his handsome face, he leaned to his left and stroked her hair, placing some strands behind her ear.

“I just hope I can bring Tess here too some other day, you know. I think she’s a wee bit tired right now and it takes some walk to get here… It’s funny, I didn’t think it was that far! I guess I’ve spent way too much time without coming here and now I’m a wee bit confused about time and directions!”

Trying his best not to laugh at the seriousness of her words and also not to show what he was thinking about them, Andrew nodded his head:

“Yes… I think we’d better leave Tess resting for today…”

At that moment, Monica stood up and, after getting rid of some green leaves attached to her clothes and hair, she offered her hand to him:

“C’mon, let’s go for a walk?”

“Ok… But I have to confess that these shoes are killing me!”, he said, also standing up.

“Why don’t you take them off? I can assure you it feels wonderful!”

Pondering about the distance he had already walked in that morning and also about the distance he would still have to walk during the rest of the day, he decided to follow her advice.

“So?”, she asked, curiously. Andrew smiled a little surprised:

“You know what? You were right, Angel Girl! It does feel great!”

“See? I told you! You’re gonna love walking around barefoot! I bet you won’t want to put these shoes on anymore while we’re here!”

“Well… At least now I wouldn’t mind getting rid of them!”

Monica took his hand:

“C’mon, we have to pick some more flowers to put in our temporary home; the ones I’ve put there are already fading!”

He rolled his eyes playfully and teased her:

“It’s such a girlish tent!”

“It’s a very beautiful tent!”, she replied back, in a mock stubborn way.

And little Joy, who had been attentively paying attention to her parent’s conversation, followed them happily wagging her tiny tail.

*

One hour later, after walking around the vast flowered area, Andrew and Monica were coming back to the place where they had left their belongings. The Irish angel had managed to pick many different species of flowers and, although he continued to tease her, Andrew ended up helping his dearest friend:

“Andrew, be careful…!”, Monica warned, looking at the top of a high tree slightly worried. The blond angel walked over to one of the highest branches and finally took a beautiful yellow flower:

“I guess now you can complete your collection!”, he said, and got down the tree a minute later; giving her the flower:

“It’s beautiful!”, Monica exclaimed, taking it in her hands and smelling its sweet perfume, “Thank you!”, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hold:

“But I didn’t take it for you to decorate that girlish tent! That’s for you!”

Giggling, she placed a kiss on his cheek:

“Ok. But I’m afraid I’ll have to put it inside our temporary room anyway!”

Seeing him roll his green eyes in a mock upset way, she went on talking:

“But it’ll be the most beautiful flower in the tent! And also my favourite one!”

“Well, it’s reasonable!…”, he laced his fingers with hers, “Now let’s go back, Tess must be waiting for us!”

“Yes.”, the expression of happiness on Monica’s face was immediately replaced by one of worry when she looked around them and noticed something:

“Where’s Joy?!”

But Andrew was quick in putting her heart at ease:

“Joy is up ahead of us. I saw when she started to run back to that big tree where we left our things.

Relief quickly filled the Irish angel’s heart:

“Oh my! For a moment I thought she had disappeared!”

Although Andrew had seen Joy from the top of the tree, the 2 angels decided to walk faster, as they knew from past experiences that the little puppy shouldn’t be left alone for a long time (and sometimes, not even for a short time). But when they arrived at the tree, they found no trace of the small dog:

“Joy? Where are you? Answer to me!” the Irish angel called, worry immediately back on her face and in her heart.

“C’mon little one, we have to go now, it’s lunch time!…”, Andrew said, “I don’t think you wanna miss this!”

With her heart already filled with anguish, Monica placed the bouquet with lots of different flowers that she had picked in the basket and started to walk around, looking for the missing puppy:

“Joy! Answer to me! Don’t do this to us! Where are you?!”

Again, there was no reply to her calling, causing her to be twice scared:

“Joy! Please, answer to me!… Oh Andrew, what happened to her?”

Seeing her despair, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder:

“Monica, try to stay calm. She can’t be that far, I saw her from the top of the tree, she hadn’t even arrived here yet. Besides, I think…”

The blond angel stopped talking when he looked at their belongings spread on the grass and noticed that there was something missing:

“I can’t believe it!”

“What is it?”, Monica asked, with worry evident in her voice. With a slight upset expression on his face, Andrew crossed his arms in front of his chest:

“My shoes have disappeared!”