CHAPTER 8

A beautiful garden

When the alarm rang on that following Monday morning, lots of excited little voices filled the corridors of the kindergarten school where, from that day on, an angel in human form would work as a teacher. Monica smiled nervously as she saw her little students coming through the door. The bravest ones, waved their parents goodbye at the steps of the school building; others, frightened with the first and drastic separation, had to be taken by the hand, carried by a mom or a dad who promised them everything would be alright.

Monica loved children, and each cute face that she could see was a reminder of innocence and virtue, so common for a heavenly being. The Irish angel hoped that she could keep those qualities inside her heart intact during her brief or long stay on Earth.

And due to the fact that she and those little ones had so much in common, the empathy with one another was almost immediate. Fifteen young, attentive, inquiring and intelligent children listened carefully as Monica explained them what the beautiful board they now were gazing at represented.

"You are exactly like those flowers... Different, but beautiful in your own way... Unique and special, and very important to make that garden a beautiful one!"

They smiled, pleased to hear that.

Monica kept on speaking, her voice now low and with a tone of suspense as if she was telling them a story. "And you see, I have a secret to tell you all: that board isn't complete yet!"

"No?" they spoke at the same time.

"Oh, no... And it's up to you to finish it!"

"But how, miss Monica?" a little boy wanted to know.

She showed them set of coloured tags with something written on them. "You see those tags I have here in my hand? They have your names, and I'll give them to you so that you can go up to that board and choose a flower. Then, you'll stick this tag with your name on the flower petal so that everyone who enters this classroom knows what a beautiful and perfect garden you form!"

A festival of excited yelps went on as they quickly started to work on their task, closely observed by their first teacher. Some were more talkative, others more concentrated in what they were doing, and others shy. Monica had a good memory and it didn't take her too long to memorise each cute face and their respective names as the class flowed easily and the hours went by so fast that, before they knew it, it was already time to go home.

As they bid their sweet teacher goodbye, a young little girl, with blue eyes and blond hair that came up to her shoulders in large curls came closer to Monica. She was one of the students that the angel had considered shy.

"Miss Monica?" she called her, looking up as now her teacher was amazingly taller that she was.

Monica knelt down in front of her so that both could be on the same level. "Yes, wee Rose?"

With a sheepish smile, the girl handed Monica a sheet of paper, carefully folded. "It's for you..."

"For me? Why, thank you!"

The Irish angel unfolded it and recognised that through irregular lines and colours, the little girl had drawn another flower. "Oh, Rose, it's beautiful!"

"It's cause you're part of our garden too, Miss Monica..." she explained, and those words brought tears of emotion to a way too sensitive angelic heart. "The only problem is that I cannot write your name in it cuz I still don't know how to write..."

She smiled, trying to put her emotion under control. "Oh, sweetheart, that's okay. Very soon, you'll be able to write many, many words! It's so beautiful! Thank you very much!" she said, gently stroking her cheek.

"Are we really special?" she wanted to know, with a genuine worried expression on her face.

"Oh, yes, dear. All of you! Unique and beautiful like a garden!"

"Me too?"

"Ah, wee Rose... Your name already says how special and pretty you are! And much loved!"

Pleased to hear it, the little girl smiled at her and gave Monica an unexpected hug. The angel returned her embrace and then watched as the little one walked out of the classroom, where the vice-principal was already waiting to take her to the parents.

X

Once Monica had collected her things and inspected one more time the beautiful board she and the children had created, she picked up her bag and closed her classroom door. The work day was over and she realised that the hours she had spent there had sent her worries away for a while. And as she started walking along the corridor, the angel met another friendly face on her way.

"Hey, baby!"

Biting her lower lip, once again trying to hide the memories brought by that term of endearment, Monica smiled. "Hullo, Ella!"

The old teacher was closing her classroom door and, like her colleague, she was leaving the school building. "How were things on your first day?" she wanted to know, and before her young friend answered, she added. "Judging by the spark in your eyes and that shy smile on your face I guess things went better than what you expected!"

Monica nodded her head, as the two walked together towards the exit. "It was... renewing."

"Ah, that's a very interesting word. But I guess I understand what you mean." The woman replied, still finding that her sweet co-worker was as mysterious as she was gentle and kind. "Anyway, it's nice to head home and take a good shower and have a nice dinner when the day is over!"

Hearing that, Monica let out a small sigh as her smile faded away. Going back home would be particularly difficult that night. "I believe a warm bath and good food can be renewing too."

The old lady tilted her head and eyed Monica carefully. "I can detect a slight hint of worry on this pretty face of yours, baby. Is everything alright?"

A new smile appeared on Monica's face, but it was a bittersweet one. "Andrew is working tonight... It's his first night shift, you see."

The old woman nodded, finally understanding what was troubling her so much. "Oh, now I see. And I believe that one young teacher will spend the entire night praying that God can take care of her 'soul mate,' right?"

"You're right." Monica shyly admitted, blushing a little.

"Well, baby, I'll offer my prayers too! But I won't ask the Father to keep him safe, as you're doing it already..." under Monica's questioning face, she kept on talking. "I'll pray that God protects your love... the immense love I can see in your eyes whenever you speak of your Andrew."

"Thank you, Ella. It... It means a lot to hear this... Perhaps a lot more than you know..."

The old lady could detect the presence of tears in her young friend's eyes, but she elected not to go on asking more about Monica's personal life. There were obviously many things going on in her life, but she would voice her thoughts eventually; it was just a matter of time.

Both walked together for a block, and then Ella explained that she lived on the other side of the city, and would take the bus at the bus stop just around the corner.

Smiling more openly now, and looking a bit more relaxed, the angel bid her friend goodbye.

"Have a good night, Monica. I know it'll be a long night for you until you hear from your Andrew, but let me tell you to hold on to the moments you spend with each other so that you can bear the moments when you're apart. Judging by the way you speak of him, I can tell you two have a collection of good memories kept right there in your hearts."

"We do..." she replied, biting her lower lip.