Huggy was a much loved and well-used teddy
bear. The fact that he was missing an eye and a leg didn’t seem to make the
slightest difference to his current four-year-old owner. James’ parents had
tried many times to persuade James to exchange Huggy for a much more
presentable bear, but he had flatly refused. One of the reasons was because
Huggy was identical to the bear in the picture which hung on the wall at the
base of his bed. This picture depicted a small boy holding a teddy bear crossing
a stream. Protecting the boy with outstretched arms was the boy’s guardian
angel.
James’ parents had once told James that
everyone had a personal guardian angel. Over time James built up an incredible
desire to meet his. As under Angel Law it isn’t permitted for guardian angels
to physically appear to their charges until the moment of their deaths, James’
guardian angel asked God for special permission to take on the form of Huggy in
order to get closer to James. God, being a very wise and understanding
presence, gave His O.K. and from that moment on Huggy became James’ guardian
angel in disguise. Huggy (alias, guardian angel) and James became the best of
friends.
During afternoons James’ mother was accustomed
to put James to bed for a nap. This was the time Huggy loved the most. Once
James was fast asleep he would gently shake him awake and together they would
travel across the fine line between the physical and imaginative worlds. These
journeys were always happy and exciting affairs and providing one didn’t make
to much noise and the child was under the age of five, they had God’s blessing.
Sometimes James and Huggy would travel to outer space, at other times, below
the sea, and now and then, deep into ancient forests. It was the journeys into
the ancient forests James enjoyed the most. That was where the fairies lived.
Although various types of fairies lived in the
forest, the ones James liked the best where the ones that looked like small
children with tiny wings. They were always laughing and singing, and loved to
dart through the trees at top speed leaving silver vapor trails behind
them.
James wondered if it was possible to ‘die
before you were born?’
‘Why weren’t they born,’ James asked?
‘I don’t know exactly, but rumor has it that at
times God creates such perfect beings and loves them so much that He can’t bear
to part with them, and so He does a kind of ‘Recall’,’ Huggy responded.
One day Huggy introduced James to
one of these fairies. Her name was Rose and she was extremely beautiful. James
and Rose became instant best friends. From that day on James insisted that
Huggy take him to the forest every day to meet Rose. They would spend hours
playing together. Their favorite game was to chase the brightly colored
butterflies that inhabited the forest. When a butterfly was out of reach, Rose
would take James’ hand and together they would fly off in hot pursuit. Anyone observing James and
Rose playing together would perhaps have seen a similarity between the two.
Shortly before James’ fifth
birthday, James noticed that Huggy wasn’t his usual self.
‘What is the matter,’ James
asked?
‘Soon you will be five and things
will change,” Huggy responded sadly.
James couldn’t remember the last time he spoke
with Huggy. Should I say Huggy, spoke to him. There was so much going on in his
life at that time. There was the preparation for his fifth birthday party and
his first day at school.
School was everything James imagined it would
be. There were things to play with, other children his own age to talk too and
a teacher called Miss Monroe who would read to her pupils stories about magical
lands. The part of the day James liked most however was ‘choosing time’. This
was a period when the children could choose whatever they wanted to do. James
loved to sit in a quiet corner and draw pictures of great forests populated by
fairies, wild flowers, butterflies etc.
He was a remarkably good artist for his age and on Show Day he received
several prizes for his drawings. Many adults passing commented about
James’ ‘wonderful imagination.’
One day James arrived home from school to find
his parents eagerly awaiting him.
‘We have some fantastic news,’ they announced.
‘You are going to have a baby sister or brother!’
James couldn’t understand why his parents still
hadn’t made up their mind which to have.
The climate in James’ house became one of
expectation and excitement. His mother also began to get fat.
One day James accompanied his mother to a
medical clinic for an ultra sound. The doctor put a kind of jelly on his
mother’s stomach and ran an instrument over it similar to a bar code reader.
James watched fascinated. He didn’t know
new babies came with their own bar codes.
‘You are going to have a girl,’ the doctor
happily announced!
The next day, when the James arrived home from
school, his father was busy painting the new babies’ room pink. Over the next
weeks parcels containing pink babies’ clothes began arriving from far off
relations. The adult talk was all about babies. No one seemed to notice James
was rapidly approaching his sixth birthday. No mention was made about any
surprise birthday party. In fact James began to feel that his parents had
forgotten about him all together. All conversation seemed to revolve around his
as yet unnamed, baby sister.
A few weeks before the expected birth of his
sister, James was causally looking out his classroom window when he noticed
what he thought looked liked his father’s car parked out front. He had just
decided that it couldn’t possibly be his father’s car as he would still be at
work, when there was a knock on the classroom door. Miss Monroe got up and left
the room. A moment later James was
called. His father was standing outside the classroom there with the school
principal. The first thing James noticed was that his father’s eyes were very
red.
‘You need to come with me,’ his father said. ‘I
have some sad news. Your mother is in the hospital. She has lost your baby
sister.’
At first James didn’t understand. ‘Surely if
his mother had lost his baby sister, his father and the police would be out
searching for her.’
It was the first time James had been in a
hospital. There were lots of strange pieces of equipment and many people
running urgently back and forth. He didn’t like the smell much either.
Eventually they arrived at his mother’s room. He was shocked at how white she
appeared. When she saw him she burst
into tears and stroked his hair the way he liked her to do. After she recovered
a little, she asked him things about what he had been doing at school. This
pleased James a great deal as for some time she hadn’t asked him such
questions. After a period his mother seemed to tire then she fell asleep. James
father indicated they should leave. To his great surprise and happiness James’
favorite aunt, who lived out of town, was waiting for them in the waiting room.
They all went home together.
A week later James’ mother arrived home from
hospital, and a couple of days after that a funeral Mass of the Angels was held
at the local church for James’ baby sister.
At the cemetery a priest said a few last
prayers and his sister small coffin was gently lowered into a grave beside that
of the James’ deceased grandparents. A man then began to backfill the hole.
What James took to be a fast flying butterfly,
buzzed past his face and then made several quick passes around him. James
followed its flight until it was about to land on his grandparent’s grave. Just
before it touched down he was distracted by the actions of the worker. He had finished backfilling and was now
erecting a small white cross. The name ‘Rose’ was written on it. It was the
first time James was aware his sister was called ‘Rose’. Before that she had just been referred to as;
‘The new baby.’ The name ‘Rose’ rang a bell, but he couldn’t quiet place it.
From somewhere James heard someone calling his
name. The voice was coming from the direction of his grandparent’s grave. There
perched on the tomb sat a fairyl. James recognized her immediately. It was
‘Rose’ his friend from the past!
‘Tell Mum, God could bear to part with me. She
isn’t to be sad. I will always be thinking of her and will visit her from time
to time,’ Rose called over.
With this ‘Rose’ waved good-bye and took
flight. She made some quick passes around her mother and then headed skyward.
‘Mum there’s Rose!’ James excitedly cried,
pointing in Roses’ direction.
James’ mother smiled down at him and stroked
his hair.
From somewhere behind him he heard someone say;
‘James has a wonderful imagination!’
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