Meteoric

It’s 10:59.

Three minutes to go from the time they gave on the website. She is still several blocks from home. Cursing softly, she threw her bag over her shoulder and began to run. Awkwardly, because it was something she very rarely did. But it was necessary. She could not miss the time.

She reached her front door by 11:01. The key slipped away from the lock every time she tried to insert it, and she swore. And slapped the door hard.

“Come on,” she muttered and tried again. This time, she managed to slide the key into the lock and after turning it the wrong way for a few seconds, finally, the lock sprang open. 11.02 by her old digital watch. Fuck, she was going to be late. Throwing all caution to the wind now, she didn’t even remove her shoes before she grabbed the thin banister and catapulted herself up the stairs. Blood rushed in her ears and she threw open the door to her room and sprinted for the door in the corner.

Hinges squealed, and night air hit her. It was a balm against her sweaty red face.

She clutched the railing, gazing upwards with her lips parted. Mist swirled in front of her face.

And she cried out softly when she saw the first.

The brief flash of silver across the sky made her heartbeat pause for a moment. This was it, she thought. Her boss being damned, she had made it for the most important night of the year. She waited, everything inside her calming, as more and more silver lights, raced through the blackness. And then she closed her eyes and waited.

Time felt slow as she stood in the night air. It stole the heat from her body fast. She became more and more aware of the numbness in her hands, the soreness at the tips of her ears. A traitorous voice whispered to her. Asked her if it was worth it. Asked her if she wasn’t mistaken if the last time was the final time.

She shivered, and her teeth chattered as she did.

“Please, please, please,” she whispered. Her mantra and her prayer.

She was only greeted by silence. Defeated, at last, she opened her eyes.

And gasped. A silver hand gently brushed her cheek. Every trace of coldness vanished as if it had never existed.

“You’re here,” she whispered, barely audible.

Even so, she received a solemn nod in reply. The hand touched her own this time.

“I knew you would,” she said meekly. “I didn’t doubt it.”

A blink, and a narrowing of their eyes.

“You kept me waiting a long time,” she said. “Every time I fear it is the last. That you won’t make it back, that you’ll have something more important than me. I’m just one lowly human… compared to you…”

The angel sighed. “You are a creation more precious than I. However you are also correct; this visit is unsanctioned and will not go unnoticed. I am not your guardian and should take no special interest…”

“You saved my life. I think that makes you my guardian, in name at least.” It was a conversation they’d had many times before. She knew the angel’s mind couldn’t be changed, and yet the angel couldn’t fight the link that was between them. A loyalty, a sense of duty… that day had changed them both. “Would you save me again? If I needed it?”

The angel frowned. “I am not always watching and waiting to—”

“I understand,” she interrupted gently. “I mean if you were here… Don’t you have a policy of non-interference?”

The angel didn’t answer but instead squeezed her hand. Together, they watched the meteor shower. The lights dazzled her all the more, and she felt the size of the universe. The age of it. And how insignificant she should be but somehow wasn’t.

The time between the meteors stretched further and further, and finally, the angel turned to her. “I must leave now.” She expected the usual perfunctory goodbye, however this time they hesitated. And silver eyes looked straight into hers, entrancing her. “I am here for you… More than you know.” Their eyes darted away, and then they whispered into the shell of her ear. “Always. If you call… Always.”

Her heart about stopped again.

“Close your eyes now.”

She did. The softest brush against her cheek and a cold wind rushed against her. When she opened her eyes again, the meteor shower was gone and so was her angel.

The last thing she did before she went to bed was circle the date for the next meteor shower, in bright, bright red.