Angel Dream

(title borrowed from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

A Conclusion, by Aaron Romero

A long last, his end had come. He awoke in a dark room, devoid of any light, save a strange glow emanating from above, several feet away. He stood and walked toward it. When he finally reached the light, he felt the presence of another person. He looked around, but could see nothing. He was disoriented and lost, and h felt as though he was floating underwater. He looked down at himself, bathed in the light from above. In this surreal haze, he did not feel peace, and he was very afraid. He felt movement nearby, and turned to face it. Out of the darkness, she stepped forward.

It was his angel, only she was somehow different. Her face was stained with tears, and she embraced him. The sensation was familiar to him, vaguely, like something he had felt long, long ago.

"I'm so sorry, my love," she began. "I never wanted any of this to happen to you, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I am more sorry than you will ever know."

He looked up at his angel, and realized what had happened. He recognized her face. It was her. After all of his earthly suffering, his angel looked exactly like the woman he had given his life for.

She took the form of the love of his life,. She was beautiful beyond anything he had ever seen, including the angel from before, and her earthly figure. She was the pinnacle of physical and spiritual beauty. Bathed in the light, her hair shone and her eyes sparkled. She stood tall and graceful, radiating love, kindness and beauty. She was, in fact, nothing like her Earthly counterpart.

Her eyes were still filled with tears, and as she held him close, she whispered to him.

"I've loved you since the day I met you. Somehow I didn't realize it then, but I have always loved you. Despite everything you have been through, I have loved you just the same… with all of my heart."

She smiled at him through the tears.

"You're just as I remember you. You're just as handsome as I remember. You're the man I have been dreaming about all of my life. He was always faceless until I met you, but somehow I know it has always been you. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

She suddenly broke her smile off and her demeanor turned somber.

"I have some terrible news, however," she said. "I am the one you have been seeking. I am the woman you have been looking for. But there is a price to pay for finding me. Remember when I told you earlier that your heavenly reward would be great, but that you might not have a happy ending?"

He nodded.

"We exist on two plains. There is the physical world that you lived through on Earth. And there is this place, she said," pointing to the darkness.  “This is our mutual heaven.  This is the place where you and I were supposed to spend the rest of eternity together.”

“But it is time for me to return to my earthly body,” she said.  Your death awakened my earthly feeling of love for you.  This spirit that you see now will fade from this place, and I will only exist on earth.”

“You will return, won’t you,” he asked.

“remember that time is a relative thing.  The earth was created in seven days, in God’s time,” she began.  “But the process described in the bible actually took millions of years.” 

“So won’t the time seem short to me?”

She sighed, sadly.  “The short answer is no.  Each of my earthly days will be like a thousand years to you here.”

She held him close, in her arms once again.  “I never wanted it this way,” she sobbed, breaking down as she held him.  “I wanted you to be my love, and I wanted to spend the rest of eternity together.”

“I’m so sorry.  This has been hard on you, and it will always be harder on you than it will on me,” she cried.  “You remember your dreams, right?  The faceless angel?  That was me.  I could always see you, but you could never see me for who I really am.  I will be able to see you in my dreams for the rest of my earthly life.  I love you.  I really do.  I want to spend the rest of eternity with you, but I have a long, lonely earthly life ahead of me.  And for you, the worst is yet to come.  We are perfect beings here.  But as I return to earth… I will become imperfect.  You see, I’m not going to remember this place when I go back.  When I think of this place, it will only be a dream to me.  I want to say that I will wait for you, that I will spend the rest of my earthly life waiting for you, but I just don’t know.  When I return…”  She broke off.

“I may find another…” she began to cry.  “And you will be my angel.  My guardian angel.  You may have to watch me try to forget you… you may have to stay here in our paradise, and watch me get married to another man.  You may have to spend ages watching me love another, trying to move on.”

He held her and tried to comfort her.  “No matter what, I will be here, waiting for you as always, my love,” he said.  “It may take ages, but I would rather wait a life time than surrender an eternity of love.”

“I’m sorry,” she began, “but there is a chance that I may not come back here.”

He was stunned and speechless.

“I don’t know exactly how these things are determined,” she continued, “but should I seek out another man while I am on earth, there is a chance that I may reside in his paradise for the rest of time.  If things fall into place for him, we may never meet again, save in dreams.”

She collapsed with sorrow, falling to her knees in front of him.  He knelt next to her, and comforted her.  In a space and time where human needs such as sleep are unnecessary, they sat there together, she crying into his chest, and he holding her and stroking her beautiful hair, for what seemed like days.  Slowly, as her human counterpart began to realize the impact of his death and her loss, the crying angel he held so closely faded from his view, until there was nothing left, except for the tear stained clothes he wore.  She was gone again.

© 2003 Aaron Romero.
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