Monday, January 08, 2007

Entry #25

In the Arms of Angels
by Sandra Seamans


Detective Joey Russo knelt beside the chalk outline on the sidewalk. Mary Cates, his best snitch, had died here early last night. The coroner figured it was suicide, but Joey had his doubts. He felt the whisper of a hand touch his shoulder. He turned to find a little girl in a soft, pink nightgown, hugging a teddy bear to her chest.

"What are you doing out here in the cold, sweetie?" he asked.

"Mary was my friend."

"Did you see her fall?"

The girl nodded her head, "The angel tried to catch her. I saw the sparklies from her wings when Mary grabbed the wires up there. I guess Mary was too heavy, cause the angel only caught her soul."

"Just her soul?"

"Uh-huh, you can see it there -- on the wall."

Joey looked at the wall, saw the black outline of Mary's body burned into the wall and the white stain of angel wings behind it.

"Did you see anything else?"

"I saw Tommy Bones chasing Mary across the roof. He was shooting at her with his gun. Do you suppose she saw the angel before she jumped?"

Joey crossed himself, "I think maybe she did, little one."

"I'm glad the angel caught her soul."

"I am too, baby."

Joey sighed as he watched the child dashed back across the street and into her mother's waiting arms. With any luck, there’d be no angels around when he caught up with Tommy Bones.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm noticing a common theme in this last batch of entries. Beautifully done, Sandra.

Anonymous said...

This is lovely, Sandra. Well executed

Jaye Wells said...

I like the juxtaposition of the girl's innocence versus the grim reality. Nicely done.

Jeff said...

Very nice! Good writing!

s.w. vaughn said...

Oooh, great resolution!

Anonymous said...

Loved the ending, and the duality of the cop.....all tender with the girl while probably picturing ways to hurt the guy responsible.

BD

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much everyone!

Anonymous said...

While the detective there have appeared more than once, the stories have been well done.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I actually teared up on the train reading this. Powerful and expertly written. An amazing story for 250 words.

Highest marks overall.

Congratulations on the Honorable Mention!!