Entry #59

Angels on the Battlefield
by Barry Hurd


Dear god, I couldn’t believe this was my ending. The pain in my side was sharp, yet I could only feel a bliss tranquility enveloping my mind. I didn’t want to go easily. I tried to speak, attempted to call for help; but my voice was merely a whisper. The sky was frozen above me with perfect clouds touching each other like angels holding hands waiting for me to shed my doubt and join them. I wasn’t ready to go just yet.

My wife, my children… they needed me to hold on. Yet they couldn’t see how peaceful I was, having reached this point in life and found myself helpless. Their names rolled off my tongue as I slowly took my last breath to say ‘I love you”. The sky grew dark, I felt consumed, I was at a loss beyond anything I could have imagined. Everything faded to black.

My eyes opened again. I could hear the voice of an angel, beautiful and inspiring; she said I would be okay. I saw the bright light on the horizon fading away and I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere, that someone had either given me the strength to hold on or that I just had more to do with my life. A medic looked at me with a perplexed expression on her face and I simply said “Thank you. I don’t know who you are, but you are my angel”.