Patience and Breadcrumbs

I look at the digital clock mounted to the class’s front wall. It’s five minutes to lunch. Below the clock, shaking a bit, is Jody. The light from the projector is blinding them and the image of a pigeon runs across their face.

Ms. Strange coughs out a sturdy ‘Ahem’. She’s dressed more like a holy woman than a teacher, but what else is new? “Attention everyone, it’s time for our project presentations. Jody, if you will?”

Jody nods and fiddles with the clicker in their hand. “Right, yes.” They turn to the projection. This slide has a picture of a flock of pigeons with an animated clipart of an angel inserted in it. Above the picture reads ‘ANGELS By Jody Whittaker’ in Comic Sans.

“M-- My presentation is on Angels.” Out of the corner of my eye, Whitney tilts her head to the left and right. She does that whenever she rolls her eyes. I don’t think she realizes it. Jody clicks onto the next slide. “Angels live above us, in the World of Clouds. Not a lot is publicly known about them or their world aside from that. Despite them being a species on par to humans in terms of intelligence and sentience, there has been a large divide between our worlds.” 

They click to the next slide. It shows a building similar to a cathedral, but without the stain-glass windows. “But one thing we do know about angels is their architectural pursuits. Over the years, several buildings have slipped through thinning clouds and landed here on Earth. As well, thanks to things like helicopter videographers and drones, we’ve been able to record pictures and videos of their world. But it seems one of their abilities is some sort of awareness of electronics. No footage or photo of their society in function has ever been recorded, as they flee before any could be taken. It may be possible they fear technology.”

I glance out the window. I’m hungry and want to see my animal friends. It’s springtime so they’re all coming back. There’s something small and red flying around the courtyard. I think it’s a Northern Cardinal. Are the birds coming home?

“Or maybe it’s that they’re just nervous or scared of us. We’ve known about each other for so long, yet there has been barely any contact between our worlds. I’m sure that if we really tried, our two worlds could co-exist in--”

“Jody, please stay on topic.” Ms. Strange cheerily interrupts. “I believe the purpose of this slide was their architecture, not interspecies relations.”

The bird is getting… bigger? Huh. Maybe it’s a big one and was just a bit further from the window than I thought.

Jody eeps. “R-- Right! Sorry, Ms. Strange. Erm-- Angelic architecture, while similar to our own, has some key differences. Namely the lack of closed rooms. Observed buildings do have space for doors and windows, but they’re all left empty. Perhaps they’re a much more friendly species, though that wouldn’t explain--”

“Jody,” Ms. Strange says again. The temperature has dropped a degree or two.

It keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s not a bird and it was further out than the courtyard. Whatever it is keeps flitting through the air, quickly getting closer.

“S-- Sorry! Um, well, one accidental consequence for this is that, when they occasionally swoop down to visit our world, they tend to not realize doors and windows exist. With doors, it’s not really a problem since the angels just think they’re weird parts of a wall. With windows, since they’re clear, the angels tend to smack right into them.”

The not-bird hits the window with a dull whump and we all turn to look at it. It’s got a soft-looking face, pressed painfully up against the glass. The wings sprouting from its back crumple painfully. Either angels have some adhesive property or the universe has a thing for comedy because it’s sticking to the window when it should have fallen over already.

“Like that?” Whitney asks.

Jody nods. “Like that.”

The angel plops off of the window and everyone rushes over to the windows. I follow after I grab my lunch bag. The angel is picking itself up from the ground, but it’s obviously in pain. It looks back up at the window and-- Oh, it’s noticed us. I wave. It gasps and stretches its wings out, but topples over. It must be trying to fly. After it gets up again, it covers its face in its hands and runs toward the bushes that line the courtyard.

Ms. Strange murmurs to herself then says, “Well, it seems I’ll need to make a call to the High Council. You all stay here.” It turns and hurries out of the room. I go to follow.

“H-- Hey!” Jody says. “Where are you going?”

“It’s lunchtime.” I point to the clock. “I’m gonna see my animal friends.”

---

Winter’s only just over, so it’s pretty chilly out here. I can still see my breath, even though I don’t think it’s that cold. I’m still wearing my jacket, but I’m ready to take it off in case any animals need it for warmth. I hope that angel hasn’t hurt any squirrels or anyone settling back in from their winter nap or vacation. Shuffling around in those bushes like it’s doing right now could get someone hurt.

I pull out half a PB&J as I sit on one of the courtyard’s wooden benches. I always sit here, even in the winter. There’s something really calming about sitting around outside, even if there’s no critters around and it’s cold and I get sick from it. I don’t get it, but it’s nice.

I hear something.

No I don’t. I heard something and now it’s gone. I look over to where that sound was, on the other end of the U-shaped courtyard, and see that red bandana-hat poking over the bushes. The shuffling’s stopped and so has that bandana surfing the top of the bushes like a shark fin. But, if the un-folded side of that bandana is anything to go by, that angel is staring at me.

I take another bite of my sandwich. The angel pokes its head up above the bushes. It’s got blonde hair that kinda looks like cotton candy. The twigs in it don’t hel-- Oh.

The angel’s face is covered in blood and what I can see of its wings are bent unnaturally. Do angels have bones? If they do, it’s definitely broken a few. I stand up and try to approach it, but it makes some startled noise that sounds like an ‘eep’ but… upside down? And then it drops back into the bushes.

Right. What did Jody say earlier? Maybe they’re scared of us? But this angel definitely needs help, maybe I should-- Nope. I take a step forward, but the bushes start ruffling and it scurries away from me.

Well, I did my best. I sit back down and return to my food. 

But I can see it staring again. What am I supposed to do?

My brain manages to think two separate thoughts at once. The first is, Just let Ms. Strange deal with it. And the other…

What do I do when the animals at the shelter are scared? I stay still and attract them with some food and water. There’s nothing to be afraid of, little guys. Soon enough, they’re all over me.

I glance back over at the angel. Our eyes meet. It ducks into the bushes again.

Right. I know what to do.

I finish the sandwich half and take out its sibling. But I don’t eat it. I place the plastic baggie next to me and put the sandwich on top of it. Then I sit still, like a me-shaped statue.

The angel does its little thing of popping its head up and staring at me. It remains that way for a moment before it stands fully. After another moment, it walks out of the bush. The angel’s all scratched up and there's twigs and stuff sticking to its white-and-green sleeveless hoodie. It walks hesitantly toward me, stopping for a few seconds after every couple steps. Eventually, though, it’s near the bench. I slide further to the side to let it know it can sit here.

It doesn’t. Instead, the angel hastily grabs at the sandwich and stuffs it in its face before retreating a few steps. it’s like an abused pet, afraid to find out who will hurt it next.

I don’t know what to say next. Do you need help? It obviously does. What kind of help do you need? What am I supposed to do? I’m not a medical expert. Wait. No. Our school has a one. Duh.

“Do you want to go to the nurse?” I ask.

The angel glances between me and somewhere else, still pecking away at its food. Finally, it responds. “╳◯⃤⧪⦽⥀╳⦽◯⃤  ??GMH◯⃤⧪”

I blink. Right. I don’t speak Angel. And it probably doesn’t know any Earth language either.

The angel shivers. “Are you cold?” It sounds stupid as soon as it comes out of my mouth. Obviously the angel is and it doesn’t understand a word I say. I shake my head at my own stupidity, take off my jacket, and offer it. The angel approaches it carefully again, but takes its time examining it.

The angel drapes it over its shoulders and awkwardly sits next to me.

“⟴⟲⚪⭙◓◅◊✫✫🜷🝔”

“...Right.”

The angel frowns and crosses its arms.

“🜚🜘🜔𝆕𝆕𝆕𝅘𝅥𝅯”

It sounds somewhere between happiness and frustration. Is it… trying to say thanks but can’t because of the language barrier?

“Don’t worry about it.”

But the angel doesn’t stop. It chirps and whistles and makes sounds I’ve never heard before. Increasingly frantic, just trying to convey what it’s saying. But I don’t understand any part of it and the angel seems to realize that because it just keeps going.

And then the angel stops. And I feel something on my cheek. Soft and lightly wet. Like a butterfly landing and then quickly fluttering away. It’s only there for a second, but the feeling sticks to me as I turn to the angel. The angel’s face is crimson red and it’s looking anywhere but at me.

Did it… kiss me?

I guess that’s one way to say thank you without using words. But…

I turn away. Seeing it’s blush is making me do it too. A minute must have passed by now and I don’t even know what to do. We should probably go to the nurse’s office, but I don’t know if I can look the angel in the face again.

But-- No. It needs to see the nurse. I turn to it and--

“Good heavens,” someone says, “Look at you.” Ms. Strange is bending down over the very scared angel. She parts the angel’s bangs and looks at the blood. She murmurs something I can’t make out and the angel suddenly looks calmer. Finally, Ms. Strange stands up. “Well now, we have a member of the High Council coming to pick you up. Let’s get you some attention from the nurse until then.”

She kindly wraps her hand around the angel’s arm and picks it up to standing before smiling at me. “And thank you for helping our guest. Consider this extra credit.” With that, she leads the angel away. As they approach the school’s entrance, the angel turns back and, blushing again, waves at me. The doors close behind it.

After that, with my lunch finished, I go to look for my animal friends.

Y’know… After waiting for the heat to leave my face.