Erin has a guardian angel. A real one.
This supernatural cherub was a gift from her mother, long ago. It all started when Erin was six years old. Her dying mother called Erin to her sickbed, said a prayer, and gifted her daughter an angel. Simple as that.
After her mother passed, Erin was raised by her grandmother in a ramshackle house near the railroad tracks. Times were not easy. Her grandmother was a single parent, and kids ain’t cheap. Simple as that.
“We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper,” said Erin. “And we shopped at thrift stores.”
But an angel is worth a lot more than greenbacks. Especially an angel like hers, who has made himself evident at pivotal moments throughout her life.
There was the time in elementary school when Erin fell off a low balcony at her friend’s house. When she opened her eyes, she was in no pain. The doc couldn’t believe what he saw. Not a bone broken.
There was the time in high school when she was driving on
the interstate. A voice inside Erin said, “Take the exit, and wait at the gas station.”
She did. On that same highway, on that same night, an auto collision occurred involving an eighteen-wheeler. Four people died.
There was the time when Erin was engaged to a young man whom she thought she loved. The wedding was fast approaching, but something inside her said, “This is wrong. Do not marry him.”
She called off the ceremony, simple as that.
Erin gave back the wedding gifts. She returned the ring. And many years later, Erin realizes she made the right call. The man she might have married has already been remarried thrice.
Another time, she was in an apartment building visiting a friend. There was a man in the hallway who looked suspicious. He was standing too close to her.
When Sarah brushed past him, the man’s…