Angel in the Intersection

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"Mom!" he screamed. And then there was a sickening thud.

Back at home, Melba felt a ripple of panic course through her. Mark was never late, but now it was seven minutes past the time when he usually arrived from school. She slipped on a pair of sandals and began walking toward the school.

She heard the sirens almost immediately and picked up her pace.

Two blocks away she saw an ambulance and fire engine and a cluster of people gathered around a figure on the ground.

Her heart skidded into an irregular rhythm. Dear God, don't let it be Mark.

Melba began to run, convincing herself it couldn't possibly be her precious boy. He would never have crossed a street without looking for cars. But as she ran a memory came to mind of a bad dream Mark had suffered through more than a month ago.

"I'm scared, Mom. Like something bad's going to happen to me." He had tears on his cheeks and she wiped them with her pajama sleeve. "I don't want to be alone."

"Mark," she said, "there's nothing to worry about. You're never alone. God has placed a guardian angel by your side to watch over you while you sleep and to protect you by day. You have nothing to be afraid of."

That conversation must have sparked the one she and Mark had earlier that morning.

Melba was almost to the accident scene and she scanned the crowd of children looking for Mark. Please God, put his guardian angel by him now. Please.

At that moment she caught sight of the child on the ground.

It was Mark.

"Dear God," she screamed as she pressed her way to the front of the crowd. Terror racked her body and she fought to keep herself from fainting. "Is he okay?"

"He's conscious," one of the paramedics shouted. Then in a softer voice he mumbled, "This is incredible. The kid shouldn't even be alive."

Mark could hear the paramedics and his mother in the distance. He lay on the ground, not moving, but he couldn't figure out what had happened. He remembered being hit and flying through the air. But when he'd hit the ground, there had been no pain. Almost as if someone had carried him through the air and then set him gently down on the pavement. He looked up and saw a circle of people working on him.

"Check his pulse," someone shouted. "Check the reflexes."

"Don't move him yet," another cried. "Check for head injuries."

"I'm fine, Mom. I saw my guardian angel..." Read more >>

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