Jason+Mraz?l=0 (for music, right click and open in new tab)
Okay, I wanna see if I can add music to my post 
Okay, well you have to click on the link I guess, but it still works sort of…
2
Chapter 9: Miracle
With overwhelming trepidation, Maria entered the hospital and wound her way through the mazelike corridors until she found Tommy’s room.
John was standing beside the bed, obscuring her view of her precious little boy.
“How is he?”
“He’s still unconscious.” John turned toward his overwrought wife and took her forcefully into his arms, as much for her comfort as for his own. “I found him about a block away from the school…lying in a heap by the side of the road.”
“What on earth happened?”
“I don’t know.” John looked anxiously down at his feet. “But it looks like he had one heck of a beating.”
“My poor baby!” Unable to hold her tears at bay, Maria let them flow unbidden.
“Mom? Dad?”
“Tommy! Oh my gosh! Tommy!” Both of Tommy’s parents practically ran to his side. “What happened to you?”
“Mom…Mrs. Jenkins died, didn’t she?”
“Uh…” Maria worriedly met her husbands eyes, especially since she had not yet shared the news even with him. “Yes honey. She did. But how did you know…?”
“I saw her.” Tommy stated nonchalantly. “She was there…she scared them away.”
Once again, Mr. and Mrs. Randall looked at one another, concern and wonder encompassing both of their faces.
“Scared who away, bud?”
“Jimmy and Nathan.” Tommy replied. “They’ve been picking on me at school…it’s what I’ve been so worried about lately. Nathan said he was going to kill me, and if it weren’t for Mrs. Jenkins I think he would have!”
“Uh…honey…I understand it’s been a very tough day, but you do realize that Mrs. Jenkins could not possibly have been there…”
“But she was, Mom!” Tommy insisted. “She was all glowy and sorta see-thru, but she was there! She scared the boys away…if I wasn’t feeling so…sleepy…I would have laughed my butt off at them I think!”
Just then, a doctor entered the room flanked by two nurses.
“Ah, I see he’s awake.” The doctor picked up his chart and started writing something. “I’m Dr. Ruoff. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Randall.”
“How bad is he?”
“Your son is a very lucky young man!” the doctor replied. “He has a small concussion, and two cracked ribs, but considering the amount of time he was left in the elements he’s lucky to be alive!”
“Mom…”
“What honey?”
“I know the answer now.”
“What answer?” Maria sent a concerned glance at the doctor, worried that Tommy’s concussion might be making him delirious.
“Angel tears.” Tommy said matter-of-factly. “I know why the angels cry now.”
“Okay Tommy.” Mr. Randall said soothingly. “Maybe you should just get some rest.”
“They cry when someone dies.” Tommy continued, ignoring his father. “But they’re not sad about it…they only cry happy tears.”
“Happy tears…because someone died?”
“Yeah…cuz they get to be together.” Tommy said, a slow smile curling on his lips. “Okay, I think I’m going to sleep now.”
Looking down at her beautiful child, Maria felt a surge of emotions well up in her chest.
She felt blessed to have such a wonderful son, and extremely lucky that he had survived such an awful event. Looking upwards, feeling foolish yet amazed, Maria sent a thank you to their dear friend for saving her son’s life.
The End
Chapter 8: Lost and Found
Shortly after calling the police the phone rang. Quickly snatching it up in the hopes that it was news of Tommy’s location, Maria sank into the chair despondently. It was Howard Jenkins on the line.
“Hello Maria. I’m just calling to let you know that Esther passed on this morning.”
“Oh my! So soon!”
“Yes, it seems that the cancer had progressed quite a bit more than the doctors had estimated.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“I appreciate that. She went in her sleep, though, so there was no pain.” Howard sighed. “I will miss her terribly, but I know she’s in a better place now.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Maria offered awkwardly. She felt quite ashamed with herself that her dear friend and neighbour was dealing with such a loss and all she could think about was her missing son. “I’m waiting to find out where Tommy’s been, but as soon as that gets cleared up I can come over if you’d like.”
“No, no. Everything is fine for the moment.” Howard reassured her. “Esther and I made all the necessary arrangements as soon as we got the diagnosis, and to be perfectly honest, I think I’d rather be alone for a time.”
“I understand.” Maria breathed a sigh of relief, once again chastising herself internally for her selfishness. “Please, don’t hesitate to call us if you need anything!”
“I will. Thanks”
Maria hung up the phone, conflicting emotions swarming through her. Why hadn’t she heard from Tommy yet? And how was she going to tell him about Esther? He was only starting to get used to the idea of her being sick, yet now he would have to deal with the loss…
Scooping up Chandra, Maria headed towards the living room in the hopes of distracting her troubled thoughts with a bit of television. As soon as she sat down, however, her cell phone rang. This time it must be John calling about Tommy!
“Hello?”
“Maria!” John sounded harried and breathless, making Maria’s heart jump into her throat with panic. “Maria, come to the hospital! I’ve found Tommy.”
Chapter 7: Terror
Maria paced anxiously in the foyer. Tommy should have been home from school an hour ago, and she was starting to get incredibly worried! Tommy was such a good boy; he was rarely late and usually followed the rules without much argument.
Where on earth could he be? John would be getting home from work soon, and the minute he walked in the door, if Tommy had not yet returned, Maria planned on sending him right back out to look for their precious little boy.
She was even contemplating calling the police, but didn’t want to raise any alarms yet just in case she was over-reacting. If John is unsuccessful at finding him, Maria thought, then the police will definitely need to be called.
Trying to turn her thoughts away from her incessant and gnawing worry, Maria put Chandra in the highchair with some toys and decided to make a start on supper.
She had a chicken thawing in the sink, and thought she’d like to make some rice and green beans to go with it. Plunking the chicken in a roasting pan, Maria heard the front door open and promptly forgot about food and ran to see if it was Tommy.
“Hi hun.” John greeted his wife, then saw the look of sheer terror on her face. “What’s wrong?”
Bursting into tears, Maria was unable to express herself for what felt like an eternity. John gathered her into his arms and helped to quell the shaking enough so she could speak.
“Tommy never hasn’t home from school yet…” She sniffed.
“Really?” John was shocked, and felt a sinking feeling of dread in his gut. “I’ll go look for him right away. Have you called the police?”
“Not yet…” Sniffling again, Maria brushed the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. “I was waiting for you to get home.”
“Okay, you call the police, and I’ll go out to look for him.”
Chapter 6: Mama’s Little Helper
“Mom?” Tommy called out as he burst through the front door, huffing and puffing from his sprint home from school.
He kicked off his boots, threw his hat and coat on the floor and ran up the stairs in search of life. He found his mom laying in her bed, fast asleep with a book on her chest.
From the other room he could hear his sister starting to fuss and went to find her, closing the door quietly behind him.
“Hey Chandra.” Tommy carefully pulled her from the crib, her face still red from sleep, and placed her gently on the floor. “Wanna hear a story?”
After reading her favourite story four times, Tommy could feel his tummy start to get rumbly…Usually his mom would be cooking supper at this time, but he could hear her soft snores and realized no supper would be made. If he was hungry, he thought Chandra must be getting hungry too, so he decided to bring her downstairs and get them both a snack.
Once his tummy was satisfied, and Chandra was washed up, Tommy thought she might like to watch some TV so he found one of her favourite videos and put it in the DVD player for her, and then went to get his backpack so he could start on his homework. Plopping himself on the couch he decided to start with his book report for English class. Nibbling on his pencil Tommy tried to think of what to write. Finally, a thought came to him and he began frantically scribbling down his thoughts while still watching Chandra out of the corner of his eye.
About an hour later Tommy heard footsteps coming from upstairs, then the flushing of the toilet a moment later.
“Mommy’s awake!” he said to Chandra, who clapped her hands and started babbling nonsensical words that only toddlers can understand.
“There you are!” Maria’s voice floated into the room. “I was so knackered I fell asleep in the middle of reading my book! What a wonderful little boy I have for taking such good care of his sister!”
Chapter 5: Answers
Esther looked at the grief stricken face sitting across from her at the kitchen table where they each had a cup of cocoa. A plate of cookies was sitting untouched in the middle of the table. How much she loved this dear child! What could she say to him to make the pain any less?
“But…” Tommy sniffled. “You can’t be dying! You just can’t!”
“My dear boy, I am 83 years old.” She chuckled softly to herself. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. And this way, we have time to say goodbye first.”
“But it’s not fair!”
“Few things in this life are, but things seem to even out in the end.” Esther smiled dreamily at the memories that tugged playfully at her heartstrings. She had had a good life. She had been raised well, in a loving family with both parents and a string of siblings, which was common in those days. Her four older brothers had treated her like a princess, and her younger sister had been her best friend. She was looking forward to seeing them again soon on the other side. And then there was Howard. How they had managed to push through all the dark times she would never know, but they had also shared many wonderful memories together. The one thing that saddened her most about her impending passing was the thought of poor Howie being left all alone. “Oh, look outside! Angel tears!”
“What? Where?” Tommy pressed his nose against the cool window overlooking the backyard. “What are angel tears anyway?”
“Look at the fresh snow; see how it sparkles?”
Esther settled back in her chair with her steaming mug nestled in her hands against her chest. “When I was a little girl my mother told me that when the snow sparkles like that, the angels are crying. When I asked her why she told me she couldn’t tell me; that I had to learn for myself.”
“Did you ever find out?”
“I believe I did.”
“Well…” Tommy’s face turned up to Esther’s; eyes bright and eager. “What was it?”
“I can’t tell you that anymore than my mother could tell me.”
Chapter 4: Unexpected Visit
Howard was enjoying a hot cup of camomile tea before heading to bed, when an incessant rapping startled him to his feet. Now who in the blazes was knocking on their door after the sun had gone down, he wondered.
“Who’s at the door Howie?”
“Just a minute!” Howard called to both the unexpected visitor and his wife. With a gruff tug the door opened and Howard met the eyes of a tear-streaked ashen face.
“Mr. Jenkins…” Tommy’s lips quivered as he fought off more tears. “Mr. Jenkins, it’s not true right? Tell me they’re lying!”
“Wait a minute, now son.” Howard thought he understood what was going on, and was thinking frantically about how to properly deal with the situation. Tommy was very dear to him and his wife. When they lost their only child to the war several years ago the Randalls were there for them like no one else had been. They treated them like family, and the agony and loss created by their son’s death was somehow…more significant. Not lessened, really; nothing could have made the pain any better, but they made it seem like something good had grown out of a tragedy. When Maria first brought Tommy home from the hospital, she always brought him over to visit, as she did when Chandra was born, and every year they would always celebrate Christmas together.
The Mrs. would prepare the turkey and the stuffing, Maria would help out in the kitchen here and there, John and Howard would find something on TV to watch (usually sports) and the kids would make their rounds and grab everyone’s attention as they wanted it. Together, the two families had shared many happy times.
“Come in out of the snow, son, and we’ll have a talk, but first I’d better call your parents and let them know where you are!”
“Okay.” Tommy kicked his boots against the stoop, stomped three times, jumped once and then stepped carefully into the house.
“Esther, would you come out here please? We have a visitor.”
