Chapter Twenty Three

Monica awoke with a start, suddenly feeling that something was wrong. She looked around her, confused, rubbing her eyes before realizing that it was dark- and that terrified her. "Oh no, please, Father... I’m so afraid of the darkness..." It was only now that she was fully awake that she remembered where she was- and realized that the boxcar was moving. "Oh my goodness! Rascal... oh, Rascal, where are you?"

Suddenly canine footsteps were heard and Monica felt Rascal brushing against her. "Oh, there you are- I thought you’d left me." As if to reassure her that he wouldn’t leave, Rascal licked the young angel’s face, making her smile despite her fears. She shivered with cold again, suddenly feeling dizzy, and then started sneezing again. When the sneezing finally stopped, Monica was once more able to concentrate on the fact that the boxcar was moving.

Her eyes now adjusting to the darkness she could make out the entrance and could see the white, moonlit landscape beyond. Carefully she crawled toward it, glad of the moonlight as it brought some relief from the terrible, oppressive darkness.

Suddenly the train shuddered and Monica cried out, grabbing hold of the side of the doorway as she almost fell out. Her heart pounding in her chest, she crawled back a couple of feet until she was no longer in danger. Putting an arm around Rascal she stared out at the landscape rushing past. "Well, it looks like our journey hasn’t ended yet, wee Rascal."

Turning her gaze heavenwards, Monica couldn’t help but smile at the sprinkling of stars she could see there. "Father... it’s Monica. Please, help me to know what the purpose of this journey is- and please, take care of my dear friends Andrew and Tess, wherever they are. I miss them so very much and I don’t..." She hesitated as tears stung her eyes. "I don’t know where this train is going, and I’m so afraid that I’ll never see them again..."

***

"I don’t get it, Tess. What is our assignment here?" Andrew frowned, looking around him at the quiet, suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of Albany. "Yesterday, we were both told to come here. And now, here we are, and there’s still no sign of whoever our assignment is supposed to be."

Tess glared at him slightly. "Are you questioning the word of the Father?"

He shook his head. "No... no, of course not. I just don’t understand what we’re waiting for, I mean, usually when we’re given an assignment, we start straight away."

Nodding her head, Tess sighed. "I know, baby. I’m frustrated too, but you know that things happen in the Father’s time- and if He says we gotta wait, then we gotta wait. But, being here has given us some time together to sort out the problems we had, so I’m grateful for that."

"Me too, Tess. I hate being at odds with either one of you." Andrew smiled sadly at the older angel, who watched him carefully. "I’m just as worried as you are, baby. It’s so hard, not knowing where our Angel Girl is."

Andrew nodded, running a hand through his hair. "All I do is think about her, Tess. I can’t help it- it’s like there’s nothing else on my mind except Monica. Knowing that she’s out there- somewhere..." He sighed heavily. "I want so badly to go to her, but although I keep asking the Father, He keeps saying No."

Tess laid a comforting hand on his arm. "You just gotta have patience, Angel Boy- and faith. Lots of it. We both gotta keep praying for that little Angel Baby, and know that wherever she is, the Father is taking care of her. And if He doesn’t want us to go to her yet, then there’s a good reason for that."

"I know..." He turned pained eyes to the older angel. "I-I keep feeling like this is all my fault, Tess- that I didn’t do enough to help Monica... and I hate to think that she might think I gave up on her. She was feeling so lost, Tess- so frightened, and yet all the times I talked to her at the beach house, I never really saw that. But it’s only now that we’re separated, that I understand just what she’s going through, because I can feel it."

"Baby, some things you see with your eyes- and others you see with your heart. You didn’t see all the pain that Monica was going through- neither did I. And to some extent, we’re both to blame for that- we were supposed to be there for her. But, Monica’s such a sensitive little thing, and she takes things to heart so badly, that it was easy for her to more or less close herself off from us because she didn’t know any other way to handle what she was going through."

Andrew’s face clouded over with a worried expression. "Do you think... wherever she is, do you think she’s coping on her own?"

"I have to hope and pray that she is, Andrew. I wish the Father would tell us something, other than that she’s alright- I need to know where she is, and what she’s doing. But I think the best thing for you to do right now is to keep on trying to reach her with your heart- let her know that we haven’t forgotten her."

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