Angel Gone to Heaven

A human life is so very precious. Just hearing that sentence, it makes me think. It would make anyone think. Of course it's true; I have no doubt about that. I just didn't realize its hidden meaning until I lost her.

<u>Disclaimer</u>: I do not own the song <i>Good Die Young</i> by D12, which is what this story is based off of and inspired by (a few select lyrics in the song) or anything else mentioned in this story.

~*~*~
Idea Created On: September 3, 2005
Chapter Started On: September 3, 2005
Chapter Ended On: September 3, 2005
~*~*~

<center><i>~* Dedicated to the following: *~

David P. “Ox” Arcand
October 28, 1950 - March 31, 2001

Angelina “Angie” Marie Falco
March 24, 1987 - June 18, 2003

Anthony C. Papitto
July 31, 1953 - September 4, 2004

Kathryn “Katie” Lavey
December 17, 1988 - June 28, 2005

~†You are all terribly missed, and may you all rest in peace. †~</i>

<u>Angel Gone to Heaven</u>

It was a warm day in mid-August, the sun shining brightly high up in the sky; the sky itself was an azure blue, the white clouds occurring in puffy clusters, a few stray tendrils floating lazily behind the fluffy puffs. The birds were perched on branches of various trees, singing in melodious harmony to their heart’s content. Watching the sun’s rays bounce off the smooth, glossy surface of the white coffin before her, Destiny couldn’t comprehend how the whole <i>world</i> could be happy when she -and the hundreds of people around her- could be so miserable. Never, in her sixteen years of life, has her faith in God ever wavered than it was doing so right now. She refused to believe that the peaceful face that she had seen in that same coffin at the wake was that of her beautiful friend. How could it be? Destiny asked herself this over and over. There was no reason to believe that was her friend. Her friend was only sixteen years old. Surely, someone that young couldn’t die, could they? Again, she asked herself this; and again, she asked Him: Why? Why her?

“…This day we commit her body to the ground, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Amen. Will the immediate family and close friends please step forward.” At the pastor’s words, Destiny stepped forward, along with her best friend Natalie, and her recently deceased best friend, Faith’s parents. A man with a small cage walked over to them. Opening the cage, he placed a pure white dove in each of their hands, explaining how to properly hold the bird so it wouldn’t fly away. Once he was done distributing all four doves, Destiny, Natalie, and Faith’s parents all said a small prayer to themselves, before quietly counting to three and releasing the doves. The birds took flight, flapping their wings and rising to the sky, circling the cemetery in a wide arc. Destiny’s doe-brown eyes watched after them, her mind reminiscing on how she lost her best friend.

~*~

Chores. Destiny hated chores with a <i>passion</i>. Especially when it came to <i>dusting the whole house</i>. Of <i>course</i> her lazy brother wasn’t going to do it; no, he told her she should start honing her “house-wife skills.” Oh, what she wouldn’t give to pummel him to a pulp. Rotten ungrateful little brat that he was, she had to love him; he <i>did</i> take her to wherever she needed to go, since he had the car all the time -and the license. She only had her permit. Just another three months, and she wouldn’t have to rely on him anymore. Her, Natalie, and Faith would be able to go anywhere together. Oh, there were so many things to look forward to!

Destiny was interrupted in her train of thought by her cell-phone, which was playing the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. Running to her room, she took it off the charger, checking the caller-ID before flipping it open.

“Hey Nat.”

“Destiny, Faith’s gone home. Our angel’s gone home,” Natalie’s tear-clogged voice sobbed out over the phone. Destiny almost dropped the phone, and after she registered Natalie’s words, time seemed to stop. <i>Gone…home? Our…angel? No…not so young….</i> She barely acknowledged the fact that her radio was still blaring music. But as time seemed to resume its pace, so did her awareness of the lyrics being sung.

“<i>They say that the good die young
(Die young)
That’s why I think that you should have fun
(When you’re young)
‘Cause time won’t for no one
(Uh huh)
When God calls, you gotta go home
(Go home)

“They say the good die young
(Die young)
That’s why I know that we gon’ have fun
In this life ‘cause you’ve only got one
When God calls for me
Don’t cry, I just went home</i>”

Destiny distantly registered that Natalie was repeating, “She’s gone home” over and over again. The lyrics hit home; they tore through her heart, letting it empathize with the pain behind the words. She had heard songs about life and death all the time, all her life. She had always said that she could understand the emotions the singers felt. Now she realizes how much of an understatement that was.

“H…how?”

“I’m n-not sure. S-something a-about j-jaw surgery[1]. I-I d-don’t know the d-details. God, how could this happen?! What did she ever do to deserve this?! Why did it have to be <i>her</i>!?” Natalie broke down into frantic sobs. Destiny was in shock, but she could feel the tears running in rivers down her tanned face, entangling into her reddish-brown hair as they fell. She was just talking to Faith <i>yesterday</i>. She could see Faith standing in front of her clearly; her pretty blonde hair lying straight against her back, her hands gesticulating wildly as her gorgeous green eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she spoke. Destiny just couldn’t believe she was gone.

~*~

Destiny had no choice but to believe it now. The dove -to her- was symbolic to that fact. She had let go of the dove today at her best friend’s grave, along with her denial. This entire incident made her think. She thought back to a line in D12’s song, “Good Die Young”. It said, “A human life is so very precious.” That one sentence couldn’t be more right. It really makes you stop and think. Think about how <i>short</i> life is. Faith had only gone in the hospital for jaw surgery. Now Destiny would never see her again. She was only <i>sixteen years old</i>. Natalie’s friend Lauren lost a close friend of hers as well. The girl was coming home from a party with her cousin, when the cousin lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. Lauren’s friend died on impact, the force of the crash having snapped her neck[2], while the cousin fell into a coma. She too, was sixteen. Lauren’s father had passed away in his sleep from a heart attack at fifty-one[3]. He was as healthy as an ox. And not too long ago, Natalie’s father passed away from cancer; he had just made it to his fifty-second birthday[4]. They were all too young. And God took them away.

“…He needed his angels back,” Destiny murmured, looking up at the clear blue sky. “He needed them back to help him watch over us.” Destiny decided that that was all there was to it. They -Faith, Lauren’s friend and father, and Natalie’s father- were all taken early because they were special. They touched the lives of those they met here on earth, completing their mission. God called for his angels.

So His angels returned home.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] <i>This is how Katie passed away</i>
[2] <i>This is how Angie passed away</i>
[3] <i>This is how my father passed away</i>
[4] <i>This is how my best friend’s father passed away</i>