Don't Worry Your Mother

Chapter 4

Laying in bed feels more gruesome than normal. I replay events from today. An image of the older man flashes before my eyes. Then I see the little girl from the elementary school. Followed by the pigeons. 

 I lay flat on my back and stare at the ceiling. I stare at the alarm clock. It's 2am. I take my top pillow and scrunch it over my face, letting out a faint scream.

 "Honey, are you okay? It sounded like a muffled scream." I pull back my hair before responding in my best tired voice. "I'm fine mom. Bad dream." 

 "Okay hun." She pauses as if she's suspicious. "Just text me if you need me." She stands by the door a bit more. I try to let out a light snore until I hear her walk away.

Once she's gone, I pick up my phone and begin to do an engine search on birds named Gabriel. An article on angels pops up. A grad student studying theology has written an essay on how her love for birds began.

 At the top, she's photographed beside a bird cage consisting of 5 birds. She looks very intense. The first line reads: "I had my first supernatural encounter with birds when I was only 11." My eyebrows furrow as I continue to read the passage.

 "My dad was in the military so we moved around a lot. We were in a new city and school let out early. My teacher was under the impression that my parents knew of the half day, so she allowed me to go home on the bus. Upon arriving home, there was a strange man gathering belongings from my home and placing them into a bag. The front door was wide open. When the man noticed me, he lunged after me when a bird flew right before his eyes and began to peck at him. I used that opportunity to run away. As I ran, an eagle flew above me. It lead me towards this house. I followed the eagle towards the house where an elderly lady was trimming bushes. I ran up to her crying when she asked me where my parents were. When I told her about the strange man in my home, she immediately called 911."

 The passage was touching. What are the odds that a random bird managed to save a small girl from being harmed? I bookmarked the article before locking my phone and attempting to get some shut eye. Upon falling asleep, I hear what sounds like a faint whisper.

"It' time Diana. It is time. It's time." I hear in succession. Multiple voices whispering to me, slightly overlapping one another." Too tired to further investigate, I fall asleep.