Guardian Angel

A Story by Amber

I was only ten when my mother died. She did everything in the house to support us, to keep us together, happily. With a newly drunkard father and two year old sister, I had to take responsibility for the whole family early on. My parents had eloped, leaving any contact for family on either side unexistant. I had no help besides our elderly next door neighbor and my dad the few times he was sober, which was very rare. That neighbor, Rose, was the only source of income we had. My dad worked, but any money he had went towards his beer. I only got an occaisional dollar or two from him. So, I was left doing chores and other small jobs for Rose to support my sister and I. A few times she would slip an extra ten or so dollars in my pay, just to help in any way she could. I noticed the first couple of times, but when I tried giving the money back to her it'd always end up back with me. She wouldn't take it back, no matter how many times I tried. Eventually, I gave up on trying to give her extra money back. She was just trying to help. I understood that and expressed my gratitude anytime I could. She was like a grandmother to all of us. She had been the first to greet us when we moved to our cottage-like home. No one else in the neighborhood had cared. Maybe it was because she was alone. She had married young and lost him to war before they had a chance to have any children. She never found love afterwards. Without anyone to call her own, you'd have thought she would grow bitter with old age. It only made her more open to having people around her, though. My mother and her used to have many long talks in the late afternoon on either of our porches. The way they talked, it was hard to believe there was a thirty year difference between them. She was almost as sad as we were when news of my mothers death reached us. Almost. That fateful day changed everything for us. It shattered our family, our way of living. We took life for granted until then, but now we couldn't. I couldn't. I had to protect my sister. It was my responsibility now.

Years passed and I had figured out how to keep the house running smoothly. I had taught my sister how to swim and ride a bike. I had learned to take my father to his bed when he arrived home and crashed on the floor from being drunk. If he woke up on the floor the next morning he'd lash out at me, so I quickly learned to make sure he woke up in his bed with fresh coffee being made the way he liked. As soon as I was old enough, I got a part-time job working at a dollar store. It was difficult juggling my responsibilities at home, school, and my job. I barely passed my early years of high school. I was more worried about providing for my sister and making sure she was doing well in school. My life had ended with my mother. I was living for my sister now.

When I was legally allowed, I dropped out of school to get a full-time job. It was a horrible example, but I needed money more than education.

As my sister grew, too, she began to be more aware of how hard I was working for her. She started doing little chores to help me out and stopped asking for unessacary items. She made a promise to me one day, too. That she would graduate high school and move on to college. That she would fullfill what I never got to do that our mother always wished for us. I was so proud of her. I had raised her right. Despite being a bad example, I had raised a good child. I had told her that once and she yelled at me. She said I was the best mother anyone could have. I broke into tears on the spot and hugged her tightly.

"I think our mother would be proud of us," my sister whispered in my ear. I nodded in agreement, tears streaming from my face. She continued,"She's looking down from heaven now, smiling and pointing us out, proudly bragging about how strong her daughters are." I wiped my tears away and smiled, knowing it was true. I didn't need to be worried or scared about our futures. I have a guardian angel watching me, and always there for us, ready to help. She goes by the name of mom.