Bryan Davis - Eye of the Oracle

He zoomed ahead, then floated backwards in front of Bonnie, matching her pace. He gazed into her bright blue eyes so much like Shiloh’s, it was amazing! In fact, her hair, the shape of her nose, the way she walked, everything about her reminded him of Shiloh. How could cousins look that much alike?

When the two stopped at the corner, Irene pulled Bonnie’s hair back into a thick ponytail and wrapped it in an elastic band. “Remember,” she whispered, stooping to meet her eye to eye. “Don’t take off your backpack and no one will see your. . um. . growths.” She pulled the hem down on Bonnie’s sweatshirt and kissed her forehead. “It’s very important that no one finds out about them.”

Bonnie nodded, her smile unabated. “Okay, Mama. I won’t take it off.”

“Good. You were right to tell me about those growths. We’ll talk more about them later.”

Bonnie adjusted the strap on her backpack. “Will I have to go to the doctor?”

“We’ll see.” A diesel engine clattered in the distance. “Here comes the bus.” Irene kissed Bonnie again. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends.”

The bus pulled to a whining stop. When the doors swung open, Bonnie hopped on board and waved to her mother. Gabriel drifted in behind Bonnie and waved with her, though, of course, Irene had no idea he was there.

Bonnie turned and smiled at the bus driver. “Hi! I’m Bonnie! What’s your name?”

“Pearl.” The middle-aged woman frowned under her tightly pulled hair bun and pointed toward the back. “Now sit down.”

Bonnie’s smile faded. She walked slowly down the aisle, her eyes shifting from side to side. One girl laid a notebook on the seat next to her and gave Bonnie a nasty glare. Another whispered with her neighbor and giggled as Bonnie passed by. When she approached the rear of the bus, a boy tossed a wad of paper that bounced off her cheek. “No first graders back here!” he called.

“Look at her stupid lunch box,” another boy said. “Only babies watch Winnie the Pooh!”

Blinking rapidly as she retreated toward the front, Bonnie hitched up her backpack and slid into an empty bench in the middle section. She wiped a tear from her eye and leaned her head against the window, her lips tight and her chin quivering.

Gabriel sat next to her. He scooted close and wrapped a wing around her whole body. Of course she couldn’t feel it, but maybe he could somehow relay a bit of sympathy. The very first stab of rejection always bled profusely, a shedding of innocence he knew all too well.

Bonnie glanced at another little girl sitting alone across the aisle. With her chin pointing at her chest, the girl’s gaze wandered Bonnie’s way, and the hand in her lap gave Bonnie the slightest hint of a wave.

Keeping her head against the window, Bonnie waved back.

The girl flashed a gap-toothed smile. “Do you want to be my friend?”

Bonnie nodded, her lips still tight.

“My name is Carly.” She patted the seat next to her. “You can sit by me if you want to.”

Bonnie glanced at the driver, then hopped across the aisle. “I’m Bonnie,” she said as she slid in next to her new friend.

Carly pointed at Bonnie’s lunch box and whispered. “I watch Winnie the Pooh. Tigger’s my favorite.”

“Me, too!” Bonnie smiled and bounced in her seat. “Can you tell?”

Carly pulled a lunch box from under her shoes. A bouncing Tigger decorated the front and back. “Shhh!” She glanced toward the rear. “Don’t tell those boys.”

“Who cares what they think?” Bonnie looped her arm around Carly’s. “As long as we stick together.”

“Yeah,” Carly said, tightening their clutch. “Who cares what they think?”

Gabriel floated close to the two girls. As they chatted happily, it seemed as though the gentle power of pure love streamed into his energy field, strengthening him with every second. What a perfect assignment! Being with this little angel would be like heaven itself.

As the bus rolled to a stop, Gabriel surveyed the passersby on the sidewalk. It was time to go to work. His duty had transformed from a chore to a labor of love. No one would dare lay a finger on Bonnie, not if he could help it. This time, he would not fail.

Sapphira sat with her arms wrapped around her legs. Since Gabriel awakened and emerged from the candlestone after all those years, she finally had something to watch. With the viewing screen dark for so long, she had barely noticed it after a while, just glancing at it from time to time as she pored over her finger-worn books. Now, the new adventures that flashed before her eyes awakened her imagination and filled her with new hope.

As Bonnie and Carly laughed together, Sapphira smiled. What a sweet little girl! She seemed to dance through life like a waltzing flower. Even after enduring the nasty glares and verbal barbs, her faith in love and kindness seemed unearthly.

Sapphira wiped a tear from her cheek. Bonnie Conner was definitely worth watching.

Gabriel peered into Bonnie’s bedroom and spied her sitting in the midst of a circle of rag dolls. Good. She had finished changing into her nightgown. He breezed in and sat in front of her. As she dressed one of the dolls for bed, he let his gaze wander. On the walls, hand-painted pastel balloons floated in the midst of a pale pink sky, and bright green grass near the floor partially hid a mouse, a rabbit, and, peeking out from behind a bookshelf, a wide-eyed raccoon. A Tigger blanket covered a youth bed in one corner, and a white three-drawer dresser filled the opposite corner, but most of the room seemed dedicated to a host of small, handmade Raggedy-Ann-and-Andy-type dolls.

Sitting cross-legged, Bonnie set one doll on each knee, animating the one on her right with a gentle shake. “Carly,” she said, her voice pitching high, “You’re my best friend.” She gave the other doll a shake. “And you’re mine, too, Bonnie.”

As Bonnie continued playacting with her dolls, Gabriel focused on a new pair of voices filtering into the room in hushed tones. The name Carly, however, came through clearly.

Bonnie’s head perked up. She leaned over and pulled the door fully open, and the voices clarified.

“Well,” a man said, “I’m glad to hear she found a friend, but I have work to do and ”

“Wait,” came a woman’s reply. “There’s something else. Remember those growths I called you about?”

“Yes. Did you figure out what they are?”

“When she got home, I studied them carefully. They have scales.”

“Scales? Like dry skin scales?”

“No. Like armor scales. And there are two sharp points that remind me of claw hooks.”

Bonnie tightened her grip on her two dolls and leaned closer to the door. The few seconds of silence seemed to last an hour. Finally, the man blurted out, “Wings? We can’t have a daughter with wings!”

“Shhh! Not so loud! We have what we have, and there’s no way to change it.”

“But,” the man continued, “we won’t be able to show our faces in public, not with a mutant for a daughter!”

“She’s not a mutant. You understand genetics well enough to know that.”

“Then she’s a freak, a freak of nature. No human has ever grown wings before. We’ll have to ”

The conversation stopped. Heavy footsteps pounded in the hallway. Irene leaned into the bedroom.

“Mama!” Bonnie cried. “Why did Daddy say ”

Irene raised a finger to her lips. “We’ll talk in a few minutes.” She gave Bonnie a brief tight-lipped smile, and closed the door. The footsteps, quieter now, retreated.

Bonnie stared at the door, her mouth open and tears streaming down her cheeks. Covering her face with her dolls, she drew her knees up to her chest and wept. As she rocked back and forth, her head bobbed, and tiny, shrill cries seeped between her two raggedy friends.