stood over her and said as plain as day, “Miss Morgan. You are in heaven.”
Okay. “Heaven,” Eve said, her disbelief certainly ringing through in her voice. Sure she was. And cows jumped over the moon—which was made of cheese, of course.
Then she saw the cat she was sure was Snowball walk right through a nearby column, coming out on the other side and continuing on its merry way. Right. Through. It.
She gasped and pointed. “Did you see that?”
Pearl sniffed and swiped at her nose casually. “Oh, Snowball does that all the time up here.”
“But… Snowball’s been gone for a long time.” How was she really supposed to wrap her mind around what Pearl was saying, even with the oddity she just saw? Nothing made sense. And yet, something about what she was saying wouldn’t stop nagging at her—the way she’d hit her head, and everything had gone black after that.
She bit her lower lip.
Pearl sat down beside Eve and wrapped her arm around her. “Time can be very confusing. But in the meantime, you’ll settle in.”
“So…” Eve took a deep breath and made herself acknowledge what she couldn’t believe—didn’t want to believe. “What you’re saying is that… I’m… dead.”
“But I can’t be dead yet!” Eve, clutching the woman’s hand, protested as Pearl led her down a hallway past other people clad in white. Her free hand was waving in the air, echoing her disbelief at the current state of affairs. No way. No. Way. “I wasn’t even finished living. I never even started… I had all these things to do. I was going to start my own hedge firm and buy a country house and get married—and I never even let myself fall in love.” The words flowed hot and furious from her as she poured out her feelings. “It just… can’t be over…”
“No, no,” Pearl soothed and led her to a nearby bench. “Don’t cry, Miss Morgan. We are angels. Angels can’t cry.”
Eve stared at Pearl in disbelief. “Angels?” How could that possibly be true? Not only was she dead, but she was an angel, to boot? This was all too hard to believe.
The woman patted her on the back, and Eve eyed the hallway, taking everything in in a new light. Were all these people angels? Was she really one now?
“Let’s talk somewhere more private,” Pearl suggested, gripping Eve’s hand. The hall faded away, and just like that, Eve found herself on a serene, isolated beach. The sky was expansive, and soft waves licked the sandy shore. She had on a white wrap, just like Pearl, to protect her from the gentle, cool breeze coming off the water.
No doubt about it. Pearl was telling the truth. No one could vanish and appear at will, not when alive, anyway. Eve was here on this shore, experiencing this place fully. Awake, yes—but not alive.
She was an angel, then.
“So this is it?” she said as she stumbled along the sand beside the woman. “This is the end?” So many things left undone. What was her purpose now?
“Oh, no. We like to think of this as the new beginning,” Pearl explained.
“What do we do here?”
Pearl paused in her steps and turned to Eve, leaning back against an outcropping of rocks. “Well, among… other things, we answer prayers. I’m a guardian angel. You’ve been selected to be a Christmas angel.”
Eve blinked. This had to be a joke. “Christmas? Now I know there’s been a mistake.” She couldn’t help the dryness in her tone. After all, she wasn’t exactly the world’s biggest Christmas fan. Of all the people they could have chosen to be that particular kind of angel, why her? It didn’t make sense.
“I agree,” Pearl said wryly. “It’s not an obvious choice. We have a shortage this season.”
“I barely celebrate Christmas,” Eve protested.
“Well, now you can.”
Right. Eve let out a heavy sigh and looked out at the water. “With all due respect, Pearl, I just don’t see myself celebrating anything for a long, long time.”
Pearl seemed to choose her words carefully. “Perhaps when you go back, you will change. You’re being sent down to answer a Christmas wish.”
That got Eve’s attention. She swallowed. “I get to go back.” She didn’t have to stay up here in the all-white weirdness for eternity.
“Mm-hmm. For a week.”
Okay, not a lot of time, but she’d make do. “What happens in a week?”
Pearl narrowed her eyes. “Christmas.”
“Ohh,” she breathed. Duh, of course.
Eve felt Pearl’s warm grip in hers, that strange, surreal feeling of everything fading away, and then she was surrounded by a painfully familiar setting. Downtown Chicago, bustling with traffic and pedestrians, Christmas decorations on every stretch of street. The cool air chilled her cheeks, though she was snuggly warm in her black winter coat. She smiled.
“I’m back!” she exclaimed. Hard to believe it, but she’d missed the place. Everything seemed so different now, so alive. The quiet serenity of heaven was a drastic change from the teeming life in the city.
“Mm-hmm,” Pearl said, patting her hand and leading her down the sidewalk. “Now, there are rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes, you cannot attract any attention to yourself. No one can know that you are now an angel.” They walked past a street vendor, past numerous people milling about on the sidewalk who stopped in their tracks and looked at the two of them.
“Who would believe that anyway?” Eve asked. Except maybe the weirdos who wandered down the street, muttering to themselves while pushing shopping carts full of dirty bags.
“You’d be surprised,” Pearl said drolly.
“Why is everyone staring at us?” Eve realized that as they walked, people were casting her odd glances.
“Because you are the only one they can see.”
Crud. Her cheeks flamed. “Oh, so they all just think I’m talking to myself.” Marvelous. Now she looked as crazy as the people she’d always thought were nuts.
Pearl dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. “It’s Chicago, dear. Everybody does it.” She paused as they continued walking. “And you are allowed to inspire, but not to lead.”
“Uh-huh.” Eve wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but she’d figure it out.
“And then you must do all of this by yourself,” Pearl added. “You must find your own way, and under no circumstances are you to form any attachments or relationships.” These words were delivered with heavy weight.
Eve glanced over at the angel as snow fell,
