Never before had the young woman been allowed to see the family she'd left behind. All she wanted was to let them know she was safe and being well cared for. Today was going to be her first contact. She walked down the aisle of the near empty church...
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A middle-aged couple sat holding hands in the office of the adoption centre.
"It was really strange," said the man, "My wife and I had been discussing adoption for a few months. Then, one night about 3 months ago, while we were watching Les Mis' on our home cinema, there was a bang at the window. We went out to see what had happened, and found a house sparrow lying unconscious on the ground below the window. It was a very windy day so maybe the small bird had been forced off course by a sudden gust of wind. My wife picked it up and we agreed to look after it until it was better. At that moment, it woke up, and flew high up in the sky, and disappeared into the clouds. We returned to our house and were about to close the door when a leaflet flew in on the wind and landed in our hallway. Your leaflet. That's how we discovered you. We then found out more about your organisation, went through all your protocols, and, well, here we are today. We'd never thought of going this way, but it seems so right for us now."
"Well I'm glad you found us," said the elderly lady behind the desk, "You two match up to all our hopes. It's always wonderful when a child finds a good home. It can be especially hard for the children in our care, which makes it all the more wonderful when we find a couple like you. Now, the documents."
The elderly lady pushed her chair back, and moved to get up. The man rose to help her but she gently signalled that she was capable. She collected her aluminium walking sticks from the side of her desk, and walked over to the filing cabinet.
Standing next to the cabinet, in front of a poster with the poem Heaven's Very Special Child written on it, and watching the elderly lady browse through her files, with pride in their eyes, was Abi and her grandfather, Derek.
Abigail returned to her desk, placed her sticks by the desk and eased herself into her seat.
"You know, this is my last ever adoption," said Abigail. "Don't worry, the organisation will carry on. Tomorrow my little sister will be taking the reins."
Abigail opened the large lower drawer in her desk and took out an object, a doll, wrapped in Disney's Little Mermaid gift wrapping paper.
"I'd like you to give this to your new little girl, would you do that for me?" said Abigail. "It's been in my family for years, but I have no children of my own. It's a porcelain Victorian doll. She's called Penny."
"Certainly," said the lady, "Thank you. I think Karen will love this doll."
A sound of weeping at the other end of the room caught Abi and her grandfather's attention. It was a young woman with red hair, wearing a colourful t-shirt, jeans and white plimsolls. Sarah. Sarah knew what no-one on Earth knew, not even little Karen herself. It was who the little girl really was, and what her name used to be - Wendy Elizabeth Clarence.
Sarah waved at Abi and her grandfather, laughing at herself through her tears of joy.
"I've seen you before," said Abi, "Who are you?"
Sarah just smiled at her, then turned around and walked away. On the wall behind where Sarah had been standing there was a large colourful mural depicting a fairytale castle in a beautiful enchanted land. The painting was adorned with the hand-prints of small children in different coloured paints. The text above the artwork read,
Clarence Guardian Angels
Finding a Wonderful Life for special needs children
Abi and her grandfather watched as Sarah disappeared through a side wall of the office.
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