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 being flew silently in the night sky fifty metres or so above the sand, following the shoreline, with the sea to the left. Music from a folk band in the distant beach hut rolled across the beach. The song was Angels We Have Heard on High. The being looked down at two small wooden boats lying on the sand, pulled up from the water's edge. One boat had a single set of footprints leading from it, with wide strides, made by a woman running in plimsolls.
Lying next to the other boat were a pair of man's shoes and a pair of woman's sandals. Two sets of footprints emanated from the discarded footwear, made by slow strolling. Continuing in flight, the being followed these footprints along the water's edge, which led to a young man and young woman. The man was wearing beige shorts and a white shirt. The young woman was wearing a yellow summer dress. Both of the couple were bare-footed. They were not a romantic couple, but a grandfather and his beloved granddaughter, reunited after many years apart. Derek was now as a young man again, having shed the appearance of himself as an old man that had helped Abi recognise him when they had first reunited earlier that day. Derek and Abi joked and laughed together.
The being flew over Derek and Abi, watching their joyful walk, and continued onward, now following the single set of footprints which had been made by the woman running. Soon, the being was flying over that woman. Sarah was running speedily along the beach, past an unlit campfire and under the pier.
Sarah ran towards three people, two men and a woman, who were walking towards the pier, barefooted along the shoreline, small waves breaking at their feet. Sarah waved at them to hurry, then shouted over to them, "They're nearly here, come on!"
The being hovered above a while, watching as the woman of the small group, Theresa, ran forward in the direction of the unlit bonfire.
The being then followed Sarah as she ran under the pier again and up the beach towards the beach hut. Sarah stopped to alert a group of children and their supervisor, Marjory, who were making sandcastles beside the beach hut, of the imminent arrival of Abi and her grandfather.
The being then descended and entered the club, unnoticed in the crowd, where Clary's Jazz Band had just finished playing Angels We Have Heard on High. Wendy senior, James's mother, now a young woman again, ran forward to kiss her husband Stephen, congratulating him on his musical performance. Milene, with William holding her lovingly, selected the next track from the video jukebox.
The being slipped out of the beach hut and flew up in the air again, travelled down the beach, and hovered above where Theresa was setting out straw seating mats around the campfire.
The being then flew over the pier, that is, picking up the journey along the shoreline of the beach again, and hovered a moment over the two men walking towards the pier, each now carrying a few pieces of driftwood in their arms. They were joyfully sharing a joke. It was James and his son Philip. They had their trousers rolled up and were walking along the shore, in six inches or so of water, the waves lapping refreshingly on their legs. Theresa shouted across at them in mock scolding of their laziness and they picked up their pace towards where the campfire was being prepared for lighting later.
The being continued some way along the beach, then gently descended. The being, in the form of a beautiful woman with beautiful brown eyes and long brown hair, and wearing a long white satin dress, landed gracefully on the beach shore far beyond the pier.
The being, an angel, watched on when, a few minutes later, the revellers ran down the beach and splashed around in the shallows to the tune of I Gotta Feeling by 'The Black Eyed Peas'. The angel smiled happily when the group's careful plan unfolded smoothly as Abi and her grandfather joined in the water fight, Abi as yet unaware that the party was to celebrate her arrival. Then, a little later when the group were sitting around the campfire, the angel watched with delight when it was finally revealed to Abi the true identity of the couple that she and her grandfather were sitting next to. The couple, Abi and her grandfather's water fighting partners from earlier that evening, were Abi's loving parents. They had passed on when Abi was a small child, but had never stopped loving her.
With that, the angel reached over her shoulder, and produced a little white feather. She gently blew it and watched it begin to drift out across the vast sea.
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Then, Penny the angel stretched out her large beautiful white feathered wings, and flew up, up high in the sky, to join the other stars to shine down upon the happy land.
