"Here's the part I don't like," Rose said. She was seated on one of the camp stools, trying to paint a picture of the fence. "We're going to forget. Probably within the next few days."
Neal laughed. He was trying to draw a picture of his dad from memory. "Are you kidding? I'll never forget what I saw!"
"Yes, you will," Rose said. "That's the way it works. Pops said."
"I don't want to forget!" Neal protested. "Why should it work like that? Why would we have to forget?"
"Because we'd tell people and no one would believe us. They'd think we're crazy. They might even lock us up, like my mom."
"Did she tell you that's why she got sick?"
"Not exactly," Rose sighed. "Here's what I think - she didn't believe in God anymore, because too many sad things happened. She didn't want to believe, just like you. And me too, for a while anyway. She decided to forget God and just live the wild life. I'm not sure what she was planning to do, but I have a feeling it wasn't something good."
"Is that why Pops showed her the garden?"
"Maybe. I don't know exactly what he was thinking. I just know he's only supposed to do it if the angels tell him he can. But he was so worried about my mom, he decided to do it anyway. He figured the angels would understand once he explained it, but he couldn't explain it before he took her in the garden because he knew if he didn't take her right then, she was going to pack up and leave for good."
"But you didn't know what happened," Neal said, imagining how scary it must have been.
"I just knew what I heard," Rose remembered with a shiver. "I woke up in the middle of the night and I heard my mom yelling at Pops. She kept saying, 'They aren't real!' but I didn't know what she was talking about. And then she yelled, 'I hate you!' and that probably scared me worse than anything."
"I don't know how anybody could hate your grandpa," Neal said honestly. "He's the nicest person I've ever met."
Rose beamed at him. "She didn't mean Pops. She meant God. She was that mad at God."
Neal winced. "That's scary," he said.
"Not really," Rose said with nonchalance. "God understands how we feel. He expects us to get mad at Him sometimes. Anyway, Pops thought maybe the angels could reason with her. But she wasn't ready to see them, so it made her go crazy."
"She remembers though," Neal pointed out. "She didn't forget what she saw."
"She will," Rose sighed. "When she comes home tomorrow, she'll tell Pops he ought to put the bird houses up on posts or trees, in case a cat ever gets in the garden. That's how he'll know she forgot." Suddenly she tore the sheet of paper off the pad and crumpled it. "I'm not meant to be an artist," she said glumly. "Now I have to start all over trying to figure out what's my gift."
"You don't have to figure it out right away," Neal said. "You've got years before you have to choose a major for college."
"It feels really important though," she tried to explain. "Like if I find the answer to that, I'll be able to figure out the other stuff too." She sat quietly for a few moments. "Maybe you're right," she said slowly. "Maybe I could just have fun for a while, before I decide."
"You could come to New York for a visit," Neal suggested, though he wasn't sure his mom would go along with the idea. "You and your mom."
"Me and my mom?" Rose said with surprise. "You think our moms would get along?"
Neal hadn't ever met Rose's mom and she hadn't met his mom, but somehow he knew they would all get along. "For our sake," he said. "Because they love us and want us to be happy."
Rose rested her hands on her knees and stared up at a cloud that had muted the bright sunlight. "Do you think we'll remember some of it?" she asked hopefully. "Like the part about seeing some sort of little bird or bug that we couldn't identify?"
"We have to remember something, or else how did we get to be friends?"
Suddenly Rose smiled. "You know how I told you about Nicole Macavity at my school? The day I went to school half-permed, she was making fun of me on the bus and guess what ... a big white bug flew in the window and landed in her hair!"
"They were watching over you all the time," Neal said. He knew it meant they would watch over him all the time too.
"Lucky Alex," Rose said. "She never knew about the angels so she won't be sorry to forget them."
"Let's not be sorry about it anyway," Neal suggested. "Let's just be glad we got to know for a little while. And when we forget, we won't be sad, because we won't know what we forgot."
Rose laughed happily. "Thanks! Duh ... why didn't I think of that?"
Neal closed the cover on his sketch book. "I was reading the Bible last night," he said. "It's really hard to pronounce the people's names."
"I don't even try," Rose admitted. "I think people back then even got tired of trying because most of the names in the New Testament are easier."
"I was looking for verses about angels," Neal went on, rather seriously. "I wanted to pick one that would always be a special reminder of that day in the garden." He and Pops had remained in the garden for a long time. Neal had been allowed to peek inside the tiny houses and see that they had small appliances and couches and bedrooms. He had wanted so much to talk to one of them, but Pops said angels only spoke to humans when directed by God, and that Neal no longer needed their help. "You want to hear the verse I memorized?" he asked Rose.
"I'll bet I can guess it," Rose said. "I think I might be a little like Meemaw because sometimes I can guess what people are going to say." She was quiet for a moment, while she squinted up at the sky. "'He will give his angels charge over you, to keep you in their care? I'm not sure that's exactly right."
"I like that one too," Neal said cautiously, "but that's not the one. See, Peter was in prison, and an angel came and got him out. That's how it seemed to me since my dad died. Like I was in prison."
"And the little angels got you out," Rose guessed.
"No, you did," Neal said. "You got me out."
"I got you out?"
Rose pretended to be shocked, but Neal knew she was pleased.
"So do you want to hear the verse?" he asked impatiently.
"Yes," she said. She closed her paint box and turned around on her stool and looked at him.
"The angel told him to 'Put on your clothes and sandals. Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.'"
"I like it," Rose said, "even if I don't understand exactly what it means."
"Good," Neal said with relief. He wasn't sure he understood it either, but he knew he would do it when the time came, just as his dad had done.
Rose stood up and gathered her paint things in one arm, releasing the easel's catch so that she could carry it under the other arm. "Guess what Meemaw was doing when I came outside?"
"Baking some of the world's best chocolate chip cookies?" Neal said hopefully.
"Yep. And she's going to fix a jar for you to take home to your grandparents."
"And I'll bet they'll be nice about sharing with their grandson," Neal grinned. He closed the camp stools and balanced them on top of his sketch pad. "Whatever happened to the painting you made that had the angel that moved around on the paper?"
"What angel?" Rose asked. She turned to see his face, then she laughed with great gulps of silliness. "I was just kidding," she admitted. "I didn't forget yet, did you?"
"Forget what?" Neal asked, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue.
The End
Thank you for reading A Hole in the Fence.
If you are interested in Christian fiction for adults, you might enjoy one of my other books:
Another Chance, A Christian Romance - #1 A Series of Chances
Not By Chance, Christian Fiction - #2 A Series of Chances
One More Chance, Christian Fiction - #3 A Series of Chances
Billie’s Opportunity, A Christian Romance
Maggie’s Mondays, A Christian Romance
Quicksand! A Christian Romance
Miss Eden’s Garden, Christian Romance on the light side
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sp; Wrestling Ichabod, A Christian Romance
Rescuing Ladybugs, A Christian Romance
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