It was eight o’clock on
Friday morning, the week before Christmas. A number of children were
standing in the freshly fallen snow chatting happily, as they waited
for their school bus. It was still dark, but they were under a
streetlight and a nearby, unseen observer was able to see
what transpired.
“Hey Egan!” hollered Jeremy, an
awkward, grade eight student. “How was your weekend?”
“Not too bad, thanks. Jan and I
worked on our map project. How was yours?”
“We went Christmas shopping. It
was fun, but hectic.”
“Meredith,” Maria, an older
girl called out to a friend. “Did you bring your gym suit?”
“Sure did,” replied Meredith,
excitedly. “I wouldn’t miss the tryouts for the basketball team. Did you?”
“Yes. Want to see my new
runners?”
“Later!”
Suddenly, Melody, Egan's
younger sister, began to shake. Her eyes rolled back. As she
threw her arms in the air, her books went flying. Seconds later,
she tumbled into the snow and landed on her back.
“She’ll be fine,” Egan said to
the others. “Melody does this all the time. Grab her books.”
Most of the children
continued to chat.
“That’s a convulsion, isn’t
it?” Martha, a concerned new girl, asked Egan. “Maybe I should call 911?”
“Yes it is, but no, there's no
need to do that. She'll be back to normal in a couple of minutes.”
Gradually, Melody’s convulsions
subsided until there was only an occasional twitching of her limbs. Moments later, she opened her eyes and started to get up. Unable to get a
foothold she wound up making a circle in the snow.
Immediately, Egan
and the other children, all began to create angels in the snow.
Several minutes went by
before the school bus arrived. The children, including Melody, boarded the
bus, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Isn't it amazing how
children can adapt to the medical problem of another child?"
marveled the unnoticed observer. "Perhaps they are all
Christmas angels?"
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