By Your Command

The lovely blonde grimaced and her graceful body flopped around in the bed. It was obvious her dreams were anything but sweet. Her turquoise blue eyes flew open just a second before a scream howled out in the semi-light of dawn. Merilee sat straight up in bed as tears began flowing from her eyes. It was time!

Her small, lithe body trembled as she sat on the side of the bed, trying to steady herself before standing. Long, golden curls shook in disbelief. How could she have forgotten who she really was?

Finally, touching her toes on the cold tile floor, the petite 5' 5" figure gathered a sheet around her and walked to her bedroom balcony. She bowed her head as an orange ball popped up from the horizon, beaming golden rays of sunshine that were nearly blinding to behold.

Life as she knew it was over. That much she understood with perfect clarity. However, how she was going to pull off the changes required was still somewhat unclear.

A silent prayer formed on her lips and the slight woman bent down on one knee. "By your command," she whispered. In a brief moment of irony, it occurred to Merilee that she sounded like one of those science fiction robots on television. Her son loved that show. What was it called? She couldn't remember.

Her son, Seth, was just 7 years of age. He would never understand what she was about to do. She wasn't absolutely sure she understood it herself.

Turning, she dropped the sheet and grabbed the jeggings and t-shirt on the chair next to the window. Pulling on the pants, a weird thought cropped into her mind. They would be pliable enough for the action she'd soon enough encounter.

Merilee glanced at the shirt before she pulled it over her head. The figure emblazoned across the front of it suddenly made sense. Still, she discarded it and opted for a plain white shirt instead. Glancing at her shoes and socks, she decided to take the time to don them in case she had to make a quick getaway.

With a smile on her face, she sprinted from the bedroom and down the hallway, reaching her daughter's room first. Carefully, pushing open the door, the sunlight glowing through the pink curtains took her breath away. So did something else she noticed there. With a slight nod, she moved forward to peek over the railway into the crib.

Miranda slept sprawled out on her back. One tiny hand was curled the way it was when she grabbed her mother's finger. The other was halfway open and halfway closed with one tiny finger pointing toward her favorite teddy bear, Chumley.

Merilee gently touched her daughter's soft down of hair. It was the same color as her mothers and it was beginning to curl up on the ends too. Before long, she would have a mass of golden curls of her own.

Miranda took in a deep gulp of hair and titled her head slightly. Her long dark lashes fluttered but her eyes didn't open. Merilee knew her dreams were of a more pleasant variety.

Touching her hand to her lips and then to her daughter's, the young mother quickly turned and walked out of the room. Her heart was barely beating in her chest. She thought it might break right then and there.

Five steps away, she opened the door to her son's room. She nearly laughed out loud at the sight of him hanging halfway off the bed. One leg was cocked over the side as if he were prepared to take off in a flash.

Walking forward, Merilee gently lifted his leg and put it back on the bed. Then she pulled the sheet up over him. Pushing his dark hair away from his brow, she starred at him for several seconds before bending to plant a soft kiss on his cheek.

It took every ounce of her strength for Merilee to walk out of that room. Once she was back in the hallway, she collapsed against the wall, falling down it until she hit the floor with a slight thud.

Putting her hand over her mouth to help silence her sobs, she sat there for nearly an hour. Then she nodded to some unseen force and immediately stood up. A determined look on her face, she walked back to her room, pulled out a backpack and began pulling things out of her drawers.

Once finished, she rushed downstairs to hide the pack in the back of the hall closet. Brock would be home before long. She had to be ready.

Moving toward the kitchen, she started the coffeepot and began whipping eggs for an omelet. She set the table as her mind began planning in the silence.

Pulling a piece of paper out of a kitchen drawer, she scrawled a quick message in pen. It simply read, "don't look for me. What I'm doing, I'm compelled to do. Kiss the children for me every single day and remember that I love you!"

Hearing Brock's car in the driveway, Merilee rushed to prepare his omelet. She stuffed the blue paper into her jean's pocket.

"Good morning, my angel." It was the same message Brock had offered Merilee since their first day of marriage.

"Good morning, sweetheart. How was your shift?" Without looking her husband straight in the eye, she brushed a kiss across his lips and then returned to cooking.

"Grueling as usual. There's never any down time in the ER," he noted. "But last night was particularly rough. I lost three patients; one heart attack, an accident victim and a shooter the police shot back."

Had it begun? The question flew across Merilee's mind. She couldn't remember the last time her husband had lost three patients in a single shift.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, feeling the pain in her heart. She stood drinking coffee watching her husband eat his breakfast. She knew that half of her heart would remain behind with him.

Although she heard him rattle on, it was a good think he didn't expect an answer from her as he talked. Merilee's mind was elsewhere already; mentally preparing itself for what was to come.

"Well, I'm off to take a shower and hit the sheets. I've got to be back to work early tonight." With that, Merilee watched the 6' 2", body builder leave the room. She longed to run after him and bury her nose in his sweet smelling dark hair. Her throat caught as she realized she would never do that again.

Once she heard the water running upstairs, Merilee pulled the note from her pocket and secured it with a magnet on the fridge door. Then she grabbed her backpack and placed it near the back door. As soon as he heard Alice, the live-in housekeeper, moving about in her room, she grabbed the pack and slipped out quietly.

Her years of jogging served its purpose. She was quickly down the street and out of sight. Running into the nearby woods, Merilee finally stopped long enough to let more tears rack through her body. They lasted for another half-hour.

At home, Merilee's husband picked up the t-shirt his wife had left on the floor. He smiled at the angel figure on the front of it. Oddly, it looked a bit like Merilee herself.

Brock lifted the garment to his nose and took a whiff. It smelled of Merilee's perfume. What was it called? Then he remembered. It was Heaven Sent.

Brock smiled as he layed the shirt on the pillow next to him. He'd have to spend more time with his wife, he thought just seconds before he drifted into dreamland.

A few doors away, a bright white figure knelt over Miranda's crib. "Your mommy loves you," it whispered. "I'll be here to watch over you until she gets back." Then the angel passed through the doorway and into Seth's room, repeating the same ritual.

In the woods, the little blonde knelt down in prayer. "Where you command I will go. What you command, I will do. I am here to serve."

A ray of sunlight peered through the tall trees and landed directly on top of Merilee's head. It glowed with bright intensity; so bright, anyone looking at her at the moment, would have seen little more than a bodily outline. It went on for several minutes before retracting into the sky once again.

Standing up, Merilee looked up into the sky. "By your command," she said as she unfolded her white wings and flapped them in the air. It had been a long time since she used them. She hoped she remembered how. However, she need not have feared. With a giant leap, she soared into the sky above the clouds.

Her earthy life done, it was time for Merilee to help win the battle between good and evil. If she failed, the unthinkable would happen. There would be no world for her children to enjoy. All life would be extinguished.