Seer

Gabe’s

It is such a momentous occasion. I whisper to him constantly, affirming the message of the Seer, filling my words with love and support. I still seem like an abstract concept to him. His statement that he would like to speak to me was only motivated by the image of himself amazing other children with similar tricks to what Natalie has shown him. He hasn’t had time to contemplate the idea of my existence more deeply.

The demonstration with Timothy has astonished him. Natalie being able to relay Gabe’s thoughts, and the numbers on the hidden dice, were amazing enough. But Timothy clearly receiving a message in the next house over has cemented in Gabe’s mind the fact that Natalie’s claim about guardian angels must actually be real.

“It’s real. I can’t believe it. But it has to be real, Natalie,” he says, incapable of any speech more profound.

She impulsively hugs him. “I knew you’d believe me!” she says joyfully. “I’m so glad you know!”

He hugs her back. “Yeah,” he says, still more stunned than anything else, unable to process this information further.

She sits back on his bed, and he follows her, not knowing if she has more information to share.

“My darling, you have learned so much already. I am here, always, to help you understand everything. It brings me much joy for you to have obtained this knowledge. I feel closer to you than ever before.”

Gabe still has the dice clutched in his hand. He idly shakes them, then suddenly remembers that he is holding them. He stares down into his hand.

“Do you need more demonstrations?” Natalie asks him. “I think you already believe me, but we could try the dice again, or other stuff, if you want more proof.”

“No,” he says. “I mean, maybe we can do the dice again later for fun, but I believe you. You don’t need to prove anything else.” They sit silently for a minute as he contemplates the things she has told him. He thinks about Timothy being aware of the guardian angels.

Then he remembers how this conversation began. “Hey - I just remembered that you told me about this because of Jonathan. You said you know what’s wrong. I guess that’s because your guardian angel told you? What did he say?”

Natalie worries about introducing the topic of Demon’s malfeasance so early in Gabe’s introduction to the concept of Guardians. She fears that her brother will be frightened. However, she feels that she must explain.

“Yes, Angel told me what’s wrong with Jonathan. I guess I have to explain more to you about what guardian angels are here for, so that you can understand. Okay?”

He is perplexed. “Well, all right.”

She asks, “Do you remember what I said about what they are here to do?”

“Um… watching us?”

“Yes, but not just that. It’s the reason they are watching us. It’s to help our souls grow.”

He hadn’t really paid attention to that part of her statement earlier, being more focused on the slightly amusing image of being constantly observed. “Sooooo….” he prompts, not sure what she means.

Angel whispers to her, “He doesn’t understand what you mean, darling, perhaps you can clarify that we share a soul with our humans.”

She nods in response to what Angel has told her. “Okay, let me back up. Each human has a soul, right? Like Grandma has told us. Well, not exactly like that, but we do have a soul.” She waits for him to acknowledge this much.

“Sure, I guess,” he says. The concept of the soul, indeed all of his grandmother’s religious teachings, have never much interested him.

“Well,” the Seer continues, “the reason we have a soul is because our guardian angel brings it to us when we are born. We basically share it with them. And while we are alive, it grows, and everything we do changes it. Our guardian angel wants us to grow the soul to be strong and beautiful, because after we die they get it back to keep forever.”

Angel nods, “You are explaining this very well, my dear.”

Gabe struggles with this esoteric concept, but he basically understands what she is attempting to relate. “So it’s all about us having a soul?”

“Yes,” she confirms, “and us growing the soul. That’s what they’re interested in. The way that what we do changes the soul. Do you get it?”

He snorts. “Well, no, honestly, but I hear what you’re saying. Are you getting to the part about Jonathan?”

She meets his eyes, sadly. He senses that there is something that makes her reluctant to go forward. “Um, is something wrong with Jonathan’s soul? Is that what’s going on?”

She brightens. “You’re so smart, Gabe.” He smiles and ducks his head.

“Yeah,” she goes on, “that’s sort of what’s happening. See, when a guardian angel sees their human do something that grows the soul, they try to encourage their human to do more of it. Not everything that grows a soul is good. Sometimes even mean stuff can help a soul grow. Like the kind of mean tricks that Jonathan plays on people.”

Gabe’s brow furrows. He knows what she means, having observed Jonathan for years inflicting petty injuries on others. He did not give these incidents much thought, not believing they were consequential in any way. Angel describes his unfolding thought process to Natalie, and she waits while he remembers Jonathan’s history.

“Yes,” she says, “when he was doing stuff like hurting lizards or pushing toddlers, even though that stuff is mean, it did help his soul grow.” She waits again, wanting him to be able to process each concept before she carries on.

“So the problem is that Jonathan’s guardian angel likes it when he does stuff like that, because his soul just keeps getting stronger. And now, his guardian angel is trying so hard to make Jonathan do it more, that Jonathan is starting to lose control of himself, and doing it even when he doesn’t even want to.”

This is too much for Gabe to understand. “What? I thought people can’t talk to their angels. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well,” Natalie says, not wanting to get into describing the entire process of communication between Guardians, “his guardian angel has learned a way to tell Jonathan what to do. Jonathan doesn’t have any idea it is happening, he thinks the thoughts are just coming into his head, and he hates it because he thinks it means he is a terrible person. He doesn’t know the thoughts are coming from his guardian angel. But he can’t control himself when he gets these thoughts.”

Suddenly Gabe pictures the moment when Jonathan, shockingly, struck Natalie at the library. He begins to understand.

“Yes,” Natalie tells him somberly, after Angel relays to her what Gabe is thinking, “when he hit me today that is exactly what happened. It makes sense when you think about it. He didn’t seem like himself, did he? It seemed like he wasn’t in control, right?”

“Yeaaahhh,” Gabe says slowly. “Yeah, I haven’t been able to figure it out. It was so weird. It was like he wasn’t thinking at all. I couldn’t imagine why he did it. So, he wasn’t deciding to do it? His guardian angel was making him do it?”

“Yes,” Natalie tells him sadly.

Gabe’s perception shifts. “So, guardian angels aren’t good? Like, they aren’t here to help us? They’re just evil?” He is alarmed. “That’s really scary, Natalie.”

She grabs his hand. “No, Gabe, they’re not! Only one is. Only Jonathan’s guardian. Angel tells me that he has never heard of another guardian doing what Jonathan’s is. It’s not normal at all. All of the other ones are good, and loving, and they really are here to help.” I notice that she has stopped using the term “guardian angel” and has reverted to simply “guardian”. I know that she had started with the more commonly used term to assist Gabe in understanding. He does not notice the change.

Gabe is perturbed. He has learned too much to absorb.

“That’s the only reason I told you, Gabe. Because Jonathan’s guardian is such a problem. All the other guardians don’t know what to do about it. They are all super worried. They don’t know how to help.”

“Well I sure don’t know what to do!” Gabe bursts out. “You can’t possibly think I would have any answers!” His emotions are in turmoil. It all seems overwhelming. This evening he has been perplexed, amazed, frightened, and now alarmed and even somewhat angry. He feels too much is expected of him.

“No,” she says, her face crumpling with distress. “I didn’t expect you to. I just thought that, well, Jonathan is your best friend. I figured you would want to know what’s wrong. That’s what Timothy thought. That you deserve to know.”

Gabe’s sense of outrage instantly deflates. He realizes now her purpose. She just wants her brother to understand that she is trying to help his best friend, and she wants him to be a part of the process. She doesn’t want him to be excluded from knowing the truth.

“Oh. Yeah, you’re right. I guess it’s good to know.” He sighs and shakes his head. “Thanks for telling me, Nat. You’re a good sister. Very weird, but a good sister.”

She throws her arms around him. “I love you Gabe! And I just want to help Jonathan. I don’t know how we are going to do it, but I think we’ll figure it out.”