My Precious Angel (standard:other, 2652 words)
Author: kathyg	Added: Apr 01 2005	Views/Reads: 3643/2368	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Who has the right to claim the heart of a little girl who has to live in fear of her own mother?

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

"Thanks." 

"Let me tell you the parable of the gold coins.", Mildred whispers to
Suzanne. 

The Parable of the Gold Coins (Matthew 25:14-30) Good News Bible NT 

Mildred takes out her bible and reads directly from the verse. 

"There was once a man of high rank who was going away to a country far
away to be made king, after which he planned to come back home. 

Before he left, he called his ten servants and gave then each a gold
coin and told them, 'See what you can earn with this while I am gone.' 

Now, his countrymen hated him, and they sent messengers after him to
say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' The man was made king and 
came back. At once he ordered his servants to appear before him, in 
order to find out how much they had earned. The first one came and 
said, 'Sir, I have earned ten gold coins with the one you gave me.' 
'Well done,' he said: 'you are a good servant! Since you were faithful 
in small matters, I will put you in charge of ten cities.' 

The second servant came and said, 'Sir, I have earned five gold coins
with the one you gave me.' To this one he said, 'You will be in charge 
of five cities.' 

Another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin. I kept it
hidden in a handkerchief. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard 
man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.' 

He said to him, 'You bad servant!' I will use your own words to condemn
you! You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping 
what I have not planted. Well, then, why didn't you put my money in the 
bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I 
returned.' 

Then he said to those who were standing there, 'Take the gold coin away
from him and give it to the servant that has ten coins,' 

But they said to him,   'Sir, he already has ten coins! 

'I tell you,' he replied, 'that to every person who has something, even
more will be given; but the person who has nothing, even the little he 
has will be taken away from him. Now, as for those enemies of mine who 
do not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my 
presence." 

Mildred closed the Bible and looked at Suzanne. "Did you think the king
was a little harsh with those who were against him?", she asks. 

"No. He gave them a chance to make good, but their fear stopped them
from confronting the king directly with their hatred. They sent 
messengers to talk for them. And the servant who hid the money did not 
himself listen and let his fear rule him. I suppose the message is to 
take what is given to us and invest in our talents, our skills and our 
happiness instead of steeping in bitter hatred for one person. We need 
to make our lives better when life presents us with such an 
opportunity.", Suzanne replies. 

"Very insightful, Suzanne. How did you become so wise?", Mildred asks. 

"Oh, I'm not wise. Look who is my mother? I wish she would go away and
leave me alone!" 

"Hush, come here, let me show you a picture. This is a picture of myself
at your age. I lived in an orphanage. My parents died when I was four 
years old. My life is not so bad. I have good days and bad, but I take 
my golden coins, so to speak and make my life rich inside my heart. You 
can too, Suzanne." 

Reverend John walks over, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a
crystal rosary. He places it in Suzanne's hand. 

"Suzanne, let us pray together  for courage." 

"What if she finds me, Reverend?", Suzanne stood up and paced
frantically around the room. She walked over to the window and looked 
out cautiously. The coast was clear. 

"I can't go outside. She will find me. Suzanne pressed her nose against
the cold window and a shiver of fear rises out of her gut. Was this the 
way the rest of her life was going to be like? Or could she take the 
lesson from the parable and use what sense she had to turn her life 
around even when fear seems to have a grip over her." 

"I won't let her beat me.", Suzanne declares suddenly.  It seems that
Mildred's  parable gave her some new found strength. 

She takes a deep breath, finally feeling the weight of fear being lifted
off her shoulders. Somehow she felt stronger and she managed to smile 
for a moment. 

This seemingly unbalanced lady drives her old white Dodge,  searching
the streets for Suzanne. She stops out every so often to show a 
stranger a picture of her lost child. She had one photograph of Suzanne 
that she had stolen from the classroom one day after school. She 
slipped inside and went into the teacher's desk and found Suzanne's 
picture on a class roster.  She took out the picture to show to any 
stranger that would listen to her. No one seemed to recognize the girl 
until the mother showed it to a lady wearing a blue sweater and slacks 
shopping at the A & P. 

The lady looks down at the picture. 

"Do you know her?", the crazy woman asks. "Why yes, I saw her just today
walking to school. School is still in session. Why not try at St. 
Ignatius?", the lady in the blue sweater asks her. 

"I already did. I didn't see her anywhere.", the woman replies. 

"Perhaps she was in one of the buildings." 

She scratches her head and snatches the photo right out of the hands of
the lady in the blue sweater. 

"Thanks, you help me find my little girl! She is mine! All mine!" 

The lady looks at her strangely, not at all sure if she should have
given the woman any information at all. This woman seems off balance 
somehow. She rolls  her cart forward to the checkout line. 

The crazy lady has a name. Her name is Isabelle. She was 28 years old
and a schizophrenic. When she was 20 years old she met Stan in the 
hospital where she was being treated. Stan listened to her and took her 
to the ice cream shop. She liked that very much. He was waiting for her 
every day in the patient lounge area and sometimes they played cards. 
Stan was getting better and he hoped that Isabelle was too, but it 
didn't seem that way to Isabelle. In a desperate attempt to keep Stan, 
she asked him to meet her at the movie theater one last time. Stan 
liked Isabelle and she didn't have to ask twice. He would be there. 

The doctors knew that Stan was getting better and maybe he could help
Isabelle. 

However, Isabelle had other plans for Stan. In her mind, he was a means
to an end. A way out of the hospital. She likes him but she was going 
to do a desperate thing. Isabelle walks the five blocks to the movie 
theatre and waves as she sees Stan approaching. 

"Hello. Do you know which  movie you want to see, Isabelle?" 

"I've changed my mind, Stan. Let's go for a walk in the park instead. I
want to be alone with you." 

" I'll go anywhere with you." 

Stan and Isabelle walk through the downtowndistrict, laughing and
talking for a half-hour and they soon arrive at the park. They walk 
through most of the park and spot an old shade tree and put down her 
coat beside it. She pats the coat and invites him to join her there. 

"Kiss me." 

Stan  caresses turn into intimacy.  The sun soon goes behind the horizon
and it is dark at the park.  A few passersby heard moans from behind a 
shade tree and rushed to get a policeman to break up the tryst. 

A policeman flashes a light at the couple on the grass and says, "Hey,
stop this lewd behavior. This is a public park." 

At first, Stan and Isabelle do not hear the police officer but the light
flashing in their faces is too bright. They cover their eyes with their 
hands and the policeman's loud, angry voice pierces through any 
thoughts of continuing their loving caresses. 

Stan is the first to look up at the officer. "I'm sorry officer. We,
we... kind of ... got carried away..." 

"Do ya know where ye are, sonny?", the officer asks. 

"A park?", Stan replies. 

"Move along, this isn't the place." 

The policeman shakes his head. 

"Yes officer!", Stan replies. 

The policeman walks away continuing his patrol of the park. 

Stan and Isabelle  walk back to the hospital. 

A baby girl is born nine months later. In the hospital. She names her
Suzanne but three days later, Suzanne is taken away from her and 
adopted by another family. The doctors do not think she would be a fit 
mother. A fit mother? 

Isabelle never did accept the fact that Suzanne wasn't hers anymore. She
even refused Stan's visits at the hospital after she gave birth to 
Suzanne. Neither one was mentally capable of raising a child on their 
own. 

Isabelle spends her days searching for Suzanne and one day she found
her... 

Playing jump rope in the schoolyard of  St. Ignatius School. 

That very day she made a vow to herself to get her back one way or
another... 

"Suzanne, I want you to come with me to the church right now. You will
find strength in prayer. We will pray together for courage. Just like 
the servant with the gold coin, prayer will be your shield against all 
evil. Do you believe that?", asks Reverend John. 

"I do.", Suzanne replies. 

"Follow me.", says The Reverend. 

As the Reverend and Suzanne open the door to the church, silence reigns
and the scent of candles permeates the air. It seems like a sanctuary 
where one can feel safe. No one could harm her here. She followed 
Reverend John to the front of the church, genuflected and knelt down in 
one of the front pews. 

She makes the Sign of the Cross and starts the prayers of a Rosary. 

She is deep in prayer when she hears footsteps. 

One, two, three clicks of shoes that sounded very familiar.  And then...


"I know you are here, Suzanne. Stand up and let me see you.", an unknown
voice bellows from the rear of the church. Instead of hiding or 
running, Suzanne stands up and faces this crazy woman. 

"I think you know who I am, Suzanne." 

Suzanne remains silent. 

"I have been looking for you since you were born. You are my child and I
am taking you back. I must have you because I am your mother." 

"You are not my mother.  I will not go with you." 

"Yes you will, Suzanne!", the crazy lady declares as she rushes toward
her. 

Reverend John steps forward to shield Suzanne from this lady. 

"She said, 'GO AWAY'. She does not want to go with you. You have no
claim on Suzanne. She has been adopted by a good family. If you do not 
leave right now, I will have you arrested.", the Reverend says calmly. 

"She is mine!" 

"No,  You have done nothing to nuture her. You haven't been there for
her. You have only terrorized her and made her fearful and afraid to 
live a normal life. Now, go away and let her be!" 

"I'll be back, Suzanne. You can count on it and next time the Reverend
won't be here to protect you." 

"I'm not afraid of you. You are nothing to me.", Suzanne replies with a
shaky voice. 

"But I am your mother!" 

A woman opens the church door and rushes past the crazy woman and toward
Suzanne. She takes Suzanne in her arms. 

"This is my mother. Leave us alone.  You claim to be my real mother, but
I am taking back my life.  I am going to have a wonderful life with my 
adoptive family. There is no place for you in this life of mine. I want 
you to go, now!" 

The crazy lady lunges toward them, when Suzanne holds up her rosary
facing her with calmness and strength. 

"I said, I do not belong to you. I belong to myself." 


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