Guardian Angel

I pushed back the tears as I dried the dishes. My face was raw from tissues. I had a terrible habit. When I became upset, the tears poured. I finished with last dish and looked out the window. It had been raining all day as if to mimic my mood.
The roads were slick and shiny with leaves and rain. Among the fall foliage was a single, rather large white feather. I stared at it for a moment with my jaw hanging open. There weren't any birds in this area that were even the size of the feather on the road. Another smaller white feather drifted lazily down to join it and I looked up to the power lines. My mouth fell open with a loud popping noise.
Crouching on the power lines among the late blue jays and sparrows was a boy about my age, with large white wings. He was twiddling another white feather in his hands and looked very grumpy.
I stared unabashed. Despite his frown, he was quite handsome. He wore only worn-looking blue jeans and had a shock of untidy black hair.
He held the feather up and blew it off his hand and then he turned in my direction and sighed.
I moved out of the way of the window so he couldn't see me and then jumped as mom called from the other room.
The next day before I left for classes I looked out at the power line again. To my dismay it was empty. I was also dismayed at myself. I shouldn't want to catch some guy with false wings balancing on my power line. He might have been a nutcase stalker.
I shuddered at the thought and headed off to class.
On the way, I noticed someone walking casually down the road. I thought I saw folded wings on his back.
After the test, I had to go to the store. The pantry needed restocking. I looked over my shoulder as I got out of my car. I looked again as I entered the store and again as I grabbed a shopping cart. I stopped in front of the produce.
This was silly! It was probably just stress, nothing to be too alarmed about. I smiled to myself as I walked through the salad greens. I grabbed the items on my list and went to the fruit section. I picked up a pear and noticed someone standing down the row from me.
It was him. His white wings were folded gently to his back as he inspected an orange. He was still shoeless, but in the cold rain had donned a thin maroon sweater.
Wide-eyed, I backed my cart out of the fruit isle and sped through the rest of my shopping. When I got home I unloaded everything in one trip and locked the door behind me. I took a peek out of the window when I was done unloading.
The winged boy was again perched rather awkwardly on the power line. His knees were up at his chin and his arms wrapped around them. He even had the same frown he had worn last time. I closed the curtains and left the kitchen.
Later in the day, after many episodes of random television humor, I went to get the mail. I never thought to see if the boy was still on the power line before I went out.
A bird twittered cheerfully as I reached into the mailbox.
"Stop it." A dreary voice said quietly. The bird stopped it's twittering.
I looked over my shoulder. The boy looked at me with mild interest and turned back to the bird.
"Now look what you've done." He gestured at me with pale thin fingers.
I stared, my mouth agape. I tried to focus on getting my mouth to work. "Who…a-are you?" I managed.
After a long introduction, I learned that his named was Cole and he was my guardian angel. He hated birds and had a very cynical view of the world just like me. Cole had been sitting awkwardly on my power lines ever since I was born.
Once I made certain his wings were real, I brought him inside to warm up.
"Why don't you have a halo?" I finally asked him.
"What's a halo?" he asked me in return. I told him and he shrugged. "I guess not." He decided.
Then I asked the question I had been dying to ask since he came in.
"Why is it I only saw you now?"
He smiled. "You're not sad anymore, are you?"

Credit for Cole's behavior and the inspiration for this piece goes to tenleftthumbs of deviantart.