by Lorna Byrne
All this time I kept walking, or I believed I was walking. My legs were moving, my feet were moving and yet, as I realised later, the earth beneath me was not moving. Some of the angels turned to fly away from the college. They seemed to be going away from me, flying further and further away, growing smaller and then disappearing. I felt a bit sad.
Then I was told to look up and there, in the sky, way up in the sky, so far it was unbelievable, I saw loads more angels. These beautiful angels started getting bigger and bigger, and as they got closer I could see more angels above them. All of a sudden, in between those angels, higher up again, I saw what I believed to be another angel. It was so high up it looked miniscule – it was a miracle that I was allowed to see something so tiny. I wondered how on earth I could see this little angel, which was so far away, as it was falling, down, down, down.
As it fell down through all the other angels it didn't seem to get any bigger. I kept laughing, I was so full of excitement – I can still feel it now! My body was trembling with delight. As it came closer, I could see that it wasn't an angel, it was a tiny feather!
I watched in amazement as this tiny feather was guided downwards by those enormous beautiful angels. It was spectacular to watch this feather descend like a snowflake. There was a strong breeze blowing that morning, but the feather kept falling, guided through the air to come directly to me. I was afraid that the breeze would blow it away, but I shouldn't have had any fear, I should have known better. The feather, with beautiful angels on each side, kept on floating down.
When it was nearly within my reach, but not quite close enough for me to grasp it, you know what I did? I jumped to catch it! I couldn't wait any longer for it to come closer. I jumped as high as I could. It felt as if I had jumped five feet into the air and, reaching out I grasped the feather. I caught it and clutched it safely in my hand. I was exhilarated, clasping it close to my chest.
All of a sudden things changed. I became aware of raindrops on my cheeks, of the cold breeze. It was only then that I noticed an elderly couple walking towards me, and I realised, too, that time had stood still for me. Although I had thought I had been walking, I hadn't actually moved from where I was when I first saw the angels. Now, recalling it, I see that from the moment I saw the angels over the college building, I hadn't felt the broken stones under my feet or the unevenness of the path. This was because my feet were not actually touching the ground. I didn't feel the rain, the wind or the cold. Then when I grasped the feather time started to move again. I remember the elderly couple smiling at me – they must have seen me jumping for something. I smiled back. Now, today, as I write this, I wonder what those people thought that day? What did they see? Did they see what I jumped for? I don't know who they were, but maybe if they read this book they will remember that day.
I felt so happy and so elevated. It was one of the most wonderful mornings of my life; getting a gift like that from God and his angels. I praised God and gave him thanks for the feather. I thanked Joe, too, as I felt he also had something to do with it.
I cherish the feather that came to me through the gates of Heaven, guided by angels. It was a gift to help me feel better, to make me feel safe, to remind me that there is a reason to live, that there is hope in all circumstances. It also reminded me that we all have souls and they are perfect – no matter what we have done – that our bodies might die, but our souls don't, and that we all have wings of some kind or another, even if we fail to recognise them in ourselves or others. We are all, in fact, angels.
