Childrens Stories warm the Heart and Soul. These are for all ages. Remember young is anyone who still has to grow!
SERGIO'S ANGEL
(c)2007 Tina Calabrese reproduction, copying and/or publishing is prohibited without the express written consent of Tina Calabrese
A light green tulip leaf appeared where there should have been sprinkles of snow. A NewYork wind had been forgotten as winter in January lost footing like the glacier in Antartica. Sergio was happy. He hated to be cold.
“The only thing I miss is snuggliing up to the fire as mom prepares my dinner. Feeling so warm and cuddly and smelling the beef in gravy is just heaven.” he said while licking his lips.
“Did someone say ‘heaven?’” a voice came out of the distance.
“Who is that?!” Sergio quipped.
“Sister Mary at your service.”
“I have no sisters. My one sister died at birth”
“And she says hello.”
“What? Who? Am I dead?!”
“No, No, Sergio you are far, far from dead. In fact you are one of the most alive beings I’ve ever seen!” said Sister Mary with a chuckle.
“Then what is going on? Have I done something wrong? I try to be a good dog. Mom says I’m good.”
“You are a good dog. Nothing is wrong. I am your guardian angel now and I came to say hello and to give you some advice.”
“Are you like a Dr. Phil angel? Just my luck. Out of all the angels in heaven I get a shrink angel.”
“You are very funny. Well I am. You see I knew your mother. She was very kind to me and I told her I would watch out for you when I arrived. Now Sergio...”
“Uh Oh a sentence that starts with ‘Now Sergio’ “
“Now Sergio what do you want to talk about?”
“Nothing really you said my sister said hello. Why was she the one that died?”
“It was just the way things happened.”
‘That is all you can say. I mean you’re an angel now don’t you know all the secrets?”
“Sergio you need to trust your heart and your inner wisdom you know things you know answers you even know secrets you just don’t trust yourself”
"I don’t. I don’t even feel like I have a heart sometimes. Sometimes I don’t think enough about my friends I only think about me and when I will eat and play and get hugs and cuddles and brushed oh I love to be brushed so much. Sister Mary I’m a selfish dog.”
“Sergio its perfectly alright for you to be happy and to get what you want. There is nothing wrong with that in fact God wants you to be happy only happy he doesn’t want you to be sad and alone and not taking care of yourself. You can be happy and also be there for your friends too. It’s not one thing or another. You know how sometimes you lick your mouth and scratch your ear at the same time?”
“Yeah after I eat I get an itch I think its only when I eat cow for some reason eating something so much bigger than me gives me anxiety.”
“Well its like that. I helped a lot of people when I was alive but I still laughed with my friends, read my romance novels and enjoyed a good meal when someone else was paying!”
“I want you to believe that when you feel nervous and you doubt your goodness that God MADE YOU GOOD ALREADY. You don’t get good you already are. He wants you to believe that and to love others.”
“I try but what about when someone hurts you bad I mean not biting you or scratching you or even stealing your food what if someone hurts your feelings like saying something bad about you, or lying to you or leaving you just when you thought they were staying your friend. What about when someone gets mean to you right in front of all your friends. What about when someone is moody and takes it out on you even if it wasn’t your fault. What if it was your fault and still someone gets mean? How do you deal with that without getting the same way back?? I don’t know what to do sometimes. Mom says tell them how you feel I say run the other way and fast.”
“This is something that anyone who is alive struggles with not just you. I can remember I worked with a woman and she was occassionally mean to me I couldn’t understand it I was so nice to her. I told her to stop treating me that way because I didn't deserve it. I told her she was hurting me. Your mother is right. I’m going to tell you something now that is very, very important. When someone is mean to themself they can be mean to others. When someone is not nice to themself they can’t allow anyone to be nice to them.”
“Oh that’s that whole thing if you don’t love yourself you can’t love someone else.’”
“Yes. You need to like yourself enough that you do good things for yourself and that makes you happy. This way you can do good things for others and feel like you're not sacrificing your happiness for someone else. If you do that then you might become bitter.”
“I think I’m getting it.”
“You are getting it”
“But what does ‘bitter’ mean?”
“Bitter means a bad taste it means that you get mad at not getting things you want and you don’t like it that you helped everyone else get what they want. It happens when people are hurt by life a lot and they can’t seem to get away from it.
I remember I felt bitter because I didn’t get a raise at my job but then I asked for one and I got it. You see you need to push in life not harshly but you need to get what you want and what you need.”
“I don’t know what I need.”
“We all need the same thing.”
“We do.”
“Yes. Think about it what is it we all need”
“Treats. And NOT the organic ones. I hate them. Artifical meat. Yuck!”
“Beside treats?”
“Love we all need love.”
“And how do we get love?”
“Got me I’m just a dog.”
“When do you feel loved?”
“When mom feeds me and hugs me and brushes me and tells me how wonderful I am.”
“When else?”
“When Klutzy wants to take a walk with me even though we get lost.”
“When else?”
“When Spanky tells me his darkest secret and asks me to be his friend forever and I say yes.”
“When else?”
“When I taught Harry how to find the bone he buried because he was born without a sense of direction. That time I felt love between us not just for me.”
“When else?”
“When I saved the garbage man I used to be afraid of.”
“When else?”
“Now.
I feel love for myself. How did you do that?”
“Funny. You did it not me.”
“You are a tricky angel shrink.”
“Do all dogs go to heaven?”
“If they let themselves feel love yes.”
“Are you sure I’m not dying anytime soon because I really wanted to play in my pool for another season I only had it one year.”
“No Sergio you are not dying you will someday and I will be right here waiting for you and then you will tell all your stories.’”
“Will you always be there for me?”
“Always. The question is will you always be there for you?”
“Always.
Now for the treats?"
(See below for a picture of the real character and his comment to the story)
I'm no angel.