I always enjoyed watching over my nephew, John. I wasn’t there for much for his childhood, and I regret to say that I wasn’t involved in his father’s life much either. I became engulfed in my own addictions which caused more pain and suffering to my family than I ever could believe.
But now, I decided to repay my brother by watching over his son. It was my duty to protect him as his guardian angel.
John was a bright, young man only a few years into High School. I got to witness everything that happened to him. And to be honest, it reminded me of myself back in my younger years.
Don’t get me wrong, I was not intelligent or as diligent as John was at getting good grades or having a perfect attendance in class. I was the laughing stock of the classroom. But I had friends, lots and lots of friends that supported and helped me through those confusing years.
John is… alone. With barely any friends to support him, it makes me wonder how he’s able to get through high school. He isn’t a good looking boy, I mean, he did get his father’s looks after all. But I still never understood why some of the kids treated him the way they did. I wish that I could take his pain and his loneliness from him so that I may take it as my own. But I can’t. I can only watch. That was the deal.
There were a few instances where I was able to protect him. While walking home one day, some idiot wasn’t paying attention while driving. The man would’ve swerved into John had I not forced my nephew to stop and tie his shoelaces. Fifteen feet in the other direction and John would be next to me, by my side. That’s the last place he needs to be and I refuse to let my failure damage my family any longer.
I trust John will get far in life with the right choices. Like I said, he’s a good, smart kid with a whole lot of understanding of how the world works. Even now, he just got back from the convenience store that was only a few blocks down the road. He emptied the grocery bags to reveal the ingredients to a ham and cheese sandwich. His favorite. He fixed himself one and then began to do homework at the kitchen table.
Seriously, and I mean seriously, my brother doesn’t understand how lucky he is to get a kid like this. A kid who does his homework on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon.
He finished his sandwich and creased a single paper before folding it into his pocket. What was that? Just some scribbled notes? I couldn’t tell. Well, I wasn’t paying attention. I liked watching the kid but watching him do homework wasn’t the most exhilarating entertainment. But now he caught my attention. There was a way he folded it that made it seem different than a normal piece of paper. He folded with care and perfection.
John cleaned up his bread crumbs, and went up to his room then began cleaning it. He made his bed, emptied the trash can, and even did his laundry which he was often reluctant in doing. Yet, he still had that damn piece of paper in his pocket. It wasn’t until everything in his room was perfectly neat when he took it out. With a gentle touch, he removed the paper, still folded, and placed it on his desk.
I tried to see exactly what it was. But there was no heading. No address. No nothing! It was just a perfect square of loose leaf.
A love letter? He always admired a few girls from class, but never talked to them in person. A love letter would be a “John” thing to do.
I tried observing the paper at all angles but it was futile. He used pencil instead of pen, so the ink didn’t soak through enough for any words to be legible.
Water from the bath began to run down the hall. I guess John’s decided to take a bath. I never watched my nephew undress, that was one of my rules for… obvious reasons.
I returned to John’s room to investigate the paper once more. What better thing was there to do? I huffed and puffed around the thing, barely containing my anger. I hated when John kept secrets from everyone especially me.
Looking over to the clock, I saw that it’s been over thirty minutes and John still hasn’t gotten out of the shower. I moved to the hallway.
Water was leaking from under the bathroom doorway into the hall.
“No no no!” I screamed, moving into the bathroom.
John laid back in the tub, water and blood overflowing. I wrapped my corporeal arms around him and screamed with everything I had. I had to tell him this wasn’t the way. How did I not see this? How did I not notice? It was my job to watch over him!
He was alive. Barely.
Panicking, I looked for anyway to save him. I didn’t see any resolution and turned back to my nephew.
“Please!” I pleaded.
It wasn’t until the last moment, maybe even the last second, that I thought he heard me. He looked directly into my eyes, grinned, and was lost to the world.
I saved John to many things but I couldn’t save him from himself.
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I wrote this writing prompt over two years ago, and decided that I liked it enough to post it.
When I do a prompt, I will typically read a few of them and pick one out. Once I’ve decided on the prompt, I just get right to it and don’t stop until I’m finished. I typically don’t have a predisposed idea of what I’m going to write until about the third or fourth paragraph. I just let the writing take me where it leads me.
This prompt in particular is pretty broad but I remember enjoying the idea of a guardian angel failing to do protect a loved one. It makes for a good story and I hope that I did that here.
If you have your own prompt that you’d like to see me tackle, post it down below or shoot me an email!
As always, thanks for listening.
* If you are struggling to help someone from a distance or are in need of help, reach out to the Suicide Prevention Hotline by calling: 1-800-273-8255
David Nordheim 