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Editor’s Note: The following is part three of Four of a story Smithville resident Bruce Herring wrote called, “The Christmas Angel.”

“Emma, is it really you?” cried Jake.

“Yes Jake, it really is I,” Emma replied.

“Oh my, I have missed you so much. You are still so young and beautiful and I am an old man. How can we be together?” lamented Jake.

“Come into my arms and let me kiss you upon your cheek,” commanded Emma.

Jake did as she asked. When her lips touched the side of his face a great light emanated from them until it seemed to swallow them. Clara shielded her eyes from its brightness. When the brightness subsided, Clara was surprised to see Jake transformed into a young man. Jake and Emma began to rise up together. They moved off into their eternal joy until they disappeared from Clara’s view.

Alone again, little Clara sat on the bench and started to whistle some long forgotten song. She was so drawn into herself that she failed to hear her name being called. It was only after the counselor yelled out her name that she jumped up and shouted out, “Here!”

“Follow me please,” the counselor instructed. Little Clara fell in behind the older angel and marched briskly along until they reached a desk with two chairs. The counselor sat behind the desk and motioned to Clara to take a seat in the chair on the other side. Clara sat quietly and watched the older angel pick up a small folder and begin thumbing through it.

“There is not much here in your file to go on,” noted the counselor. “I guess that is to be expected with one as young as you.”

Clara said nothing.

The counselor continued, “With people who have had more life experiences, we can get a sense of where they would best fit in when they get here. You, on the other hand, have had such little experience in life. What are we to do with you?”

Clara just shrugged her shoulders.

“How good are you at dusting?” asked the angel.

“Okay, I guess.” answered Clara. “My mother always had me and my sister dust and polish the furniture.”

“Good,” replied the counselor, “I have just the job for you. You will be assigned the duty of dusting off the stars and making sure that they stay shiny. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Yes, I can do that,” answered Clara.

“Good, it is settled then. Here are the directions to your work station. I will let Gabrielle know that you are coming.”

Clara followed the directions and found the lead angel, Gabrielle. She stood before him and waited. It was a few moments before he saw her standing there.

“Excuse me,” he apologized, “I did not see you waiting for me. What can I do for you?”

“I was sent here by the Job Center. The counselor said I was to report here to start my assignment,” answered Clara.

“Yes, Maria did call to say that she was sending me a new recruit. Well, let me show you your station and what you need to do. Follow me please,” instructed Gabrielle.

Clara flew beside Gabrielle as they moved about from start cluster to star cluster looking for an appropriate group of stars for a novice angel. The stars must not be too big for her to handle nor so fragile that they would break under the pressure of her untrained hand. He finally settled on a group of stars that formed the belt of the constellation known as Orion.

Gabrielle took out his star duster and stardust pan and showed Clara what to do. He brushed off the excess stardust into a bin and emptied the bin into a stardust sack at his side. He then bent down, blew his breath upon the star, pulled out a cloth and polished it.

He then motioned to Clara to take the duster and do the next star. Gabrielle was pleased to see that Clara did it perfectly. Clara looked up to see if he approved of her efforts. Gabrielle just nodded and smiled.

To be continued in the Dec. 23 edition of The Smithville Herald.

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