The Guardian Angel in Red

    Willa Anderson grew up with her father and mother when she was very young. Her mother would tie her hair into braids and decorate them with flowers. She would wear flowy pastel dresses, blouses, and skirts in shades of green, blue, yellow, pink, and orange. Her nose and cheeks would get red from the sun in the summer and the cold in the winter. Everything seemed alright for young Willa Anderson. But, her father would tug the daisies out of her golden hair. He would take away the moisture from the moss in her eyes. Her face would go pale as if she were a corpse. Although life was hard for young Willa Anderson, she had her guardian angel in red. She had seen the angel many times when picking flowers, the angel made her feel safe. One day, she went home after picking flowers to find her mother murdered by her father, her father had shot himself. Willa was six.

    She then went to live in an orphanage. Not much seemed to have changed; her hair still got tugged on, her eyes fell brown, a lack of hope. She was twelve now, adorning her golden hair with flowers, tying the braids with pastel ribbons of green and orange. She lied on the roof of the orphanage letting the sun blush her cheeks and nose. As night arrived, she continued to lie there, it wasn't as if they cared too much anyway. Sure, she would get beaten in the morning, but she didn't care, she was used to it. Willa Anderson never really grew up. Her father had tarnished her childhood, stole it. So, she decided to relive it, make it how she had always wished it could have been. In the middle of the night, she looked out into the forest in the distance and saw her guardian angel in red. 

    Three months later, at dusk, she packed her bags and escaped the orphanage. She went back to the house she had grown up in. Ivy had begun to crawl up the brick walls, the large windows had some cracks in them, several panels were missing. Dirt was scattered upon the floor, small stains of blood splattered the pansy cushions that rested on the patio chairs. She stayed there for many months. Then when she turned fourteen, red stained the windows, but the windows didn't project the colour onto Willa Anderson. She was already glazed in red, wearing a cloak of red. Gold was replaced with red. Moss was replaced with red. The guardian angel in red had vanished.