Dianne’s Bio:

Dianne has been writing for fun and no profit for many years. The WOW! writing contest was the first essay contest she ever got up the nerve to enter. She has a completed first novel, currently entered in another writing contest, and hopes to complete a trilogy from that women’s fiction title. Dianne lives in beautiful Port Jefferson, New York, with her husband, son, 2 dogs and 2 cats (in that order).

 

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It Could Be Angels

By Dianne Greco

It was the Monday night before Thanksgiving, and I, like millions of other Americans, was headed to the supermarket in preparation of the upcoming feast. My grocery list was long, filled with the vegetables, the sweets, the turkey and all the trimmings that make our celebrations so special. I love Thanksgiving: the cooking, the baking, the family and friends gathered together at a table set with special linens and china, and most of all, the eating. I could work up an appetite just thinking about it. So, I parked my car and grabbed a cart from the parking lot and made my way into the supermarket. Once inside, the blast of fluorescent light showed me a wallet sitting in the child seat of the cart. It was a lovely black leather designer affair, sleek and stylish, but bulging. I heard myself gasp and I shook a little, almost hesitant to touch it. I felt like an intruder. I thought about giving it, unopened, to the customer service desk, but who knows what they would do with it, or perhaps leaving my name at the desk in case someone should come looking for it. I decided to look inside, see if there was ID, and take it from there.

When I opened it, I could see a thick wad of twenties and fifties. Dear God, I thought. There must be hundreds in here. My fingers nervously touched the cash. I couldn’t count it. It was as if I had counted the cash, I would have officially violated this woman’s personal affairs. The driver’s license in the plastic window showed an address just down the block from the store. Should I do my shopping first? I had so much to get, it could take a while. Or just run over there and get this over with? I decided to get the wallet back to this woman, imagining her frantically looking everywhere for her wallet stuffed with cash.

I left the cart, returned to my car and made my way over to the street on the license. While looking for the house number on mailboxes, I spotted a woman searching her car with a flashlight, groceries littering the driveway, and I knew I had found her. I pulled over at the curb and got out of my car. As I approached her, she stopped, looked me in the eye and said, "You found it, didn’t you?" I asked her if she meant her wallet, and she said, "Yes. I’ve been looking for it. But all this time I had a feeling that someone was going to bring it to me. I think my angels were telling me that…"

Angels? Okay, whatever.

I was happy to reunite this woman with her wallet, and she went on to tell me that she was leaving the next day to pick up her son from school so that he could be home for Thanksgiving, and that’s why she had so much cash on her. I said I was happy to get it back to her, wished her a good trip and turned to leave.

"Wait!" she said. "I have to give you some kind of reward. You saved my life here!"

"Oh, that’s okay." I said. "I would hope someone would do the same for me if I’m ever in this position. Keep your money. Have a great holiday."

With a wave, I turned to walk to my car and I felt a tug on my arm. "Then at least let me offer you this. Tonight, I will pray to my angels to keep you safe always. It’s the least I can do."

"Um, sure, whatever…" I said, not sure about this whole angel thing. But I didn’t think being watched over and kept safe by anyone was a bad idea.

"That would be great. Thanks."

"You got it." She said. "It’s my pleasure. Oh, and thank you so much. Thank you, thank you!" She grabbed me and kissed me.

"Uh, you’re welcome." I stammered. "Take care."

I returned to my car, taken aback by the kiss, and went back to the supermarket. I did my shopping, feeling kind of good about what I had done. I think I walked a little differently, maybe just a little taller, knowing I did the right thing.

When I was checking out, I handed the cashier my coupons and customer card and waited for her to tally the order. "This is cool," she said, sounding surprised. "You’ve got double coupons. Every one of ‘em! Wow, you just saved a lot of money. Oh, and wait, your turkey is free. You’ve earned enough points shopping here to get a free bird. Congratulations!"

When I saw the total, I was shocked. My total had almost been cut in half, between the double coupons and the price of the turkey. I wrote the check, handed it to the cashier, took my receipt and ran out of there, feeling like I had just robbed the place.

A fine, misty rain had started to come down while I was shopping, so I hurried to my car, which was parked at the end of the lot. As I ran, I heard the squeal of brakes and tires on wet pavement, and then a crash. I turned to see a runaway cart, exactly where I had just been, that had been hit by a car. The cart was mangled, hanging on the now dislodged bumper of the car, and that driver looked pretty P.O.’d. If I had been a minute later, that could have been me. Hey, maybe it was that angel thing? Were they really looking after me? Or maybe I had just created some good karma, whatever that is? Nah, I thought. Just a coincidence. Bad timing on the cart’s part.

So, I drove home, reflecting on the series of events in the course of the last hour. The wallet, the coupons, the turkey, the cart. Coincidence. That’s all. Some nights are just weirder than others, right?

Right before I pulled into my driveway, a car came speeding around the corner, skidding on the now very wet asphalt, and was headed right for me. Before I could even think, I flew into my driveway doing about sixty and jammed on the brakes, stopping just in time to not hit the fence. After a few deep breaths to calm myself and trying to quiet the adrenaline rush that made my head ache, I realized what had just happened.

"Okaaaaaaay," I shouted out to the sky. "I get it.

Thanks. And keep up the good work!"

***

What Dianne Won:

• $100.00 Cash Prize
• Publication of winning story on WOW-WomenOnWriting.com website
• A Prize Pack from skirt!
• $50.00 certificate to spend at the WOW! Boutique
• A Year’s Subscription to Premium-Green Markets
• Interview on WOW!’s blog The Muffin