Angel Unaware

Angel Unaware

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2

It was a cloudy day as Eve set out on her daily walk. The forecast had called for rain in the early afternoon, and she wanted to make sure to get her exercise today.

There was a strong wind from the north, and Eve could feel the chill through her coat. She wished she had worn another sweater and gloves. A hat would have been a good choice as well. She hurried along, growing weary in her struggle.

A man was standing at the corner of her street. Eve thought he looked familiar, but as she came closer, she didn’t recognize him. She nodded her usual greeting as she kept walking, and he nodded back.

Eve stopped and looked up at the sky. It was a dark greenish color. How odd, she thought. Suddenly, the wind was stronger, and Eve had a tough time standing or walking.

“I think you had better come with me,” said the stranger from the corner. He led her to the ditch. “Lie down. Quick!”

Eve saw the tornado approaching, breaking up houses in its path. Debris flew through the air in all directions. A board from a nearby house knocked her down. The stranger lay across her until it was calm.

Eve sat up nervously as the stranger rolled off her. She stared at him as he helped her to her feet.

“Thank you,” she stammered. “That was a bit violent.”

“Tornadoes usually are,” he answered. “But they are strange because they sometimes turn back. So, we need to find a safe place – just in case. Do you have a basement?”

“Yes,” she answered. “My house is right over there.”

“Ok. Let’s go,” he urged.

Eve fumbled with her key as she unlocked the door. Quickly, they went down to the basement and crouched in a corner as they listened to the rumble of the tornado . She heard glass breaking and wondered if she would have a house when all this chaos was over.

The stranger tapped her on the shoulder. Eve felt a something soothing pass through her. A tear fell as she stood and followed the stranger up the stairs. She was afraid to look at the mess the storm had created.

One window was broken, and glass was spread across the floor. Papers from the novel she was writing were scattered everywhere. Eve remembered sitting at the window yesterday, working on the plot of her story. She was thankful the damage to her house was minimal. Others in her neighborhood suffered greater losses.

Eve and the stranger walked outside and assessed the damage. She saw her friend Stacy weeping in her driveway. All that was left of her house was a pile of lumber. Her car was gone. Most of her furniture was gone. The small wooden shed at the back of the property was untouched, as well as the arbor with the Wisteria climbing its posts.

Quite clearly, the tornado had chosen a path of destruction. However, the places that were not destroyed were strewn with debris left by those less fortunate. Not many homeowners were home at the time since it was a weekday, and thankfully, the children were at school.

Eve remembered the elderly widow at the end of the street. She ran toward her house, fearing the worst. As she approached, everything seemed normal. But then she saw that the back of the house was gone.

“Edna! Edna!” she called. “Are you here?”

“Eve,” came a weak voice from the kitchen. Eve hurried into the house and found Edna slouched in the corner. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek, and the woman was trembling.

“It’s okay,” Eve comforted. “I’m going to help you, and the storm is over. I’ll get you to a hospital.” As Eve searched for something to clean her cuts, she noticed the stranger had followed her into the house. He was handing her a clean dish towel. Eve hesitantly took it and wet the end before dabbing the cuts.

“I'm sure I can handle this,” she said. “Do you have somewhere you need to be?”

“Nothing pressing,” he said. “I’ll help.”

“Can you put a bit of pressure on here?” Eve instructed, pointing to Edna’s forehead. “I’m going to call an ambulance.”

“9-1-1,” the voice said. “Please state your emergency.”

“We’ve had a tornado rip through the neighborhood,” Eve said. “An elderly woman has been injured.’

“Is she breathing?”

“Yes, but she has some bad cuts on her head,” Eve said. “We have cleaned them and are applying pressure to the cut that is still bleeding, but I think she may be in shock”

“Stay on the line. We’ll have an ambulance there shortly.”

“Ok,” Eve said.

The ambulance picked its way through the rubble to the end of the street. Eve clicked off her phone and led the paramedics to the kitchen. Edna was helped onto the stretcher and was rolled outside. Eve promised her she would call her daughter right away.

Eve and the stranger found a young woman with a baby. The baby was screaming while the mother wept soft tears. The woman shivered as she clung to her baby, who was wearing only a diaper. Eve offered her sweater, and the mother wrapped her baby.

“Where’s your house?” Eve asked.

“Right there,” the woman pointed to a pile of wood. The beautiful maple tree that had once stood in her front yard was now lying across the light blue Honda parked in the driveway.

“Come on,” Eve said. “I’ll fix you a cup of tea.”

The woman followed Eve and the stranger into Eve’s house. The stranger picked up a grey sweater from the back of the kitchen chair and handed it to the woman. Eve nodded with unspoken words of thanks.

“I will go out and look for others who may be injured or homeless. May I bring them back here?” asked the stranger.

“Yes, please do,” Eve said. “I made a pot of soup last night, and there’s plenty.”

“I wonder why your place didn’t get hit,” the woman asked. “You’re very lucky.”

“I don’t know about lucky,” Eve said. “Tornadoes have a strange way about them. And who knows, I may have been saved for this very reason. To help others.”

“You must be an angel,” she suggested.

“No,” Eve corrected. “Just a good neighbor.”

The stranger returned with another young woman and her son, an elderly man and a lost dog. They all entered Eve’s home with reverence and thankfulness. The dog was put in the backyard with the gate closed securely. The stranger filled a bowl with water and placed it at the bottom of the steps leading to the back door.

“My boy has a cold,” the new young woman explained. “That’s why he’s not at school.”

“My daughter had the cold last week,” Eve said. “This was her first day back. My husband has it now, but he went to work.”

“Give your son some of this chicken soup, and then he can lie on one of the beds for a nap,” Eve suggested.

“Oh, you are so kind,” the woman said.

Eve looked over her guests. She saw the stranger settling the elderly man in the recliner. She poured some tea into a mug and handed it to the stranger. A minute later, the stranger came back with the mug and asked for a bit of milk and sugar.

Everyone settled into an afternoon of quiet and reflection. The storm had changed many lives, and decisions needed to be made concerning cleanup and restoration.

Eve was busy preparing a stew and biscuits for supper. Later, she was seated next to the elderly gentleman, listening to his tales of yesteryear, when her husband came home.

“Are you alright?” he asked Eve, worry spread over his face. Their frightened daughter followed him into the house. She looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. She looked at each of the people in her house and would have bolted had her father not put his arm around her.

“I’m fine,” Eve said. She told him the whole story of how fast the tornado had come, about the stranger and the rescues they had done, including Edna’s trip to the hospital.

“Where is the stranger now?” her husband asked. “I’d like to say thanks.”

Eve looked around, but he was gone. She knew she would never see him again. He was the “angel unaware” that she had read about in the Bible that morning.