The day was January 3rd, 1997. It should have been a regular old Tuesday, for Kate continued her same morning routine that she had done since her husband passed away 9 years ago. The alarm clock rang, the television buzzed, the toaster beeped, the faucet ran, and Kate carried herself toward the kitchen where she would mark off one more day on her calendar taped on the fridge. But today when she reached the fridge, a surprise awaited her. January 3rd was circled with a large red marker as it marked the day Kate could visit her sister in the hospital for the first time this year. The doctors said this year would bring promise and hope, for Maggie was making a miraculous recovery. But that was last year’s news.

Kate decided to walk to the hospital rather than to drive. This gave her time to think and take in her experiences there because for the last 2 years, she had never walked out with good news. She reached the hospital and took a deep breath before opening the door. That always seemed to be the worst part. The smell of chemicals slapped her face and traveled forcefully up into her nose. The lights glared onto the floor and reflected back into her eyes, blinding her from the horrors in front of her. She walked past the fish tank, noticing the pink one was gone and the bald boy counting them had grown some peach fuzz. Kate then found herself at the front desk where she was greeted with a, “How’s the family doing Kate?”. But like every other day, Kate didn’t respond. The nurses expected that answer too. Kate grabbed the black pen, for all the others were too bright for this kind of day. Even if that kind of day had been going on for nine years. She scribbled her name down right under the other Kate Perkinses and went on her way to room 205. On the walk there, Kate tried to imagine what her sister would look like, for she hadn’t seen her since 1996. But who was she kidding, that was only 3 days ago, for New Year’s Day was two days ago. But two days was still the longest she had gone without seeing her sister. Kate wanted to think of 1997 being a brand new year, and like 1996 didn’t even exist. Kate opened up the door reading “Maggie Perkins”, and walked right on in.
***

After a day at the hospital, Kate opened the same door she came into and ran as fast as she could toward her house. She reached her house and threw herself on the couch and sobbed until the sun dipped below the horizon. The news had been worse than expected, and Kate hated herself for expecting too much. That was a weakness she had to get rid of. Kate expected Maggie to be well, healthy, and ready to get back on her feet by the end of the year but instead, she was quite the opposite. Maggie’s Alzheimer's Disease had gotten worst to the point where she didn’t even remember who Kate was even remotely. Also, her lung cancer had spread everywhere, to the point of no return. The doctor said 2 months.

Questions raced through Kate’s mind. What would she do with her sister for her last 2 months of life when she can barely breathe on her own? So after a night of rest, Kate decided she would tell Maggie their greatest memories growing up so Maggie would have some sort of idea of her life before she goes to spend her life with God.
The day was January 5th, and Kate was extremely excited to see Maggie. When Kate reached the hospital, the nurses were surprised to see a different form of Kate, even after receiving such terrible news. Kate raced toward room 205 and sat herself right next to her sister. Maggie gave her a questioning look, wondering who she was. Kate reintroduced herself with the same technique she had used for years because according to the doctor, a repeating introduction helps trigger the mind’s memory. Kate noticed that Maggie still didn’t remember but Kate went along anyways. The first story Kate tells is back around 65 years ago when Maggie was 12 and Kate was 8.
***

“Listen up class! I want the 5th graders and 3rd graders over here and the 4th and 2nd graders right here. Hurry up! The faster we do this, the more time you have in the zoo!” squealed the Montgomery Zoo tour guide. Kate, being a 3rd grader, and Maggie, being a 5th grader, were put in the same group for the day. After some mild instructions, the group was on their way into the heart of the zoo. Kate was fascinated by the birds and giraffes, while Maggie was more interested in the snakes and tigers. Both girls were very fond of animals, but had never been allowed to own one for their house was too small and pets were just too expensive. Kate learned to settle with that but Maggie, on the other hand, never thought that rule was reasonable. “Pssst! Kate! Over here!” whispered Maggie as she signaled for Kate’s attention. Kate looked up and slid her way to her sister through the crowd while the tour guide was yapping about some endangered species. Maggie then whispered a plan into Kate’s ear which made Kate’s eyes open wide and her mouth drop. “Of course not!”, Kate yelled out loud by accident. There was a split second of silence before the guide went back to her lecture. “C’mon!”, whispered Maggie, “Follow me!”. Kate was dragged by her sister away from the group and toward one of the exhibits. “This is crazy!”, exclaimed Kate as she hesitated to follow Maggie. Maggie called her a baby and continued to climb over the fence into the snake exhibit. Kate watched from a safe distance as she winced at her sister’s every step. And with a quick grab Maggie had caught one of the snakes by the head. You would've thought she would scream or at least let it go as the snake’s body violently whipped itself around. But Maggie kept her grip, which was really no surprise to Kate, and hopped over the fence. Maggie was always one of those girls who preferred to get messy and dirty, rather than to play with dolls and makeup. Most of the county labeled her as “the reckless tomboy” who had nothing to do with “normal girl things”. “Yeehaw! Look Kate! We finally have a pet! Here put it in your bag.”, yelled Maggie. Kate had no choice. It was either that or Maggie would probably stick it down her shirt! The two girls found their way back to the group and stood quietly pretending to listen to the guide’s opinion on monkeys. All seemed good, until Kate felt a tug on her back and then a slap. She whirled around to find the snake slithering between the guide’s feet. “Snake!”, a little girl screamed, and all hell broke lose. Children were screaming, some were crying, parents didn’t know what to do so they just called the police, and others tried to catch it. Maggie and Kate looked at each other and ran. They ran and ran until they found themselves in the arms of security. And these guards knew the two were up to no good. Kate and Maggie were put in the “lost” room at the zoo until their parents came to pick them up and had to watch in shame as the security watched the tape and saw Maggie climb into the snake pin and put it in Kate’s bag. They were now officially banned from the zoo.
***


The next story was a flashback to their college days, 10 years later from the last story. It all started out on a hot, sticky August night in Montgomery, Alabama. Both girls attended Washington University and Maggie was a senior while Kate was a freshman. This was Kate's first semester at the university and like most freshmen, she was eager to soak up all the experiences colleges promise. It was about two months into the school year and Kate was dead asleep in her dorm, for it was 2 in the morning. Kate, drooling on her pillow, was suddenly awoken by a tapping on the window. In a daze, she staggered over to the window to find her sister, hidden in a bush, throwing rocks at her window. Her sister whispered, “Kate! Get down here! I have a surprise!”. Feeling skeptical, Kate rolled her eyes and began to climb out. Her room was on the second floor, but it was easy for Kate to slip down the fire escape. Once Kate reached the ground, her sister hugged her and reassured her it would be a night to remember. Following her sister’s running footsteps, Kate was unsure of why she was coming along. But, that was the usual for Kate, following everything her sister did, even if she had no idea what she were getting into. The two reached the senior parking lot, and Kate realized why she had been brought there. Sitting in the parking spot was the brand new Mustang convertible that her dad had bought during his mid-life crisis. The girls were forbidden to touch it. But there it was, sitting pretty with her sister smiling big. “C’mon sis! Get in!”, yelled Maggie. Kate didn’t know what force pushed her into the car, but it must had been fate so she continued walking into the car. Maggie stepped on the pedal and the engine roared. Before Kate could change her mind, the car was already on the freeway. Maggie had stolen the car from their parent’s garage, driven it up to the university, and planned to take Kate for a road trip out of state for the first time in their lives. The car ride included Maggie screaming that they were free, Kate yelling that she was going to throw up, and the bickering of where exactly they were headed. After about 2 hours of traveling in the darkness at 4 in the morning, a beeping noise came from the dashboard. “What was that?”, muttered Kate staring straight at Maggie until it hit her. “You didn’t fill up the gas! Are you an idiot? What are we going to do! Mom is going to kill us! Wait, what about Dad? He’s going to be furious! What if the school finds out! We’d be kicked out for sure!”, yapped Kate as she spoke a million miles per hour. “Calm down!”, exclaimed Maggie, for she always had the answers in the situations she got herself into, not always wanting to admit that though. Finally the car came to a halt, and both girls looked down in disappointment. They were in the middle of nowhere. The cell service was terrible but after a long time of reaching their phones to the sky, they got reception. The first person they called was their uncle Tommy, or “the cool one” as they called him. To their luck, Uncle Tommy drove and found them and supplied them with gas. How they got out of these situations? Niether Kate nor Maggie knew, but what they did know, was that they were home free.The two girls drove to their parents house as quickly as possible, in fear something wrong would happen again. They made it safely to the garage, parked the car, and ran as fast as they could back to their dorms. All seemed well until they found their dorm advisor waiting for their return. But Kate was used to this by now. Her sister dragged her into a mess and Kate always seemed to pay the price.
***
Kate sighed as to indicate her story was over. Maggie, laying on her pillow, remained on moving. Thinking Maggie had dozed off in the middle of her story, Kate got up and walked toward the door, until she was stopped by a small acute voice coming from the back of the room.

"That was a beautiful story dear. Can you tell me another?", Maggie managed to say.

Kate was confused. Had she not remembered that the story was about her? Maybe it was a good thing, for Kate knew Maggie could never remember anything for more than 24 hours. Kate decided to take another approach toward telling Maggie the stories of her past. She would follow along with Maggie’s confusion, and tell it in 3rd person instead of 1st person. Kate continued coming to the hospital everyday and telling Maggie stories about two sisters, one being crazy and reckless, while the other was more calm and collected. After about a month of storytelling, Maggie finally spoke up again.

“These stories are absolutely wonderful, but why on earth do you tell me stories of a reckless girl who always gets the innocent one in trouble? The outcome is so predictable, yet I always feel sorry for the little one. She never did anything wrong.” Maggie softly said.

Kate replied, “Oh but the little one had been doing wrong, even if its not so easy to see as the older sister.”

“I don’t understand?” Maggie said.

“Well on the surface of the story, it seems that the older sister does crazy stuff but then lets her sister take the blame, even if that sister had done nothing wrong. But on the contrary, the older sister is helping the younger sister.” said Kate.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. The older sister is not helping the younger sister, she’s hurting her!” said Maggie.

“Once again you are looking at the surface, but now look a little deeper. The older sister is bringing out the best in her younger sister. Teaching her to live life a little, and giving her a chance to be the hidden girl inside of her, that always wanted to get out but never had the chance to. Now, that little sister has the knowledge to be the best she can be, all thanks to her older sister.” Kate said.


And for a split moment, Kate saw Maggie’s eyes gleam as she gave a sly smile. Maybe, Kate thought, just maybe Maggie understood why she was put on earth and who she was. Kate understood that she had done what she needed to do and when she heard the monitor change tones, she knew it was Maggie’s time because both her and God were ready.

Two beeps, one beep, silence.
God had received another angel.