Samuel watched from a distance, his heart bursting, his eyes shining like a thousand stars. Heaven’s view was good. Very good. The landscape below was brighter than it had been in decades. Spires of light burst through the velvet sky, pulsing with the prayers of everyday saints. Entire neighborhoods once clouded in darkness were glimmering with hope. And Chelsea? She was glowing from the inside out.
“Congratulations on a job well done. Your work as Manny was impressive,” Gabriel said, settling in for the best seat in heaven. “I know it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it, don’t you think?”
“That’d be an understatement. I mean, look at them! Does it get any better?”
“Believe it or not, I think it does,” Gabriel said with a smile. “You should have seen this story from heaven’s view.”
“I can only imagine! Still, I wouldn’t trade it for my time on earth.”
“Really? I had something for you, but if that’s how you feel . . . I don’t know.”
“What is it?” Samuel’s curiosity was piqued. “A sword? A better disguise?”
“No, no. It’s more like a movie.”
“Return of the Jedi? ’Cause I never got to see that one.”
“Even better than that. This one is especially for you. Courtesy of the best Storyteller I know.”
Samuel’s eyes widened.
“Sit back and enjoy the show. You’ve earned it,” Gabriel said, giving Samuel a front-row seat to an expansive night sky. A moving image stretched across heaven’s big screen. To Manny’s surprise, he knew every single one of the stars by name. Unfurling before his eyes was Chelsea’s story from the moment he ran into her front door. Only this time, from heaven’s view.
Samuel laughed and cried through every twist and turn, both seen and unseen to the human eye. As Chelsea’s guardian angel, Samuel knew he’d been cast in the role of a lifetime, and he couldn’t wait to watch over her as she lived out the sequel.