It was a cold winter Sunday morning, when the loud ring of the doorbell woke me up. I could hear it clearly from my bedroom upstairs. At first, I ignored it, believing my parents would answer the door. But as the ringing continued, I finally got up and headed downstairs to see who it was.
Standing in the doorway was a man I had never seen before. He was definitely not someone from our neighborhood. We stared at each other for a moment, as if he had forgotten the reason for his visit. From the very first minute, I sensed something strange about this man. At first glance, he appeared completely ordinary, about the age of my father.
It was his energy that felt different, and I couldn’t quite figure out why.
Eventually, the man broke the silence and asked if my father was still repairing black and white TV sets. I could hardly believe my ears! My dad had been a well-known repairman in town, but that was ages ago! Since he closed his business many years prior, no one had ever inquired about his services. I felt annoyed with this stranger – first for waking me up so early, and then for asking such outdated questions. What a weird guy, I thought.
But there was something even more peculiar about this situation. Right from the beginning, before he even asked for my dad, I had a feeling there was another reason for his visit. The alleged ‘TV problem’ was just an excuse to strike a conversation. As if reading my thoughts, he instantly changed the topic and announced that someone outside was calling for help.
Who would need help early on a Sunday morning, when the entire neighbourhood was still asleep? This man wasn’t making any sense! Furthermore, the stranger insisted that I follow him outside to hear it for myself. I didn’t know what to think, but definitely preferred not to step out while wearing only pajamas.
After much convincing, I eventually found myself standing in the snow. The man pointed towards the backyard, where the supposed call for help was coming from. Perfect silence surrounded us, but try as I might, I could not hear a thing. Greatly confused, I turned back to him, but… the stranger was gone! He had literally disappeared! I looked around, but the man was nowhere to be seen! “How could this be?” I could hear a pin drop in this piercing winter quiet, let alone someone walking away.
I looked around the property and towards the street, but nobody was there!
At this point, I was shivering to my bones from the cold. I felt angry with myself for falling for this joke. Just before entering the house, I felt a strong urge to check the backyard once more. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, as I approached my grandma’s house, I found her lying on the ground, completely motionless! She must have stepped out and slipped on the frozen path!
I rushed home in great panic to alert my parents. My father bolted outside to rescue his mother. My grandma’s cheek had already frozen to the ground, as she had fallen and severely injured her head. She was rushed to the hospital where she underwent emergency eye surgery.
Despite losing vision in one of her eyes, my grandmother’s life was saved that morning!
My parents wondered, how I knew that grandma was outside needing help. I mentioned the visitor at the door, who had notified me of someone requiring assistance. Yet the moment I stepped out, he disappeared. While my answer didn’t make much sense to them, my grandma believed that the mysterious stranger was an Angel who had arrived just in time to save her life.
by Hanna Isabelle
English