Angelaboutme -

Margo set down her bag of cheese puffs and took Lena’s hand. Her palm was warm and slightly sticky from the snacks. “Because you almost died today. And when you almost die, the veil gets thin. You can see things you couldn’t before. And I need you to know that you matter. Not because of some divine plan or cosmic checklist. You just do . You matter because you’re here, and you keep showing up, even when showing up feels stupid and pointless.”

She woke up in a hospital bed, which was ironic enough to make her want to laugh. Her body was broken in three places: a fractured pelvis, two cracked ribs, a concussion that would give her migraines for months. But that wasn’t the strangest part. The strangest part was the woman sitting in the plastic chair beside her bed. angelaboutme

Margo still showed up, though not every day. Sometimes she appeared on the fire escape outside Lena’s new apartment, eating cheese puffs and watching the stars. Sometimes she appeared in dreams—quiet dreams, the kind where you sit on a park bench and watch the leaves fall and feel, for once, that everything might be okay. Margo set down her bag of cheese puffs