“It’s not the same thing. I want to wrap my arms around you, to feel the beat of your heart, to kiss you on the cheek, to hold your hand, to hear you laugh. I want to see you. I need to see you, darling girl.”

“Look up, Mummie!”

Myra raised her eyes to look at the angel sitting on top of the tree. It was made of gossamer, with gold wings and a halo. She blinked when she saw the wings on the angel flutter. Then she blinked again when the angel left its perch and sailed around the room before it made its way back to perch on top of the tree. “Oh, dear God!” Myra whispered.

“I hope you don’t want an encore, Mummie. That took all my energy. Go to sleep, Mummie. I’ll see you at the wedding in just a few hours. I’m going to be your invisible flower girl.”

Myra woke with a start. She looked around, a dazed look on her face when she remembered her dream. Was it a dream? She craned her neck to look up at the angel on top of the tree. It wasn’t nestled in the top branch, the way it had been earlier. In fact it looked like someone had just stuck it there without securing it to the branch. One of the wings looked bent. Myra smiled; then she laughed as she struggled to her feet to make her way to bed to try and get a little sleep. She was gathering up her coat and boots when the angel toppled from the tree. Myra ran to the tree and caught the gossamer decoration before it hit the floor. She clutched it to her chest and somehow managed to throw on her coat without letting loose of it.

When Myra woke three hours later, the angel was back on top of the tree.

Later, after the wedding, when she told Charles about her dream, she said, “It was the most wonderful dream I have ever had in my life.”

Annie was smiling from ear to ear. “It’s amazing that Barbara’s dress fits you, and Alexis did not need to do a thing to it. You look beautiful, Myra.”

Sensing movement to her right, Myra turned to see a line of snowbirds perched outside the window. “Listen, Annie! I think they’re saying I’m pretty. Over and over they keep chirping. Isn’t this just too wonderful for words?”

“Sounds to me like they’re saying Pritzie, Pritzie, Pritzie. Or maybe they’re saying Prizzi, Prizzi, Prizzi. Isn’t there some kind of cockamamie law firm in the District named Prizzi, Prizzi, Prizzi, and Prizzi?”