Starting a new story about Ella and Azrael's friendship. Hope it turns out okay.
The silence is broken only by the raspy panting of her breathing and the slow agonized squeal of one of the tires that was still barely turning. The sides of the old station wagon press close around her as she dangles upside down, held in place by her lap belt but unable to see to the front of the vehicle where her parents had been laughing just a moment ago.
"Mami? PapĆ”?" Ella cries breathlessly, struggling to turn and see them. There is no answer, and she desperately tries not to think about why that might be. She can feel her rapid heartbeats pounding in her fingertips, and then a rushing in her ears as darkness wraps around her once more. When she wakes, the awful squealing has stopped and there's a girl with a sad expression below her, sitting on what used to be the ceiling of the car. She's confused for a moment, because she definitely hadn't been in the car with them before. She has short, dark hair, enormous glasses that magnify her expressive eyes, and is wearing a funky assortment of mismatched clothes that the eight-year-old Ella can't help but admire.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?" She asks groggily. Her head feels a bit achy and fuzzy, like that time Jay dared her to hold a handstand for half an hour and she threw up on his shoes once she stood up.
"Ummm, hi?" The sad-looking girl seems surprised to be noticed, looking around as though Ella might be talking to someone else. Ella thinks to herself that even her voice sounds a little sad, and wishes she could give her a hug. "I'm, uh, Az- you know what? Call me Rae-Rae. That's what my favorite brother used to call me."
"Rae-Rae's a funny name." Ella rubs her eyes tiredly.
"Oh, yeah? What's yours then?" she challenges.Ā
"I'm Ella. Ella Lopez." The girl twists to look toward the front of the car.
"Oh, hey Ella, dont turn around just now, okay? Just, um, talk with me for a little bit, huh?" She gives Ella a big smile and starts to reach for her hand but quickly pulls back.
"My head feels funny. I want my Mami." Tears start to leak from the corners of her eyes and tickle uncomfortably as they trace up her forehead and into her hairline.
"I know kiddo, but... She's not here. Maybe we can try to get you out of this thing, huh? I don't think humans are supposed to be upside down for this long. Can you reach the ceiling with your hands?"Ā
Ella's arms are already extended that direction, and with a little stretching, she finds that she can. Rae-Rae instructs her to brace with one hand, unbuckle the belt with the other and brace until her feet meet the ground.
"Almost like a cartwheel!" Ella declares proudly once she is crouching next to the older girl. Ella has been trying very hard to succeed in a cartwheel for months now. Ricardo has been relentless in teasing her for her inability to perfect it. She starts to launch forward to throw her arms around the older girl at her almost-cartwheel-success, but the other girl flinches away.
"Yeah, you nailed it, girl!" Rae-Rae applauds awkwardly. "Let's, uh, head toward the back there and crawl out through the window, okay kiddo?"
"My name's Ella." Ella reminds her, noticing that Rae-Rae has been very careful to keep between her line of sight to the driver's and passenger's seats, and diligently remembers not to think about why that might be. She turns quietly, waddles crouched across the ceiling of the car and squeezes out the shattered back window and into the ravaged grassy ravine where the car rests. Rae-Rae follows after her, and leads her a little distance away before settling down cross legged in the grass. Ella sits nearby with her knees pressed against her chest, tiny arms wrapped tightly around them.
"What do we do now?" Ella asks quietly, sounding lost. Her fingers worry the shiny cross around her neck that had been a gift from her parents for her eighth birthday, just a few weeks ago. Rae-Rae's eyes are drawn to the movement.
"Well, I guess now we wait for someone to come and help."
"My parents." Ella sniffles quietly, her eyes burning. "They didn't make it. Did they?"
"Ella..." The older girl hesitates. "I'm really sorry, but they didn't. They crossed over safely, and they'll be waiting for you in Heaven, but you can't be with them right now. They love you so much, but they were so happy that you were safe."
The tears are back now, and Ella sobs into her knees as she rocks herself. Azrael sits in silence and watches her, compassion lighting her dark eyes. Once the initial storm of tears passes and Ella's breathing has almost returned to normal, she peeks up from her huddled position to see Azrael leaning back, staring at the brilliant stars above. Ella copies her, gazing into that infinite velvety blackness sparkling with flickering pinpoints of light.
"My favorite big brother used to tell me stories about the stars, you know." Rae-Rae says conversationally, her voice still tinged with that ever-present sadness. "How they were created. How they burn, and expand, and collapse. We used to just talk about everything. And nothing. And it was amazing."Ā
Ella wipes her nose with her jacket sleeve. "You don't talk anymore?" Her voice is quavery, but she seizes the distraction from her overwhelming grief with both hands.
"Well...no." Rae-Rae shifts uncomfortably. "We kind of, can't talk anymore."
"Why not? What happened? Don't you miss talking to him?" Ella scoots closer to the strange girl, wanting to offer comfort, but unsure how.
"Jeez Louise, of course I do! But, I can't talk to him. Because... He had to leave home, and I can't go visit him." Her gaze is fixed on a blue wildflower in front of her left foot.
"Why can't you visit him? Or why can't he come visit you?"
Ā "He and my Dad don't get along anymore, so we just can't-"
"That's not fair!" Ella interrupts, pushing to her feet at the injustice. "You shouldn't have to lose your brother just because of a fight with your dad!" She starts again to offer a hug to the girl, who she is already starting to think of as a friend, but Rae-Rae flinches back again, more violently this time.
"You're... You're right, Ella, but... It's probably too late now anyway." The last part of that was quiet, probably meant to be aimed at herself.
"What do you mean too late? What happened?"
"Uh... I'm a ghost." The last words fall from Rae-Rae's mouth in a burst of speed. Ella's reddened eyes widen until they seem to fill her entire face.
"You're a ghost? How come I can see you, why can you talk to me?"
"I'm not sure. You must be special, Ella." A small smile flickers across the young girl's tear stained face. Shouting voices drift to them through the still night air, and red and blue lights start to reflect over the lip of the ravine. "I think your cavalry has arrived, Ella, so I've got to go. I'm glad I got to meet you. Smell ya later, Lopez."
"Rae-Rae?" The girl whispers, "Thank you for helping me." But when she turns, the ghost is gone.
The first few months after the accident were full of tears, nightmares, and arguments. The rescuers had launched a search for the girl Ella described to them, but she wasn't found. Abuelita moved into the house with Ella and her brothers and was slowly imposing a new normal over the household. There was a lot less laughing, and a lot more praying now.
Ella is playing in her room, setting up an obstacle course for the spider that lives in the top pane of her window. She hasn't figured out yet how she's going to get the spider to do the obstacle course, but she saw a movie once that said, "If you build it, they will come," so she wants to test that theory. She hears a soft whooshing noise, and looks up from the tiny balance beam
"Whatcha doing, Lopez?" A familiar voice asks quietly, and there is Rae-Rae sitting across the course from her.
"Rae-Rae!" Ella exclaims excitedly, "I was starting to think I wouldn't see you again! I told the rescue people about you, but they couldn't find you!" She launches toward her friend for a hug.
The girl is suddenly across the room, but gives her a warm smile. "Ghost, remember? You can't touch me. Nobody can see me, and I officially don't exist."
Ella looks offended. "You exist! You're my friend!" Her chin juts stubbornly. "I didn't care what those doctors said."
"Doctors? Why, where you hurt in the crash?" Rae-Rae looks anxious
"I wasn't hurt," her bright eyes darken a little. "But there were four of them. For therapy."
"Uh-huh. They kept sending new ones."
"I kept biting them." The older girl's eyes widen behind her thick glasses at Ella's matter of fact confession. "They kept telling me you weren't real."
"Wow, Ella, that's..." The ghost appears lost for words. "That really stinks. Since I'm kind of not real, I guess they're not completely wrong, ya know?"
"You are TOO real, or else how could you be here talking to me? You wouldn't have a brother if you weren't real."
"I guess you've got me there," Rae-Rae chuckles. "If Lu is real, then I must be, too."
"I was thinking about that," Ella leans forward and whispers conspiratorially. "If you want, I can write a letter to your brother for you! Just tell me what you want me to write and I'll mail it for you!" The little girl looks very proud of her solution to her friend's problem.
"Oh hey, Ella, that's super sweet, but," the ghost's gaze fixes on the tiny spider-size monkey bars in the course. "I don't know Lu's address. I'm pretty sure he doesn't get mail where he is, anyway. What are you building here?"
Ella's a little disappointed that her letter idea can't help her friend, but gladly launches into a detailed description of Frank the spider and his obstacle course. Rae-Rae asks good questions and pays close attention to the girl's ideas, even offering up some of her own. When Abuelita calls up the stairs that dinner is ready, Ella turns to answer her. When she turns back, a breeze fans her face and her friend has disappeared again.
"Bye, Rae-Rae. Thanks for coming to see me!" Ella whispers, then heads downstairs, her ponytail bobbing happily behind her.
