The Complete Zagzagel Diaries by Bryl R. Tyne Read Free Book Online Page B

good fight, but in the end, her mind couldn’t handle her only child’s rejection. No one noticed Charley missing, for Irene passed away with a smile on her face later that evening, never to realize Charley’s fate.
    Mortal life. So fleeting, so unfair, the more I think on it.
    I pity you. Despite my fascination or my envy with your God-given status, few of you, in comparison, ever seem to “catch a break,” as you say. So, why hadn’t I intervened in Charley’s life sooner, you ask?
    It wasn’t time.
    That’s my answer, clear and simple. Forcing further change on Charley back then would’ve done more harm than good. Charley wasn’t ready, until now.
    I rounded the corner into the alley behind Mel’s laundromat and handed Charley the brown paper bag before settling on the offered blanket-seat. “Pastrami on rye.”
    “You’re a good man,” Charley said, unfolding the stiff paper wrapping with delicate fingers.
    Man? Don’t flatter me. Leave it to Charley, though. Not only did she see me, but also she saw me as I longed to be seen—without title, without reverence…without my wings. Quite ironic, given the fact she also saw butterflies when no other human around her was capable of doing so.
    “They’re beautiful. You’re going to miss them, Zag. See that yellow one with the fiery orange streaks?”
    “Yes. It’s very nice,” I said, and I wasn’t lying or even bending the truth. I saw them also.
    “I lost mine.” Charley swallowed a huge bite of pastrami as she told me this, then dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a paper napkin. “But the other night, I dreamt of her. I know she’s around.”
    “Yes. She’s around—somewhere.” I couldn’t help but smile at the innocence in Charley’s wandering gaze. Little did she know, the butterfly she’d claimed as her own was waiting for her, elsewhere. “I know where your butterfly is staying these days, Charley.”
    She scrunched up her empty wrapper, placed it and the used napkin inside the paper sack. “You’re going to ask me to follow you, aren’t you?”
    My turn came to swallow, as I wondered if Charley had picked up the ability to read minds also.
    “No, not really. Not unless you’re interested in finding your butterfly.” Forgive me Papa, for I had lied. “I can show you where she is now. She’s found a most lovely garden.”
    Charley searched my face, but I could tell she was searching for something deeper—my motive, perhaps.
    “You’d like this place. They have benches—the stained wooden and wrought-iron ones you love so well.”
    Though I cringed internally at the mere thought of getting within ten paces of nature, I kept up the front, the smile, the plan. After all, Charley deserved happiness more than any human I’d ever known. Not as if among humans I had favorites—okay, yes, of all my charges, Charley was my favorite, and from what I witnessed in your society with each new day, I was certain she would forever remain my favorite.
    Her gaze snapped to the trash she’d balled up in her hand. She stood from her crate-seat, tossed the bag into the dumpster at her side. “Fine. But I’m cleaning this place up first. God knows who could stop by. I’d never forgive myself if they saw such a rat’s nest.” She continued muttering about the state of her living area as she moved about her small nook in the alley, straightening discarded crates, folding blankets, and stacking them in a neat pile beneath one of the dryer vents.
    “Got a little something I think you’d like.” I interrupted her busyness to present her with a new shirt, a flowery skirt, and a pair of flats without holes in the soles I’d picked up while procuring her sandwich.
    Clear, from the look she threw, her suspicion had returned. After a minute of study, she snatched the white box from my hands and cracked open the lid. Her eyes widened, but she said nothing until I handed off the shoes.
    “What I got on isn’t good enough for you?” Her