Lost Soul Read Online Free Page A

up for the task.
    As much as he loved watching Jessica, he was also still distracted by his fascination with the human world.   Everywhere they went was a constant battle for him between guarding Jessica and satisfying his own curiosity.   He marveled at the magnificent buildings and the complicated machines humans had created.   Their computers were like little magic boxes — a few keystrokes were all it took for fun games and exciting pictures to appear on the screen.   The Master’s creations were pretty amazing, too.   When her mother let her play in the garden, Jessica would waddle towards the flowers, attracted by their bright colors and intoxicating scents.   She would stick her nose in between the petals and sniff till she sneezed, the yellow pollen clinging to her rosy cheeks.   Michael would marvel at their intricate designs and try to imagine how Elohim had come up with so many unique creations.   Even the tiny bugs Jessica liked to play with were interesting.
    Whenever she played outside, Jessica would chase the first insect she saw, running wildly after the ones that could fly, flapping her arms as she squealed, trying to catch it in her stubby little hands.   It was adorable to watch, but she would invariably trip on a rock or a twig and tumble face first into the grass.   The crawling bugs were easier to catch.   Jessica would waddle along behind them, hands outstretched, eventually stumbling onto her hands and knees.   Then she would continue her pursuit at a crawl, stopping occasionally to try to grab the bug.   When she succeeded, she would invariably shove it straight into her mouth.   Michael hadn’t learned enough about the insect world to know which ones were dangerous and which ones weren’t, so he tried everything in his power to prevent her from catching them in the first place.   He hated to ruin her fun, though.   Her squeals of delight when she caught one were a candy sweet melody.   Meanwhile, Theus would look on in superiority, taking it all in stride, offering no guidance to the struggling guardian.   Michael hoped that Theus would speak up if Michael was allowing Jessica to get in any real danger, but sometimes he wondered if the stodgy old angel would prefer to watch him fail.
    Theus cared about his charge, Sarah, but it was obvious to Michael that he didn’t feel the same about her as Michael felt about Jessica.   To Michael, Jessica was the sun, moon, and stars and everything else that mattered in the whole wide world.   He loved to watch her play, but he would happily spend the rest of her life just watching her sleep, her rosebud lips puckered up and her long lashes fluttering as she dreamed.   Michael knew angels didn’t experience emotions the same way humans did, but he couldn’t stop from believing that no one had ever loved a human as much as he loved Jessica.
    Once Jessica was old enough to appreciate the company of other children, Sarah decided to take her to the neighborhood park and let her play on the playground.   She figured there would probably be other mothers there for Sarah to chat with and other kids for Jessica to play with, if she wasn’t too caught up in her own explorations.   The first sunny day of spring 1980, Sarah packed a gigantic bag full of all the necessities a toddler could need for an hour away from home and loaded Jessica into the car for the two block trip to the local park.   When they arrived, the park was bustling with other families who had the same idea and Sarah felt a little overwhelmed by the crowd, but Jessica’s eyes widened at the sight of the playground and she started babbling excitedly, her little hands flailing as she pointed out the sights, so Sarah decided it would be worth the hassle if it made her daughter that happy.
    Sarah lifted Jessica out of her car seat and set her down on the ground, straightening her twisted pants and pulling her pink and red striped tee shirt down over her belly.   Jessica