An Angel's Fern

Treva Clay, now of Auburn, Washington, was only about six years old when her parents decided to clear some land for her grandparents.  The job would take at least a week, so they decided to bring Treva and her toddler sister with them each day.  The girls could spend time with their grandparents while Mommy and Daddy worked.  

Riding home from work one afternoon, the family saw several colorful hot-air balloons in the sky.  “Let’s follow them!” Treva’s mother said.  Treva’s father agreed, and sped up.

But because they were on a hill, it was hard to keep the balloons in sight, especially when they floated behind trees or houses.  Up ahead, her father spotted a lookout area, and quickly pulled the car over. 

“Don’t wanna go here!” Treva’s little sister was cranky after their long afternoon.  Mommy picked her up, but she continued to whine.

“Come on, Treva, we’ll chase them!” Daddy was already out of the car.

Treva was enthralled with the balloons. “Daddy, wait for me!” she shouted as she tumbled out of the car, anxious to get away from her sister and closer to the balloons.  Before her mother could warn her to be careful, Treva was already running up the hill.

The trail was rocky, and had several twists and turns.  Treva almost fell in a few spots.  And where was Daddy?  He was no longer in view.  Had he reached the top already?  “Daddy, wait!”  Treva ran faster.  And suddenly…

.…there was no ground under her feet!  She had run right off the edge of the path!

Treva screamed.  As she tumbled, she reached frantically behind her, and caught hold of a small bush.  Below her was a steep rocky ravine, with a raging river even farther down..  “Daddy!” she screamed again. The bush seemed very small.  Could it hold her?

“Treva!”  It was her father, ashen with panic, running, reaching for her, seizing her long hair and the back of her pants and pulling her up to safety.  He held her very tightly, murmuring apologies for his carelessness, as her mother and baby sister came around the curve.  They clung to each other, all aware that they had escaped the most terrible tragedy imaginable.

“It wasn’t until we were all breathing normally again that we realized the plant that I had been holding onto was a thin fragile little fern, the only one of its kind anywhere on that path,” Treva says.  “A fern has little or no roots to hold it in the dirt.  Not only that, it was growing in loose gravel.  It should never have held my weight until my father came.”

Treva’s parents were shaken for a long time.  But their daughter had no negative reaction at all.  “I think I was so calm because I sensed a divine presence at the cliff,” she says today.  “I’m positive that my guardian angel intervened and saved my life.”

(C) 2004 Joan Wester Anderson  www.joanwanderson.com