The boy stared at the angel shielding him from the snow. Protecting him from the fear of the wolves prowling around them, from the blinding snowy winds and the cold recesses of the forest. Light shimmered from her halo as if mesmerizing eyes. He reached up. She knelt to let him touch it. "Do you like the light?"

"It's pretty." Cheeks flushing, he stared at the snow. Her smile was too beautiful.

"I made these for you." Little wooden wings and halo attached to a stick.

The boy smiled with joy, "They feel like the toys I have at home."

"I hoped they would." She helped him tie the wings to his back. A perfect fit, neither heavy nor flimsy. He put his hand behind his back to don the halo over his head and ran circles around her. She spun to watch him, laughter dancing with the gentle white flakes.

 "I'm flying! I’m flying like you!"

"I'm glad they work so well.” A wolf was close. He brushed his hand against its damp fur. Coldness unable to weigh it down as it eyed something past him. He saw only his tiny imprints in the snow.

"Say, would you like something warm to eat?"

"Can I?” The boy’s eyes sparkled, “I don't...remember what I had this morning." He lowered his head and pondered.

The angel smiled. "What's your favorite food?"

"Oh!” The boy smiled widely, ‘It's... something my mom makes for me. It's got chocolate."

The angel knelt and placed a calm touch upon his head. "You can have all the chocolate you'd like."

"And marshmallows?!"

She nodded. "As far as you can see."

"I need to tell my mom and dad! Wanna come with me?" Her smile saddened, like dawn linking the fresh dew into a luminous field.

The boy raised a curious eyebrow as he saw water drip from her eye.

"Where are you?!"

The boy suddenly turned, and his smile returned happily. "Look that's mom! I bet dads with her!" He ran towards her voice, the wind pulsed fiercely now. He can make out her appearance and his father’s too, but they were not alone, the wolves stood taller around them, each honed onto the human cries.

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"Go away!” he shouted, “They're my mom and dad! Not yours!" He packed a snowball and flung it, but his arms were small. The orb flew short. Ignored. The beasts stared past him as if sentinels of a lonely place.

"I found tracks! This way!"

The boy smiled and turned towards the angel who’d arrived just then, her wings propped up as a canopy around him. "Mom and dad brought friends. They'll get to meet you." Her eyes wavered as she knelt. A cry pierced through the trees, carrying a single word. He watched as men with thick clothing and rifles walked into the clearing. The wolves fled.

"Mom! Dad!" Racing through snow, tripping on roots and rocks, but always rising. Straight at them as they ran towards him. Arms reach, he jumped. And fell into a cold pile. They kept going, until collapsing around something in the snow.

The boy turned, confused. "Mom? Dad?"

They hugged something between them. He slowly walked over and peered at them clutching a small boy. Blue faced, with thin trails of ice stemming from his eyes. A wooden knight was lodged in his hands. The one his father carved for him. A bruised dent with blood spattered marred his forehead. His foot tangled in metal jaws. A jutting rock coated red.

The boy gasped. "I'm right here! Mommy! Daddy! Look! I’m alright! I have wings! Watch me fly!" He ran around them, but they kept staring at the other boy. Tears raining down upon him. Wailing in no speech. He fell to his knees and shakily gripped their sleeves. "Please! Please! I'm here! You found me... don’t ignore me please! I love you!"

Kindness caressed his cheek. So warm, like when his parents used to cuddle up with him in their family blanket. Watching movies and eating celery with peanut butter. Setting him to rest in bed with his favorite stuffed dinosaur.

"My child they will always love and cherish you." It was the angel’s voice. She had knelt behind him smiling.

The boy looked at her and then to the other child still cradled in his parent’s arms. He finally understood. "Do I have to go with you now?" His head dropped, yet no tears fell.

 The angel did not answer but rather scooped him up and cradled him into her chest lovingly. In that instant he felt weightless, as if floating like a snowflake that refused to give up its place in the sky. It felt pure, warm, and safe.

“…Ok.” He smiled sadly and pulled away from her to shrug off his wooden wings and halo. He gave them a small embrace before dropping them next to his parents. "They need them more than I do. I have you to help me fly now."

"That's right. And it's time I get you home." Her wings spread larger, flapping that never disturbed a single piece of snow. The world began lifting away as he hugged the angel silently muttering, “I love you both” through the heavy winds of the snow. The boy’s father sprang up staring in confusion then to his side picking up little wooden wings with a matching halo. His eyes streamed again as he and his wife looked up towards the sky holding the wings together.

Both parents shrinking from sight, the boy laughed as the angel smiled. Brilliance, white and crystalline were everywhere; enveloping the boy and the angel as they embraced one another as they vanished from the world forever into the light.