She always had faith, which is more than I can say for myself.
“I’m already a star,” Ally says before she severs the connection.
She’ll battle Murray’s organization until her dying day. She’ll do it for Stryker.
And for Jason, too.
And then she’ll have an even bigger job to do.
She will be like me.
There’s this famous painting dating back to something like the sixteenth century, a Flemish nativity scene. It shows an angel with facial features typical of a human with Down syndrome. Yes, way. Legend has it that the Spirit World was trying to send a message to humanity through the painter. The painter’s guide had whispered his most personal secret to him, and he painted it for the human world to see. Not many took note of it, ignoring it like most “normal” people ignore those with Down syndrome. But the truth has always been there for anyone who is interested in really seeing.
So, have you guessed?
Yeah. I was once like her, like Ally.
I had Down syndrome when I walked among humans.
We all did, all of us angels. Call us Dear Ones.
And, like her, I was humiliated and frustrated, always wanting to be “normal.” Ha. “Normal” is nothing compared to what we are destined to become.
Like Jason said, when we die, it’s like we suddenly know everything, we become everything we ever wanted to be and more than we ever dreamed possible.
We have a much higher purpose than anyone ever guesses.
Ally got lucky way before she won the lottery.
I love my afterlife.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was written at a very difficult time in my life, and it had a couple of false starts before Robert S. Wilson took it on. I was ready to give up on the manuscript and I sent it to Bob just to see what he thought of it, whether I should just call it my first trunk novel and be done with it, or if I should keep trying to place it. Bob read it in one night and said it definitely deserved to be published and that it belonged with one of the big presses. I told him that I’d run out of patience and was onto other things, and asked if he would consider publishing it as a Nightscape Press title. He said he’d be honored, and…here it is, at long last. Thank you, Bob and Jen, for making this book a reality.
Thank you to family, friends, and fellow scribes for your undying support and friendship: the Michaels family; my daughters, Siân and Emma; my blurbists, the talented Scott G. Browne (aka S. G. Browne), Richard Thomas, Bill Breedlove, and Dave Thomas; Jeremy C. Shipp; David Dunwoody; Jonathan Lambert; Christopher S. Nelson; Max Booth III; Sean and Missy Squires; Tabatha Davis.
A special thank you to my amazing husband, Peter Giglio. You are the love of my life, my best friend, and my mentor. You championed this book when I was sure it was a lost cause, like you do all my work. My favorite story is ours.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Giglio, author of Revival House (2012) and Idols & Cons (2011, both Omnium Gatherum, written under the name S. S. Michaels), and the forthcoming Short Bus Hero (Nightscape Press, December 2014), has appeared in or edited several anthologies (Bleed [with Peter Giglio, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing], Attic Toys [Evil Jester Press], Detritus [Omnium Gatherum], and Truth or Dare? [with Peter Giglio, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing]), and has worked as the Acquisitions Editor for Evil Jester Press. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association, and has worked for CBS, Dick Clark Productions, and Scott Free Productions (Ridley Scott). She lives on the Georgia coast with her husband, author Peter Giglio.
Short Bus Hero Page 23