The Stop Sign on the Corner (SSR)

Caution: I'm not sure what goes on, I'm just writing what I have observed.

      On the corner of my street, there lives a stop sign. It roosts directly in the front lawn of a family that often crosses my mind. The stop sign is about 9 feet tall and reads "STOP". But the only thing special this particular stop sign is that it is a literal Red Herring.

      Forget, now, about the stop sign because that's not what this story is about. 

      This story is about the family that I mentioned earlier. This family is a bit unconventional. There is a mother and a father, and five female angels, aged from two to nine. Each angel had previously been an orphan.

      I hear my parents and neighbors talk about the family. Their blatant whispers say that the girls' adopted father is a drunk. This explains why he speaks in strings when he passes out candy on Halloween. The whispers cause me to wonder how a drunk man can take care of five angels. The whispers take pity on the angels. They wonder about what goes on inside the house. They think action should be taken to fix the situation, but do nothing nonetheless. The whispers focus on the fact that this man is a drunk, but they ignore the fact that he and his wife have agreed to adopt five orphans. Maybe he is a drunk, but maybe he is an honorable man, even so.

      Laughter resonates from the angels' lawn on sunlit days. Every time that I walk my dog past their house, they flock to us. Their faces light up at the sight of the dog. The girls scamper up to the dog, half tripping over their little legs. They laugh and giggle as the dog licks their faces. The littlest angel looks up at me with apple like cheeks burrowed in a wild mane of curls. She reminds me of myself as a child. Innocence is the only thing that she knows. She is unaware that the only father she knows is an alcoholic. She has no idea where she came from. She is blind to the fact that she is an angel. She only knows that she has no agenda but to play outside with her sisters. She only knows that she wants to pet the dog, so she does. 

      Some people might see these angels as unfortunate because of their circumstances. But these unfortunate angels giggle and frolic and shine. They are not broken considering their birth parents have past away and their new father is a drunk. They are the happiest creatures that I've ever come across. And I somewhat admire their persistence of happiness. I do not worry about the angels as many do. I can feel their mirthful heart beats as I watch them roam free while they play.

      The stop sign stands elegantly in their lawn. The stop sign tells you to stop. But the stop sign say something else too. It says "STOP, angels live here. Look at the angels and learn from them. Just stop for a minute and see beyond the surface of the situation." I taken the stop signs advice. The stop sign, I know, is much more than a Red Herring, or even a traffic regulation. The stop sign wants you to stop and consider that angels may be among you.