She heard voices.

That she heard voices was one thing, but that she was hearing it on a regular basis now was another.

“Three minutes.”

It spoke again. She listened. What was the significance of three minutes?

She turned to her left and right, and the wind brushed her face as she did so. Three minutes doesn’t ring a bell.

Vanessa busied her mind on other things and continued the walk to her apartment. She walked past a group of carolers in their red suits and cheery hats. Oh that time of year. She had to remember to get gifts for Christmas which was just a few weeks away. Vanessa didn’t feel like Christmas though. There was a heaviness in her heart she could not shake. Tomorrow was not going to be an ordinary day.

“Hello Vanessa! Nice afternoon!” it was her landlady, Tina, walking past her as she turned the corner to her apartment building.

“Oh Hi Tina. Yes, nice.” She replied back.

“Three minutes.”

“Huh? You said something?” she asked.

“I said hello. I’m going now. Have a nice evening Vanessa!” and Tina walked away.

Just then, Vanessa was knocked off her feet. The force of the impact surprised her, especially when she looked up and saw that only a child had hit her. She was about 7, her hair was auburn and she had large brown eyes and a turned up nose. The child was shaking and was obviously afraid, leaning against the wall, staring back at her. Vanessa stood up, picked up her things and fixed her hair.

“Hey you’re just a wee babe. How come you can hit me so forcefully?” she smiled. The child continued to stare. Vanessa noticed that she was a street child. Her skin was ashen from dirt, and her clothes were made up of rags of a dress that didn’t fit anymore. She was barefoot.

“Where’s your mommy? Is anyone with you? Where do you live?” Vanessa wanted to know.

The child just looked at her, and then raised her tiny hand and held it over Vanessa’s heart. It suddenly occurred to Vanessa that the child could not speak. She held out her hand to the child. The child reluctantly put her hand in hers. Vanessa smiled and led her to a small candy store across the street. “Do you want anything?” Vanessa asked. The child looked around and finally picked an orange heart shaped lollipop and smiled at her as they walked out again into the street. Vanessa was pleased.

“Three minutes”

She heard it again. Before Vanessa could say anything, the child squeezed her hand softly and held out three fingers in front of her face. Three fingers. Three.
“You heard that?” Vanessa asked.
The child didn’t say anything, just smiled and then hugged her. Vanessa hugged her back. And then as quickly as she came, like a child of the wind, the child ran towards the curb and was gone.

Vanessa had a difficult sleep that night. The morning came and like all mornings, she had coffee, readied herself and got on a taxi. She gave the address to the driver and then heaved a sigh. No voices today. No, not yet. No… hope not.

“Good morning. May I help you?”

“My… my name is Vanessa Evers. Ummm Dr Kramer?” she hesitated. She was still quite dizzy from dozing off in the taxi. The driver had to wake her up. “Kramer Clinic, Miss” he said.

“Miss? Would you wait for a while. The doctor will be with you shortly.”

Vanessa sat down on the white sofa, in front of a small table with magazines scattered on top of it. She was almost shaking. Could she really do this?

Silence. She thumbed through the magazines in front of her, blindly glancing at its glossy pages. Then something fell from one of the magazines she picked up and hit her leg. She bent over to pick it up…

“Miss? Miss Evers?”

Vanessa was still staring at a half eaten orange heart-shaped lollipop when the nurse called.

“Miss Evers, Dr. Kramer is ready. Why don’t you sign this form and I’ll go get you a glass of water and then we can go inside. I’ll be back in three minutes.”

Three minutes.

Suddenly it all made sense. The child, the voices. The lollipop. The child. Three minutes. One decision. One lifetime. One life. Her child’s life… her precious child’s life. Tears ran down her eyes as she realized she could not go through the abortion.

Three minutes.

It took her less than a minute to get out of there. And in two more, she had formed a strong resolve that she would give life to the child that she was carrying inside her.

She walked past busy carolers and for the first time in days, she noticed smiles on people’s faces as they went in and out of shops buying Christmas gifts.

Faintly, she listened. She could hear children laughing, bells chiming. Christmas music from a diner and from cars that passed by. No more voices.

But when they stopped speaking, she finally believed.
There were angels, and they walked among us.