I had always been quite invisible to the world, my whole life I have never understood why people had trouble seeing me for who I was. I felt like I was a human being, but somthing was still off. I don't remember my parents, or where I came from and I've been on the streets since the age of eight, I think. I decided to name myself Rose, after the flower bushes near central park that I had ended up in as my earliest memory. I walk the streets of downtown Manhattan every day watching the people go by yet not a soul sees me. I fidget with my bracelets on my right arm as I wait to cross the street. Dang these stop lights take so long.
I survey the gaggle of people around me and I find my eyes coming to rest upon a little girl. She was maybe about five or six who sat oblivious to the world while playing with her barbie doll dressed like a superhero. While her Mom talked into a cell phone not paying much attention. There was something beautiful about the girl, she had her hair cut short in a swing bob with a pink ribbon tied around like a headband. I surveyed her mom guessing that she was a lawyer, judging by the business attire and briefcase.
The girl twirls her barbie doll in her hands and it slips out into the street as she failed to catch It, her mom freaks out as the girl lunges for her toy. I reacted just as fast as I saw oncoming semi-truck and I pushed the girl out of the street. I see her mom jerk up on her daughter's arm scolding her then I hear the truck get louder...BAM...lights out.... I Rose was not even given a chance at anything worthwhile in life except looking out for people. They say superheroes don't wear capes, it was entirely true. 
Everything was dark from there, I saw no light not even the little girl and her mom. I always wondered how I would die, there was a first time for everything. A first kiss, first love, first dollie, first house I do not get to experience these first time things, all I wanted was normal people things like everyone elese but the universe had other plans for me aparently.  Then I heard a voice.
" Mommy, It was the pink haired lady, she saved me."

"Willow there was nobody there, I saved you from the street sweetheart, put your imaginations to rest, go to sleep now okay. I love you."
At this point I knew it was the girl, her high pitched voice echoed everywhere I was in some black mass of the universe. I didn't understand, how she even saw me. Nobody ever sees me except for an old homeless man who was on his deathbed and I was the pink-haired lady. 
I see a small light and I hear a laugh, I begin to feel the wind on my face as the world materializes around me once more. "WHAT EVEN IS GOING ON?!" I scream at the world, confused as I find myself back in the park and perfectly fine. Underneath some beautiful oak trees. 
"Hello."
I look down to see the girl from earlier. She was giving me a big, innocent, toothy grin. She holds her tiny hand out to me, "I'm Willow, do you wanna play?"

Shocked that she is the only other person to ever see me, "You can see me?" I kneel down and grab her soft hand. I was surpised she could hear me too, almost nobody could hear or see me. 
"Of course I can, your my imaginary friend, according to my mom. I'm Willow, what's your name?" She says as she pulls on her cute, yellow dress.
I've never had anyone call me an imaginary friend before, this was very new, I was becoming to wonder if my life was going to be this? Was I actually an imaginary friend? What am I really?

I sit down in the grass suddenly aware of everything around me. The universe gave me some job and connected me to this kid for some reason. 
"I'm Rose, nice to meet you." I say softly as I smile back maybe I was supposed to be this kid's imaginary friend.
"I like your pink hair, can I touch it?"
She reached out making a grabbing guesture at my soft, long locks.
"Sure Willow." I kneel down as she plays with my hair a little.
I look at her as she smiles, "Rose?" Willow says hesitantly.
"Yes?" I answer back.
"Tag your it!" She jabbs me in the side with tiny knife hands then takes off running laughing with her seqeal.
I get up and chase after her, "I'm a get you Willow!"
She laughs and runs to her mom's side and grabs her pant leg as I tag her. "You're it!" I run off and hide behind some bushes. "Mommy you're it!" She runs off towards some trees as her mom chases her.
After a moment of playing tag, Willow comes over to me, "Rose, it's time to come home, will you come with me?"
"Willow, I think my place is here in the park."
She bounced on her tip toes, "Mommy can't see you, you are imaginary."  say says so matter of factly it appaled me. 
I stand up as her mom calls her over, I hadn't realized untill now that Willow had matching bracelets for her headband.
"How about I walk you over to your mommy, I'll just come visit you, okay Willow?"
"But...Please? I don't wanna go to the doctor's today and...and..." 

"Willow It's time to go!" her mom calls out for her. 
Willow's nose starts bleeding as her mom comes over and grabs her hand to take her home, "Willow!" I stand up to walk with her but then I remembered she said she was going to the doctor's.

 "Mommy will we come back to the park tomorrow? I wanna see Rose again."
Her mom picks Willow up and carries her to the car as she holds a Kleenex to her nose. My steps falter a little as I run after them, for some reason I couldn't stay away from Willow anymore there was something special about her. There was somthing I was supposedto help this kid with, I could not quite figure it out.  
Her mom straps Willow into the carseat, then hops in the driver's seat.  Just as they drive away, I sit on the back end and hold into the spoiler, lawyers and their sports cars. I couldn't leave anymore and if I fell and died again, I'd  probably end up back in the park like earlier because apparently I'm imaginary. I kick my feet up and watch my pants flow in the wind as the world went by.
Next moment I know, we arrive at one of the hospitals, I look up at the looming building to see it was a St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

I knew this was not good. The car drives up into a parking garage and I hop off the spoiler. Willow begins crying as her mom pulls her out of the car seat and carries her into the building, "It's okay Willow, you want to get better right? The Doctors will help you get better." 

I watch as her mom sets her down and looks at Willow eye level with her, "We gotta put on our brave faces honey."  Willow makes a cute scrunchy face, probably must have been her brave face.  

Her mom stands up and grabs Willow's tiny hand leading her to the far side of the parking garage. They walk into the elevator to take them to some level with some lobby where they check in.  I follow closely behind, "It's going to be okay Willow!" I call out to her walking around the doctors,nurses and other children. 
Willow looks behind her shoulder, "I got my brave face on!" she replies to me. 

She is walked to a private room where I decide to wait out in the hallway where a few minutes later I see the doctor walk in. I knew where Willow was going to be for the time being I was going to do some exploring, after all I was free to go anywhere I pleased. I walked to the desks and runnaged through some papers, to find exactly what this hospital ward was for. Then I looked up at the screen of the nurse's computer, and it read in top right corner, "Cancer Ward." 

Willow was here for cancer treatment, now it all made sense for me, the bloody nose in the park, why she was scared of coming to the doctor's. Willow has cancer. I felt the blood drain from my face and I bolted to the room where I last saw Willow. She can't possibly have cancer! Please God, no!

I pleaded to The Universe for Willow to not have cancer. Next thing I know, her mom is walking out of the room crying followed suit by the doctor. I follow the two down the hallway to understand why she was crying so badly. It was bad enough to have a child with cancer, but what made it worse. She began talking in angry and confused hushed tones to the doctor. 

"She can't be terminal Steinhauer! There has to be somthing we can do to reverse the bone marrow!" Willow's mother pleaded as she grabbed the doctor's lab coat, he gently removed her hands, "We have exhausted the best resources, and finding bone marrow that matches is almost impossible." 

Even I bagan crying, bone marrow cancer was almost impossible to get rid of, even I knew that. I put my hands in my pockets and lean against the wall. That is when I find something papery in my pocket, I pull it out to reveal a plain white card with gold letters printed on it with the words: Rose, Guardian Angel. It had all made sense now, why people like Willow could only see me. I knew my purpose in life, and that was to being peace and joy to those in their final days in life. No matter how many days little Willow had left, I would make it my mission to make those the best days of her life.