Gabriel looked at the envelopes in his hands. Each envelope carried the name of an angel in gold ink. Marmaroth, Amadeus Dermot, William Moore and Arolak. Each envelope contained information on their new wards. All four wards were humans with terminal illnesses. Four humans who were little more than children. Gabriel shook his head, not for the first time wondering why the young and innocent suffered while tyrants seemed to live forever. Transforming into his human form, his wings vanishing into his shoulder blades and his robes replaced by a grubby looking suit, Gabriel hid the envelopes in his inside pocket and set off to find the angels. America had gotten to be such a busy place. He could remember watching the first settlers make their homes here. There were a few towns where life remained simple and quiet, but like much of the world, most of the country was heavily populated and life was anything but simple.
Marmaroth was the first angel he found. He handed the envelope with her name over to her, saying very little other than, “You know what to do from here.” He had always been business like in his approach. The whole ‘I bring glad tidings’ shtick had got boring quite a while ago and was far too time consuming. Zipping across the grand ol’ state of Texas, Gabriel tracked down William and Amadeus, handing each angel their respective envelopes.
When he found Arolak, the angel was cradled in a tree, watching the clouds float across the sky. Gabriel cleared his throat to get Arolak’s attention. Arolak looked over out of the corner of his eye, snapping to attention when he realised who was standing there. Arolak jumped down from the tree, landing in a crouch,“Work?” He asked.
Gabriel handed over the envelope, which Arolak all but tore from his hands. When Arolak looked up, Gabriel had vanished. Shrugging, Arolak skimmed over the information of his new ward. Miles Bruner. Huh, he was getting a guy this time. That was new.Osteosarcoma. That wasn’t so new. So many of the wards he’d had had been close to death.
Here’s hoping you stay alive a little longer kid.
That had been a week ago. Since then, Arolak had been following Miles at a distance, shadowing his every move and learning as much as he could about Miles before stepping up and becoming his guardian angel. Boy, did he love his job. Arolak was sat on top of the building that stood proudly opposite the store Miles worked in. So far, this was what he had learned; Miles lived with his mother, his father was absent for whatever reason, and Miles was angry, he had every damn right to be angry though, he was dying for chrissake, and he worked in a bike shop.
And now, here Arolak sat, mulling over the best way to introduce himself. The world was less open to religion now and he wasn’t sure how well ‘Hi I’m your Guardian Angel and I’m here to be your guide to the next life’ was going to go down with someone who was acutely aware of their own mortality. Arolak ran off the back of the building, landing in the same neat crouch he had when Gabriel had handed him his envelope. Brushing himself off, Arolak folded his wings away, looking, for all intents and purposes, human. He crossed the street to the bikestore and began browsing; hoping he looked a little lost and that it would be Miles who came over. That would make his life so much easier.
