Day 3 

*camera shutter clicks* 

A girl in a blue hoodie is pointing her camera at a small, shadowy figure in the middle of a busy street. “Hi cutie!” she utters. “Meow-” a very confused cat responds, cleaning its black fur.  

“Oh, I wonder what she’s up to today…” The angel ponders, hanging from the clouds, about to peak into the artist’s day once more. 

“May I take your picture, please?” she asks an elderly couple shopping at the market. They respond enthusiastically and pose for her, shopping bags and a walking cane up in the air. Although some people were not that happy to be photographed, it seemed most enjoyed having their picture taken! Tired, she sits down for a sweetened decaf coffee and scrolls through her memory card full of photos. “I love this! Everyone just living freely, reaching for their own dreams and goals…”, she says thoughtfully, “Life… So fragile, yet so beautiful!”  

“Strange... Those would be my words exactly!”, the angel chuckles behind his halo. 

“I just wish we could stay longer on this planet. We need enough time to figure things out, it’s not something that can be rushed! I wonder, how many people truly find out the meaning of their life before the time runs out?”, she asks, looking at the sky. “You and me both...”, the angel responds quickly, before realizing that he is basically addressing a human. All that left him in a bit of a shock, so he decides to rest for the rest of the day. 

*a faint owl hoot can be heard* 

The artist prepares for bed, when, lost in thought, she finds herself at her bedroom window. Perhaps, the full moon might have been calling for her? “We are all so far apart yet so connected at the same time. It’s funny isn’t it... Am I really out of my mind for having these thoughts? I mean… Hey, I'm talking to myself right now… B-but isn’t every single person on this Earth who is looking at the moon right now… also looking at each other? It’s such a magnificent thought… isn’t it?” She breathes out, her words getting lost in the silence of the night… Or so she thought. 

With a deep breath, the angel steals a look at the moon from above the clouds. He realizes that he is beginning to understand her: “Despite your clumsy youthful wording, you could not be closer to the truth. It seems that neither time nor space, neither heaven nor hell can truly separate two souls in this universe.” 

“That’s because… we are all connected!”, she whispers as she lifts her palm, gently foregrounding the moonlight and letting it enlighten her face. Silently, the angel mirrors her movement, gently holding the moon with his palm in acknowledgement. “NO!” --- 

*Zap* 

“That was close...” the angel shudders, distraught. “Why is it that this one human is making me question everything? This has never happened before…”, he paces nervously among the clouds “Alright halo, please, keep me away from now on! I shall not get tempted, I will not get attached!” he says, determined. “I really went overboard this time, for an angel to be so involved with events on Earth is simply… wrong!”, the angel says as he slowly walks into the darkness of the night. 

*** 

The angel is still reluctant to use his vision powers, although some time has passed since the incident. He realized the danger of him having those emotions. Despite his best efforts, every time he sees the full moon shining in the sky, her words echo within his mind. “Who was I, once...” “How did I die?” “What am I really here for?” All of these are quite dangerous questions for an ascended being to be having. But time heals everything, so soon enough, the angel is back to his usual duties. 

 

Day ? 

*Gasp* 

The angel wakes up suddenly, covered in sweat. “Another full moon?” A thunderstorm is brewing below him, ready to unleash its anger all over Earth at any moment. “Was it a nightmare?” he wonders as he decides to get up and stretch his wings. His hands hesitantly reach his temple, searching for his halo, lowering it over his eyes. “Maybe it’s finally time...” However, after attempting to jump a couple of times, he confirms the worst: the halo does not seem to work. “Huh? What is it that you’re hiding from me?” He keeps attempting to turn it on, to no avail. Before- 

*a girl’s distorted screaming* 

“What was that?”, the angel reacts in shock. “Hello?!” he shouts at the unknown recipient on the other side of the halo, echoing across the clouds. Thunder and lightning starts raging louder from below. “Show yourself!” 

“No, I won’t let you-” A familiar, yet distorted, voice reached him. “I know this voice!” he realizes, in panic, “No, no, NO... I must not interfere...” He cocoons himself within the warmth of his white wings, trying to block out any sounds. In the darkness of his cover, the halo starts flickering, this time rapidly. He shuts his eyes, he tries his hardest to ignore the halo, he- 

*distorted gunshot in the distance* 

His eyes go wide open in fright as he rushes to grab the flickering halo, wearing it in haste; “Blood... There’s so much blood!” The angel whispers in horror, thinking of the worst… but it’s just red-brick pavement, drenched by the violent rain… Or is it? 

“Dude! You weren’t supposed to kill her!” shouts a shadowy figure, grabbing another, smaller but equally engulfed in shadows. “Ah, darn it… It’s not my fault! She got in the way!” They seem intoxicated. There are several others gathered around something on the floor… 

“What the fuck is going on over th-” the angel says, gazing through his halo, annoyed that he got alarmed and anxious at the simple thought that…  

A motionless body is resting in a pool of blood. A familiar half-moon clip is hanging down on a strand of brown hair, feebly reflecting the moonlight. The sound of rain slowly fades away… 

*lightning strikes* 

Everything is blindingly bright. The thugs bellow in pain, the force that the glowing figure is emitting is too strong for a human to bear. The floor around the figure collapses, knocking back everyone in the vicinity. Radiating with heat, his wings illuminate the entire backstreet. Thick raindrops slide down the face of this powerful being with a pale complexion.  

“Hey, you, what do you think you’re do-“ A radiant hand grabs the stranger’s face, pushing him against the wall. A moment later, the wall is no more, and the thug is buried under an avalanche of its remains. A bright mist emanates from beyond the ashes, as the person below them dissipates into nothingness.  

The angel is enraged. With one deep breath, brutally determined to end them all, he rushes towards the rest of the group… 

*CLING* 

Black chains fiercely break through the concrete, looking like they are coming straight from the depths of hell, and they bind his feet, legs, torso, all the way to his wings. Hopelessly trying to stay upright, he drops to one knee and screams in his frenzy. He is immobilized. 

“L-looks like you are done now!”, one of the thugs shouts at the angel. “I’m sorry… It’s all my fault…” He barely manages to glimpse at the girl in a hoodie, as she struggles to speak-  

*thud* 

She was hit straight in the stomach. “Shut up, you wench! If it weren’t for you and that stupid cat, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now!” Shell-shocked, the angel glares at the two, powerless, as she lets out her final breath.  

The thug raises his gun at the helpless angel.“Time to send you back to wherever the hell you came fro-” In a blink, his arm is no more.  

Heavy chains are dragging on the concrete. The angel has managed to rip some of his magical shackles out, and they were now tightening their hold onto his wings. His wings are bleeding, but that does little to stop his anger. “The only soul going to hell tonight, is you!” He starts ripping the chains straight out of the concrete, using them to slice everyone in sight. Soon, all of the thugs are defeated, and with the final cling of the chains, all the angel can now hear is rain. 

*** 

There is no way to determine how long he’s been standing there, motionless. It is unclear if the raindrops on his cheeks are in fact his tears. The once-bright halo beings slowly descending onto his neck, as the glow evaporates... “What have I done...” 

With his new burden in tow, he begins walking towards the motionless body of a girl, before he finally kneels before her. “I’m the one who is sorry... You deserved better from this world.” He picks up her mangled body, turning around, exposing his chained wings to the moonlight. A shivering cat with a damaged leg, the only witness of this scene, meows meekly from the nearby bush. 

*** 

He gently lays her down on the front door of her home. “Damn this... DAMN THIS!” he yells at the sky.  

“Why would you allow this to happen!?” once again, trying to address some higher power. “How dare you call yourself the Almighty when you watch a pure soul suffer and you do nothing!?” Silence seems to be his only witness. Attempting to spread his wings and take revenge on that faraway being comes to no avail, as the chains bind them shut.  

“Fine, you can banish me! I do not want to be in your service anyhow, you’re a fake and nothing more!” Out of breath and bleeding profusely, he walks from the body. Unbeknownst to him, a single feather escapes the iron grasp of the heavy steel, and gently lands in the girl’s lap. A faint glow slowly begins emitting from the feather, spreading all over her body. Once it reaches the moon clip on her head, it is fully absorbed. The dawn breaks as the angel walks away into the dark.  

*gasp*