Touché (Complete)

The Last Wish

A few moments of silence passed before Sister Anna moved, standing up to fix the candles by the altar. 

"I could try. Maybe."

"What? Really!?" Carl's eyes widened in excitement.

Sister Anna nodded.

"Great! Let's do it now!" Carl said, jumping up from his seat. He was about to run to Sister Anna but the latter whacked his hand.

"Don't get too excited! There's a process to it."

"What process?" Flor asked.

Sister Anna then told them that the only way for Carl to return to the heavens is through a long ritual that would have him willfully die. He had to lose his human body and the monk could then give him her blessing as the sky would open up to receive him.

"We'll have to do it around dusk. The ritual doesn't work at any time we want. We'd have to wait for the sky to open."

Sister Anna told them to get back at the church by the morning the next day when they would start to hike Mt. Saya, which was about 1,000 m above sea level. The trail wouldn't be that hard, the monk assured them. 

After the discussion, Flor and Carl went back to the hotel. Carl was babbling non-stop on the way. He couldn't contain his excitement, telling her how much he missed the Heavens. But he also told her that he'd miss being a human. 

"I thought you hated it," Flor said.

Carl nodded. "But it isn't as bad anymore."

"Why?"

"Well, you helped me. You were mean sometimes but you helped me. I think the world has good people too."

Flor only smiled. Feeling a little tired, she told him to go ahead to the resto below the hotel. She'd just take a quick rest. She wondered how Carl could have so much energy even after a long day. She almost forgot that he wasn't a real human. 

When Flor went to the resto a few minutes later, she found Carl looking odd.  

His head was tucked between his arms on the table. On his hand was an empty bottle of beer.

"What the-- Hey Carl!"

She shook him and as he looked up, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Did you drink?"

"Eh this? Yes. It tastes awful, but it made me feel dizzy and weird."

Flor immediately snatched his bottle away. It was pure gin! Was he trying to get wasted? 

"Seriously Carl? Do you just try anything you see?"

"Come on! It's my last day here. We should have fun. And look! The others are dancing!"

Flor looked around and he was right, most people around them were drunk. It was a festival, after all.

Eventually, Flor gave in. There's no harm in it, she thought. So she took the bottles from him and emptied them in a single chug. Flor had only been an alcoholic once, back when she was in college.

Tonight was the first time in years that she had drunk this much.

"Just one bucket," she said.

She broke her own promise. The one bucket eventually became three and more. It was Carl pushing her to drink more. He didn't really understand how alcohol worked.

Flor watched Carl attempt to stand and throw his limbs around, in what he claimed as a "dance." He was a weird guy, she thought. People around them watched in curiosity and amusement as

Carl shouted at the top of his lungs; yelling words that even Flor couldn't understand.

Who knew angels were crazy? But then again, there were a lot of things she had yet to know about him. What a shame he had to go away so soon. 

Flor was confident that she wasn't drunk yet but as she tried to stand up and pull him, her vision blurred and she tripped. Good thing Carl was there. He laughed at her and Flor could only scowl at him. 

As the night concluded, Carl lifted her up and carried her to their room, chuckling to himself as he observed her flushed cheeks.

There was a fun side to her, after all.

 Carl gently laid her on the bed. She moved a little but her eyes were still closed. As he was about to stand up, she took his hand. 

"Hey," she whispered. 

"Are you alright?"

"Ya. Stay?"

Carl nodded. Pushing the pillows aside, he settled beside her.  It felt quite comfortable. The noise had died down. He turned off the lamp so only the full moonlight passing made them visible.

Carl wasn't sleepy yet so he just watched her.

He didn't know if he would still remember her when he returned to the Heavens. I should ask Sister Anna, he thought.

Carl didn't know but he felt the urge to take her hand. She looked soft, like a marshmallow. He observed it while he still had the chance. He was never able to see a human hand up close, and it always amazed him how beautiful it was.

Flor, especially, had a very soft hand.

He traced her handprint, the lines from her fingers to the wrists. Like it was some sort of map that tells you where people belong in the world.

"Last wish," Flor mumbled, her voice sheepish. Carl couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Oh right. I guess we won't have so much time tomorrow anymore."

"Hmm..."

"What's your last wish?"

"I want you to..." she paused.

"...stay longer."