God's Gone AWOL

[6] Xander Almost Dies

When they returned to Micaiah's house, Xander was in the middle of choking on a gluten free biscuit.

"For fucks sake, you're a demon, Xander," Hephzibah was saying, "How in the four realms can a being like you choke on a fucking cookie,"

Xander couldn't say anything. Beside Atticus, Bentley let out a low laugh and stepped forward to intervene. But before she could save her brother from a tragically embarrassing death, Lucy poked his head through the kitchen doorway to absolutely screw over the entire atmosphere.

"What's happening? Xander's choking?" he asked, "D'ye need me to do the Heimlich Maneuver?"

"N— HACK! —No!!" Xander shouted between coughs.

"CPR then? Mouth to mouth?"

"NO!!!"

The edges of Xander's eyes were turning a bright shade of red. Whether it was due to the physical discomfort Xander was in, or the rage at Lucy's absurd statement, Atticus couldn't tell. Either way, as Bentley covered her mouth with stifled laughter, Atticus decided he didn't really want to face the oncoming mayhem Lucy had created.

He desperately looked for an excuse to disappear from the room. Luckily, it just so happened that Sneakers the cat was thinking the exact same thing. So both Atticus and the cat skittered away. None of the other four noticed as the angel followed that bobbing bushy tail into the kitchen. They were preoccupied, laughing and trying to rescue Xander from the struggles of gluten free food.

Micaiah was busy filling a large metal pot with water. When he saw Sneakers enter the room shortly followed by Atticus, he beamed widely but said nothing, leaving the angel to attend to the cat in silence. Atticus figured Micaiah must really have been a psychic if he could tell that Atticus wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone for the time being. And even if Micaiah couldn't tell, Atticus still appreciated the gesture.

Sneakers was chowing down on a bowl full of kibble, her little ears wiggling as she munched and crunched. Atticus sat, cross-legged on the wooden floor and reached up to scratch at the feline's head. Her tail lifted up in the air like a flag of acknowledgement, but otherwise she did not react.

"Sneakers seems to be losing weight," Atticus observed after some time.

"Yeah, she's got an astonishing amount of health issues," Micaiah replied from above. "The veterinarians keep saying she should have died when she was a kitten, but she just keeps pulling through. Sometimes I think of her as my own little miracle of God,"

"God must have the right priorities," Atticus said lightly.

At first, Atticus wasn't entirely sure if his own words were sarcastic or not. But the moment they left his lips, he realized he truly meant them.

God had been missing from Heaven for an eternity. Everyone across the four realms had been struggling to keep everything together ever since. With millions of creatures dying and suffering every day, and with such things as the appearance of the soul fragment, logically speaking, God should have been out there controlling things and protecting people. God should have been helping Atticus and Bentley as they desperately tried to protect the worlds they loved.

But with Micaiah's light-hearted comment, Atticus suddenly felt a great sense of comfort. While all the terrible tragedies of the universe were occurring simultaneously, this little miracle of a cat was happily snacking on kibble without a care in the world. If that terrifying and almighty image whom everyone regarded as their distant God really was still out somewhere in creation, maybe the heart of a small critter like Sneakers wasn't the worst place to be. Because even the smallest forms of life were beyond sacred. And to have a God who willingly honoured the beauty of life would be the most comforting feeling in the world.