The Angel Beyond Us

Job 33:22

My name is Azrael. It means "angel of death". That is what I am. I follow people around throughout their whole lives until they pass on. I had my fair share. I witnessed all their heartbreak and happiness. I've seen them sin and prosper. Some are short. Some are long. They all start in the same way. They all end the same way.

My job as an angel of death is that I guide their souls to Heaven. Or to Hell. I have grown to do my job with the empathy of the confused souls who have passed. Most go to Heaven. Some to Hell. God assigns me the people of Earth and to follow them through their lives.

I was a God faring man when I was alive. Born in 1467 Italy, I have been in the Christian church since I could walk. My job on Earth was a carpenter. Like Jesus Christ. I never questioned God's words. Instead, I spread his word. I pray everyday, every night, every meal, and every sneeze.

"God bless you," I would say.

Then I died. In a house fire of my home. I couldn't get out in time. So I perished. My soul was taken out of the building by an angel of death. He told me that God liked how I spent my life. How I spread his word and not used it in vain.

"Why did I die in that fire?", I asked him.

"It was your time," he told me.

Then he opened the door to the burning house. Instead of the smoke of the fire coming through, it was light. Light to where? Light to Heaven. He took my hand like a feather and guided me through the doorway.

That was when God appeared in front of me physically for the first time. I looked up at him. He was what he said he was in the Bible. All he did was smile.

"My child, ye hath spread my word to thy people. And that, ye hath giveth meaning to my name. Now, I give ye a role. A role ye shall hath for eternity," he said to me, his voice booming but slow.

"What is that job, God?", I asked him.

"For ye to guide thy soul to Heaven or Hell," he answered.

"I will do the best I can. Thank you," I said and put my hands together as I thanked him.

With that, my work began. I have followed the people he assigned me. And if that person has a family, I guide their family members to Heaven or Hell. As time went on, I dressed like the era. To feel more connected to the person I am assigned to. I was assigned Christopher Columbus. He discovered America. When the colonies started, I learned to speak English.

I was assigned the first president, George Washington. I watched him as he fought for the independence of the United States of America. I saw the other angels of death but only when the patriots or red coats died. I saw them be taken to Heaven or Hell. Oddly enough, the red coats went to Hell.

But Washington was an American. He was fighting for independence. The British wanted absolute control over the colonies. I believe that anyone can fight for what they believe in and we cannot judge that. Washington believed in the freedom from the British and I believed in him as his death angel.

Once Washington died, I guided him through the door to Heaven. Of course he was confused as anyone would. I told him that it was his time to go. That he lived a meaningful and thrilling life. That he was a founding father and the first president of the United States. That people of the United States in the future will learn about him and all he did as their leader.

I was assigned the first Mexican-American Rock 'N' Roller, Ritchie Valens. In 1957, he was at his grandfather's funeral when his middle school, Pacoima Junior High, was struck by two planes that crashed into each other. It killed his best friend. It killed two others and injured a lot more. Valens developed a deep fear of flying. He would have nightmare after nightmare of the accident.

Then he got famous. Despite having a fear of flying, he went on flights to other places like Philadelphia for the American Bandstand. But it's ironic that he died in a plane crash. On February 3rd, 1959, in Clear Lake, Iowa, he along with Beddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, aka The Big Bopper, and the pilot of the Charter plane died. I guided his soul to Heaven. I saw the death angels of the three others also guide their souls to Heaven. That day is now known as The Day The Music Died.

Now, it's the year 2024. Everything has improved technologically. From horses to cars. From paper mail to hand-held phones. Times have changed drastically. Now, people, no matter what gender they are, can work. Women can get jobs men could. A thing that I don't understand is why would people change the bodies that God gave them. Why are girls wanting to be boys or vice versa? Why are they putting a thing called "botox" into their faces? I don't understand.

I have been following a man named Kyler Hawkins for 26 years. He was born in Detroit, Michigan but moved to South Lyon when he was 5. In 2006, when Kyler was 8, he was diagnosed with NHL. I stayed with him during his three year battle. It was not his time. When he came out of the hospital, he was all smiles.

In 2020, he had Covid-19. He lived of course since it wasn't his time. I have noticed a trend every 100 years. 2020 was the Covid-19 pandemic. 1920 was the Influenza pandemic. 1820 was Small Pox. I have taken children that I was assigned to guide to Heaven. Something about guiding children when they die is much more emotional than guiding adults. Maybe it's because they are so young. That they had so much to look forward to but ended so quickly.

When they see their parents and family crying at their deathbeds, they start crying. To be honest, I start to tear up a little as I try to calm their young souls. Once they are calm, I take them to Heaven, where all their sadness and sorrow is immediately lifted as they run out and frolic through the clouds.

Kyler spent a year in the hospital when he had Covid. I stayed by his bedside, like how I did when he had cancer. I saw other death angels during those times taking people's souls to either Heaven or Hell. But those times weren't Kyler's. He has more time.