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AUGUST 28 - JhingBautista's One-Shot Story

How It Came To Be

by Jhing Bautista

"Why do you always have to meddle with the affairs of humans?" Icarus asked me one day. We were both above the clouds, looking down on Earth, eyeing the world beneath us with interest.

Angels act according to the Father's will, devoid of emotions. Icarus is just like the rest. He doesn't question the command. He only obeys. I, Cupid, am the only exception to that rule.

I was created for the sole purpose of spreading the love around. With this love, the Earth and mankind continues to flourish. But I am not allowed to intervene. I can only drop hints, as people call it, but to some of my colleagues, it's still considered meddling.

I, alone, have the privilege to tug the strings, creating a massive ripple in the universe. One simple mistake can have damaging repercussions. I try not to think about the severity of my job, but it's hard to make it look easy. In my centuries of doing it, I still don't get everything right.

People end up with the wrong people. Hearts get broken. Humans become jaded. But these mistakes led to beautiful things. They bled poetry. They cried ballads. They stitched up fascinating (yet awfully tragic) stories (take Romeo and Juliet, for example).

Humans are really pretty interesting...

"It's my job," I answered, as-a-matter-of-factly.

He gave me this look, like he's already expecting that stupid answer, and shook his head. Most angels don't take me seriously. They treat me like the court jesters down below (bless their funny hearts). They don't see the importance of my job. And why would they? While they fight evil with their holy swords, here I am, just shooting arrows through the hearts of the mortals, and occasionally missing the right targets...

I sat down and squinted. My vision automatically zoomed in on the lands. The patches of greens and greys expanded and I can now see the people on the ground, doing what they do best... being humans. My eyes landed on three teenagers, two guys and a girl. The two guys seem close. The one in the middle talks to both in a mediating kind of way. I smiled as I understood the situation. He's the link between the two, the one holding the group together.

I whipped up amare and stretched it. It's love, in its purest form. Aside from Father, I'm the only one who can create it out of thin air. Not to be confused with the red strings of fate, amare is the substance needed to activate the connection. To put it simply, amare creates awareness, without which, humans will not undergo the five stages of connection and will then cease to exist.

I know. Yikes!

I then posed like an archer, ready to strike. I breathed in and breathed out and then, let go. I was sure that I was right on target. But maybe I miscalculated. For some reason, the arrow bounced around and pierced through all three, along with two other girls who happened to be nearby.

It pierced through the nerdy-looking girl first, then to the guy who was laughing too loud earlier. Next, it went through a rich-looking girl, then through the other guy and lastly, to the plain-looking girl who the guys are with.

They all stopped as if something had hit them. Well, something really did.

Icarus shook his head disapprovingly.

"It's going to be a disaster," he warned me.

"Everything happens for a reason."

"Yes. And the reason is you. You're the one who created this mess. I told you to not play with it, but you didn't listen to me. You don't listen to anybody. You just do what you want because you know that you can get away with it." He shook his head once more. "Please take this job more seriously, Cupid. Don't put the world at stake."

After an earful, Icarus left me. Probably to ponder on what he just said. And I know that I should be worried. Big time. But I'm different. Not your average cookie-cutter angel.

I took one last look at the five whose fates are now forever intertwined. And instead of panicking, I got a little giddy inside, thinking how things just became really exciting.

When I made my first mistake, Father was quick to tell me that it's okay, that what I do, what I'm supposed to do and what I've done instead are parts of the bigger picture, the greater scheme of things. Everything counts, even mistakes.

And I know that this mistake means something to the lives of those five teens. Someday, I know everything will unfold. At the right time, the truth will reveal itself. And until then, I will be just here, watching...

***

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