Countdown

Day One of Forever

The following days went by in a blur. I had to learn the rules and regulations of this world. As guardians it was our jobs to go back to Earth and help a poor soul through troubling times. Each guardian was assigned a mission, the person who we are supposed to help save. We would be placed in that time period and given a life to live. Every detail of our backstory would be integrated into our memories. That way if anyone asked questions we not only know the answer but believe it too. The number one rule of going to back to Earth was that nobody could know our actual identity or purpose there. For the most part, our tracks would be covered by what is called the mist. Just like fog, it covers up what is going on in the world around us so that people can’t quite see clearly enough to figure out the truth. The rules of this world were extensive but for the most part, logical.

    After about two weeks of training I was finally allowed to take up my first mission. I entered the central port confidently, as I’m sure most newbies do. The room was dark, with rows upon rows of thousands of tables, many of which had a body lying on it connected to a machine. There was one sole angel dressed in blue hospital scrubs who was conscious among them all. She smiled as she noticed me.

“Ah Grace, right on time. We have your transport table assembled right here for your first mission.” she gestured at the empty space beside her. Timidly, I approached and sat down on the cold metal.

“This is nothing like what I expected, the rest of the city is so lavish.”

“When your mind leaves Varsus, the body can’t come with you. This is a place so that when your job is done your mind and soul have a string to follow to make sure you get back to the right place. Without these tables you could get lost in the nothingness.”

“Wait, how do I get back. Nobody ever told me what to do when the mission was over, I sorta thought you just came back when you were done.

“You do just come back though, it isn’t pleasant. Guardians never know when their mission is over, no matter if you succeeded or not, until it’s already done. The only way to find out is how you die on Earth. We like to send our angels out with a bang so if you succeed, shortly after you will die tragically. It may be a fire or a car accident, something big. If you die peacefully that means they are quietly trying to get you out before things get even worse. By the time you end up here you will have known what happened.”

As she was speaking the nurse angel was already hooking me up to the machine. The room went silent and then hazy, despite my protests not a word escaped my mouth. My new body was refusing to move under my command as I quickly faded back to the world I had just left behind only a few weeks ago.

    My eyes fluttered open as I awoke to the alarm going off beside my bed. My head pounded with pain as I squinted past the sunlight coming through my bedroom window. Feeling for the alarm i pushed all the buttons, attempting to get it to turn off. What happened last night? My eyes wandered around yet another room that I had never seen before, but felt so familiar. Alcohol bottles and pizza boxes scattered the floor. I got out of bed and walked over to my bedroom door. After a quick look over I decided that I didn’t look much different than I remembered. Same brown hair and blue eyes. There was however, a distinct tattoo of a pair of wings sitting on my collar bone. I jumped as a muffled ringing sound broke the silence that I wasn’t quite aware of. A small light illuminated a square metal box that the noise was coming from. The word “Joy” printed across the screen with a small picture of a girl’s face across the front. I slid to unlock the phone as my new memories kicked in.

“Hey sis! Where are you? If you don’t hurry up we’re gonna be late for class!”