Guardian For Hire

Chapter One: The Watch

I sat on the edge of a building looking down for a new ward.  The Boss hadn't given me a new ward for the last 20 years when my last one passed away.  She went peacefully as an old woman, warm in her bed and she saw me for the first time when she slipped away.  I smiled at her and she returned the favor as I spread out my wings behind my back and I brought her soul to heaven.  I was so relieved when she finally saw me.  I'd been watching over her since she was born and it became irritating to watch over someone who couldn't see you.  Sometimes it was funny, but usually it was just lonely.

So was the life of a guardian.  We spent our time keeping tabs on the human race and making sure they didn't bite the big one before their time.  Sometimes we would watch out for the friends and loved ones of our wards to keep them safe as well.  Being a guardian was a tough and tedious job, but it is all worth it when you're ward looks up into your eyes and smiles at you as you spread your wings with delight.

This day seemed to stretch for eternity and that was a very long time considering I was eternal myself.  I wondered if I would ever find a new ward, or even have one assigned to me.  The Boss wasn't budging on  giving me a new assignment so I was betting he had something lined up for me in the future that he didn't think I was ready to know about, yet.

My best friend Alexander was sitting to my left and staring down at some of the men walking past.  I had grown used to his preferences but he still sometimes said something that grossed me out.  I usually just left him for a minute and came back to talk to him later.  He'd been my best friend since the beginning.  We shared our first ward together.  Xander and I were inseparable.

Staring down at the soul of each human that walked beneath my feet I got the feeling that I would never find a new ward.  I was one of those guardians who liked danger but enjoyed a ward with a mostly quiet life.  I was hoping to get one who shared a similar taste in music to myself.  Sure, I liked all the heavenly music but the music of human's was quite interesting.  There was so much of it.  They were so creative it was astonishing.  Every time I would develop a humanly musical preference the music would change and I was back in the dark about them.  You would think that after a thousands of years I would have learned how to keep up.  I hadn't.

One thing I had grown used to was the changing in wards.  I was always getting a new one.  I had never had a space between wards as stretched out as this one I was in now.  I thought it would never end.

"Hey, Luka?"

"Yeah, Xander?"  I looked over at him.  His wings were folded back behind him.  He looked very angelic in the light of early morning.  I remembered the first time we had spent one of these waits together.  It was a few hundred years ago.  Life was much easier then.  None of this technology or all the hub-bub to be well known or well liked.  It was so simple back then.  The only people who wanted to hurt you then were people you would know.

"How much longer do you think He'll make us wait?"  His eyes connected with mine and I fell back onto my elbows.

"I don't know.  None of us could imagine even how far his patients stretches.  It could be another decade before he assigns us again."  I looked up at the sky and hoped He wouldn't take that long with us.

"Ooh!  I'd like to have a slice of that!"  I clapped my hands over my ears and slammed my eyes shut.  I didn't want to know!  I didn't want to see!

"I'm going for a walk," I said.  I got up off my feet and ran to the other side of the building and leaped into empty air.  My body fell for a moment and then my wings burst out from my back and they fluttered  to slow my fall until my feet lightly touched the ground.  I pulled them back into my back.  I looked around the city before I decided which route I would take.  With a snap of my fingers I had myself in some modern day teenage get-up.  I usually passed dying bums on the street and they could see me. They would point me out to each other.   They didn't know I was angel and I didn't want them too.  I didn't want to take them on as my responsibility when there was nothing I could do for them.  I couldn't anyway, unless they were my personal ward.  It didn't mean I didn't feel badly for them.  They would have to try and find heaven on their own.  Most of them got lost and just fell.  I felt the tips of my wings prickle at the sadness and my chest tightened.  Not finding heaven; not finding home.  I couldn't imagine . . .