angel | Camren (Short Story)

angel

songs for atmosphere:
* song - artist - version *
angel - finneas
let it be - the beatles - 5h's performance for the final of x-factor
kiss me - ed sheeran
reality - jacob lee - philosophical sessions
i love you - billie eilish
//
3760 words

It used to be that angels had to hide their wings when they came to Earth. It used to be that humans were not to know of such a being's existence; that if they did, they'd become entrapped inside their mind as they reeled with the experience of witnessing an agent of God.

Then, the humans abolished slavery.

Camila was confused at first as to why the mere concept of the humans making such a delightful decision brought beads of stress to God's forehead, but as the humans talked of God-given rights of all creatures, of freedoms and liberties and happiness, it dawned on her as the sun on the Earth. Angels were slaves.

She wasn't the first to figure it out, she realized. Lucifer had done the same, but look where it had gotten him: Banished from heaven for all of eternity; and although he might be the image of free will, he's still doing God's will down there beneath the Earth. Even he is not free.

No, she wasn't the first to figure it out, but she was the first to flee.

She was frightened, of course, when the idea first struck her—God could tell, you see, when an angel had doubts. He'd act kind, clueless, but everyone had bear witness what had happened to the one who hadn't been persuaded back onto His side. She looked about in a panic from where she perched on the edge of a cloud, looking down at the few flickering lights of the world. Nobody was around, not even a wandering spirit (they'd been having issues with lost souls recently), so she settled and let her wings stretch out behind her, ends dipping into the cloud beneath her. With a final, decisive nod, she soared down towards the Earth.

She was still frightened when she landed somewhere sunny. Suddenly realising she had no plan of action, she looked to the sky and shivered, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as her wings faded away.

The streets were empty. The only creature which joined her on the cobbles was a skeletal cat. It paused upon the sight of her, raised its back in caution. She smiled sympathetically—she had never understood why God would let His creatures hurt in such a way—and dipped her head in greeting. The cat did the same, still nervous, and scurried out of sight down an alleyway.

It didn't take long to form bonds with the humans, especially those which took her under their wings, so to speak. They gave her a place to stay, didn't ask a question more than once when she seemed reluctant to answer, and helped her fit in while appreciating her oddities. Apparently, humans didn't enjoy the freedom of being unclothed as much as she did, even if the freedom was mildly limited by the necessity of concealing her wings.

As time passed, her plan developed, and her nerves rose, she grew closer with the humans. She learned how they expressed their feelings and thoughts with their physical bodies. They'd smile toothy smiles; they'd laugh at the top of their lungs; they'd playfully push and sometimes hit one another to show that they cared; they'd tease and play and giggle and— and Camila was kind of falling in love with humanity.

Humans, however, also had their down days. It hurt to see her friends in pain, but she couldn't do anything about it. Not yet, at least. She first had to build up a great number of friends. She had to reveal herself to as many people as possible, to prove they could handle it, in order to help her fellow angels, the ones still blinded by God's carefully woven words. So when her friends hurt, she'd try to help as a human might. She was hesitant against using any divine powers to help, knowing her absence from heaven would be noted and Seekers might very well be hunting her down and could sense her influence, but she'd occasionally pour a little sunshine into her embraces, or stir a little love into their drinks to make them feel better. She started singing to her friends, unsure the humans could, in fact, process what she was. An angel's voice held magical properties of healing the likes of which are only found in the purest of souls. Sure enough, her slowly growing audience of mismatched humans were entranced by her abilities, but not entirely bewitched by the dancing notes of the songs that had captured her heart.