Angel With A Shotgun

Chapter 1

Heaven

The skies hinted towards endless summer. Each stroke of white from God's great paint brush creating a final product that was softer than anything man could make. The strokes could show emotion as well if not better than man and when joyful as they were now, they took the look of honey. They reflected the helio, unfailing to absorb a little of her light.
The light the angels of Heaven were thankful for, but did not worship like the other planets. No, instead they worshipped The Almighty. The one true ruler. The father of all fathers, mothers, and children, alike. Jehovah, a name so holy only one other could use it: his son Jesus Christ.
The angel children, otherwise known as cherubs, sat before him on their knees, smiling up at a face they could not see.
Unlike other children, on other planets, all angel children of Gifted Hands were brought to existence by Jehovah, by help of Jesus who designed them and gave to them desirable qualities. All cherubs were undeniably beautiful as they were not man and had no flaws before them. Unlike the great, ancient ancestors of the children Jesus had sacrificed himself for, cherubs were under no curse for their forefather's past sins.
In fact and in truth, the cherubs didn't even have forefathers to begin with. Their existence began without even the lift of Jehovah's finger. Their 'bloodline' as man would call, began only when they were created. The difference was, cherubs were not made of flesh. No, they were made not of flesh and blood, which were sins. They were made by the equal love of Jehovah and molded from the very clouds they lied on.
But our story lingers not. It instead begins with one such cherub, so beautiful and pure she was, she was of the fifth day;in which a day is a thousand years.
She sat with her other fifth day brothers and sisters alongst the edge of the city, alongst the edge of their world.
Their bare feet dangled off the puffy white air beneath them and for the first time that day they were permitted to daydream and allow their minds to wander.
To wonder what Jehovah had in store for them. To wonder where they would go after graduating as a seventh day. To wonder when they'd get their wings. The last thought was given-when they were seven days. That's when all their dreams would come true, or so they put it in their minds that they would.
They were all still wearing clothing from school. This included a crisp black T-shirt and a complementary pair of crisp white shorts that were most uncomfortable, especially when walking. The cherubs had received the clothing just last day and it was the first time they had ever worn them.
It was also the first day they had gone to school, and their first lesson given was the importance of their clothing. Not of why they had to wear it but why its colors looked so different. They also learned of colors.
"It is not about appearance," the Guardian had told them, "it is about what is on the inside. Though these clothes were made of the same materials, one was dyed white and the other black. Does that make one less important than the other because they're...different?"
None of the children had known what to say then. Nor when he continued.
"No. It does not. In the world of man, clothing is one of the most common and discrete forms of defense. Shirts protect by securing the growing flesh on the chest, back, and stomach;while the pants protect the growing flesh distinction between man and woman, boy and girl, leg, and bottom."
This triggered giggles and roaring laughter in the room.
"I have journeyed off path, my apologies. What I am trying to say is that our value is equal. Do not belittle somone else and never belittle yourself, either. We are all God's children and we all have the equal right to find happiness, spread joy, and thank him for our existence by worship. Is that understood?"
The class nodded in unison, responding in practiced synchronization. "Yes, Guardian Noah."
But of all three hundred of them, he heard a single, upset 'No'.
Looking to the very last row that sat the highest on the sun-bleached semi-dome, Guardian Gabriel spotted her instantly.
He protruded his hand out to her as if she could grab it from where she stood. "Child Aeryonelice, please, would you be so kind to join me in the front?"
Though that day was not too far from this, the child, that very pure child, looked to the cuffs of her black shirt, then to the folds of her shorts. She took the child's hand beside her, the child commonly known as Jeustyce, and his blue eyes were quick to find her's. She placed his pale hand on her shorts, the contrast great but still noteable that his color was closer to the shorts than her own.
Aeryonelice reached Guardian Gabriel in record time, despite her legs of a much shorter length than most. And by then, Guardian Gabriel had noticed that remnants of tears that streaked her pristine cheek.
"Why so upset, child?" He asks in his nurturing, sweet voice. "Because I do not." Aeryonelice hiccuped out. "What is a man and a woman? What are boys and girls? Why do we have to wear all these uncomfortable clothes? They sadden me."
Guardian Gabriel shook his head and clicked his tongue, pulling Aeryonelice into a warm embrace. She was petite and fragile in his arms, like a glass shard. But, glass shards were rough and could rip even through flesh if rubbed the wrong way. He knew Aeryonelice would do well when her time came and she finally understood. He had faith in her.
As her cheek lie against his shoulder, his large, white fluffy wings that draped behind him when he walked were hard to miss. The feathers tickled Aeryonelice's nose and her tears continued leaking as knew questions formed that could not be answered.
"Do not cry, child. You will understand, soon enough."
Aeryonelice pushed Jeustyce's hand away and gathered herself till she was standing. "Where are you going?" He asked her. Six pairs of eyes were now on her. She quickly brushed them off and retreated from the edge, chancing one last glance at the world below.
Then, she started down the warm path towards her guardians.
The warm, puffy streets were empty as younger and older cherubs were either still in lesson or were sent to rest on their seventh d-
She stopped walking. Something was off. She turned to find Guardian Gabriel. "Aeryonelice." he began. She smiled. He extended a hand, "Come with me."
She took his hand and without warning, an endless line of cherubs appeared to their right. Her eyes followed the direction from whence the line came and to where it was heading. Her mouth fell wide as she looked from Gabriel.
"Why had I not seen them before?"
Securing her hand in his own, he turned her toward the path opposite from where every other cherub was facing. "You have been gifted with knowledge and deception, Aeryonelice."
"Knowledge and deception?" she asked stunned. Before she could wait for an answer she noticed that they were going the-
"We are not going the wrong way, but rather follwoing the path less traveled."
She blinked back the haze that consumed her sight. His words were confusing, yet she understood them. His tone held not an emotion, though she felt sad.
"The path less traveled?" she recited. "That sounds..." The word was quick to her lips. "Lonely." They had said it at the same time and as they did, Gabriel turned back to watch the young cherubs face.
Her eyes were searching for an answer in her translucent fingertips. "Lonley," she said, "is a sad word."
"Yes. Lonely. It is a sad word, but it is not the word that you should concern yourself with, but its meaning. The emotion that lies behind it."
Her eyes rose to his. "Tell me, Aeryonelice."
Everyone around her disappeared.
"Do you feel lonely?"
She cast a couple glances around, then shook her head. "No."
Everyone returned, besides Gabriel.
"Keep walking." Coaxed his voice. She did as she was told and after a while of passing the faces of the other cherubs. After watching them smile, laugh, play, giggle, and walk together in the opposite direction, Guardian Gabriel's voice returned. "How about now?"
She hesitated, accessing how deep the word ran through her. How her skin became even more translucent, how her eyesight began to fade.
Gabriel reappeared beside her, she felt a pulse zip through her and her's eyes widened. "What was that?"
"Fear. It is commonly associated with loneliness."
"I do not like either." Aeryonelice stated sadly, her head shaking. "These..." she searched for the word and was pleasantly surprised when she found them. "...feelings do not feel good. I want to-I want to."
For the first time in her existence, she was at a loss of words. But, then-
Her stammering stopped and a feeling she had never felt infultrated her. Concern and confusion fled her face and mind. Her white irises bled blue. "I want to be fearless."
Guardian Gabriel cocked his head with a grin. "Are you sure that is the right word you were looking for?"
Her back straightened and she stood taller. "No. I want to be brave. I want to be courageous. I want to be an angel."
Guardian Gabriel smiled. "Being fearless does not make you brave. Bravery isn't defined by the lack of fear but the triumph over it. One can not be courageous without fear. And you, can not be an angel till you know all of this."
"Then teach me." she stepped to him, all the words recently exposed to her rushing to her head. The words-the knowledge was beautiful. "I want to be strong. I want to be smart. I want to love. I want to smile. I want to-"
She wanted more mental stregnth than she had ever imagined. How had she been so content with her existence before when there were all these other emotions to feel? All these things to be?
"Kind, out-going, faithful, honest, responsible..."
"Yes. These qualities are beautiful aren't they, but they path will be rough. Let me ask you, are you truly prepared for the road before you?"
"What do you mean?" she asked attentively. A smile was wide on her face and a rythm had began to pound from within her chest.
Cherub children still passed by alongst side them, never once straying from the line.
"To feel strong, one must experience weak. To understand and appreciate kindness thou must endure cruelty. It is the balance. But is it a balance you are prepared for? It may sound nice to and fun to play a hero, but at the end of the day nothing lasts forever-even a hero."
Her smile was falling. His impassive eyes were harsh for a moment, then reverted. "Hmm. I see. Let us return to day-"
"No." She spoke blindly and lost all control of her tongue. Gabriel swiftly turned, not in shock but in surpressed joy. He had already discussed Aeryonelice's fate with Jehovah and he destined to put her to the test in every aspect of her spiritual and physical existence.
"Determination."
"Excuse me?"
"Determination. I may have to be weak to return strong. I may have to lack knowledge to return with far more, one day. But if determination accompanies me, I shall never lose my way."
And for the first time, Aeryonelice could see it. The pride in his eyes.
Gabriel spread his holy-gifted wings wide and the cherub children to their left, disappeared. They came back seconds later facing him as she was.
"Fifth-day Cherub Child Aeryonelice, because of your level of knowledge, determination, and curiosity you have been advanced to a seventh-day."
The cherub children around her were different now, then they had been when they were in line. Their skin was no longer an array of different pigments but rather consisted of the same pattern:purple, pink, blue with white, yellow, and orange specs all over.
She looked down, they weren't the only ones that had changed.
"Seventh-day cherubs, you all are now mature spiritual beings. I ask you all, now, individually. Do you accept God's offer and promise to live your human experience to its fullest? Do you promise not to end it and return home early? Do you promise to accept Jehovah's tests and all of his love, even if you interpret it as indifference and hate? If you find yourself saying 'no' to any of these questions please speak up now and I will return you to day-one."
There was nothing but silence. Then, Gabriel. "Spirits, do you accept?" A black shadow shot through all the spirits whose hands had been linked, this included Aeryonelice. They responded together as a whole. "We accept."
"You will now be linked to another spirit desiring to meet a goal that will insprire yours."
And though she hadn't remembered closing them, once she spoke they opened.
She was burning hot and cramped. Her eyes burned, she could barely see out of them, and what she could see was pure darkness. Something was causing the inside-her heart-to race. She felt anxious. Images and faces raced across her vision. Faces she had never seen before. They brought emotions she didn't understand the meaning of. There was laughing, screaming, sulking, crying. A lot of crying. Then, darkness.
It was sad. It was depressing. The space around her grew tighter and she screamed as she felt her heart flutter. She was suffocating though no noise had escaped.
After a long while of silently panicking there was another suffocating contraction and Aeryonelice felt two cold hands rip her from her grave. She was propelled up and out of her mother's womb.
Akira Tanaka was born, 3002 Hokkaido, Japan.