The Angel's Song #Wattys2015

Asher: Snow Part 2

The day was particularly cold, according to the weather report. I couldn't feel much of it, but to stay under radar I had worn a heavier shirt underneath my leather jacket. Not that I thought anyone in this town would guess that I was a previous angel who chose to descend to earth. Our kinds were of the fantastical creatures variety.

Many would think that we didn't really exist. And those who believed in us were casted as people with minds that were less than sound. For years, I had managed to keep the speculations away by observing humans and doing as they did. I had studied how they yawned, shivered, moaned, grumbled, sighed, huffed, pretty much everything under the sun. Snow during winter wasn't new to me. I had travelled to Antartica once before on a fishing boat, while searching for Brianne.

As a general rule, my rule, I moved around a lot, and becoming a part of the band had given me the opportunities to do just that. At first I had been weary of what my band mates would think. But Jeremy and Matthew were simple people, with simple minds. What they saw was what they got and they rarely asked questions. If they did, they usually were either too drunk or to high to remember. I supposed this was also a part of why I was hesitant to include Nina to our group. Women were more attentive to details, such as why I had never gotten sick.

Nina had been particularly curious that time Jeremy and Matthew had gotten sick from eating at a sketchy Mexican restaurant. I ate everything they did, while Nina stuck with chips and salsa, and a staggering amount of tequila shots. Almost as soon as we stepped inside the hotel room we had occupied for the night, Jeremy and Matthew had dashed to the bathrooms. My excuse was that I had shovelled less in my mouth than they had and that I had a stomach of steel. The next day, I had to pretend that I had been slightly ill. Nina eventually had let it go.

On my way to Angel's house, the house at the edge of town, I thought of what I would say to the girl. If she was home, how could I convince her to go out with me again? Once more, I had promised myself. Although I wondered if it would be enough for me.

I pulled out the piece of paper from the girl at the coffeeshop, reading which way I should turn at the fork of the road. One way was paved and led to another town, the other was covered in snow, dirt and muck. Of course, it had to be the unpaved way. When was it ever the better path?

According to the directions, at the end of this path would be Angel's house.

My heart beat erratically as I walked, careful not to slip off a patch of black ice. The path was lined with large trees, all bare of swaying leaves. Instead, a layer of clear ice and snow covered the branches. The sun was bright and the sky had patches of clouds. A gust of wind blew past and it made the trees moan and crackle. It pushed snow off the ground and pelted my face with tiny pieces of ice. It was a nuissance. The wind picked up as I kept going, and I heard more crackling from a distance. I could imagine this part of the town would appear eerie during the night, which made me wonder how a sweet girl like Angel could live in a place like this.

The end of the road led me to a bleak field, and right in the middle of it sat a blue house with clapboard sidings and a peaked roof with snow piled high on top of it. The wind was a lot angrier in the empty field, and I watched how it picked up the snow, ice and debris, swirling it around the house. Behind the house was a forest of trees. There weren't any cars outside but it could very well be hidden inside the attached garage. I looked around for any signs of life. Even the critters that weren't hibernating stayed away. It was me and the wind.

There wasn't any driveway or clear path towards the house so I trudged through the snow, ignoring how much the wind tried to push and pull me. Halfway through, as I angrily swiped another layer of snow off my face and hair, the wind brought with it another sound. A melody. Music. I was drawn to it.