A Girl in My Life

TIRINTINTIM

And so begins another day, the trumpets blowing and the apprentices waking up. My first day was a bit difficult, after all, I had never done that before, and being the newbie is not easy.

My first day was pretty… Um… Funny, let’s say; all the apprentices were four days older than me, and all of them, without exception of any, mocked me, and the worst, was that I didn’t even know what they were doing, until coach Suriel scolded them and said that you can’t mock a brother or anyone, that is not the attitude of a son of the Lord.

On my first day of training (second day of life) I fell so many times that the healing angels had to bandage my knees and the palms of my hands. I also discovered that the “lord” Suriel was referring to was the same large body standing out amongst the other bodies I had seen on the day of my birth, and that it was also his that was the voice I heard when I first ate, it was him speaking in his holy spirit form.

I had no further contact with him, but he knew ( at that time I did not know how) what was happening and as punishment for mocking me, he determined that the other apprentices would only receive their wings on the same day I received mine. Everyone was outraged. The right thing was for them to receive their wings four weeks after their birth; now, they will be the first generation of angels who received their wings four weeks and four days after your birth.

Well, today I complete four weeks of life, I’m nervous; my hands tremble and shake, I feel my stomach turning and a slight cold at the foot of my belly spreading.

– Calm down Anael, – says Suriel approaching me – This way you will faint before the hour.

I widen my eyes, this cannot happen, I was always so anxious for this day, I cannot ruin it this way! And besides…

– Is there a right time to faint? – I asked perplexed with this supposed information.

During this week, I learned everything that is needed, and I already know exactly how my body works, I have total control over every little piece of it. I also discovered that the wings of angels are different. They are not all white, they have different colours and each colour reveals their mission, they are:

One: They have white wings with golden tips, these are the angels who look after the library, the archives, they help the Lord in the administration of heaven.

Two: White wings with a light green tip, these are of the angels who look after the heavenly gardens. Those who take care and watch over the beauty of heaven.

Three: The white wings with the silver tips belong to the warrior angels, to the platoon commanded directly by the lord, they are the ones who wage war defending the lord’s kingdom from other gods.

Four: The white wings with grey tips belong to the angels in charge of some division of heaven. There are only 7 angels with these wings and they are the most ancient among us.

Five: The white wings with the lilac tips are those of the healing angels, they are responsible for taking care of all the other angels, so all the classes depend on the angels with the lilac tips.

Six: The wings that have their extension completely white, are of the commanders and trainers. They are responsible for the novices, taking care of their learning both in practical fights and in theoretical matters. And they are the commanders of the platoons of guardian angels.

Seven: The white wings with the sky blue tips, are for the guardian angels. The protectors of humans.

The guardian angels are divided into two classes:

class one: Those who follow the whole day just accompanying their protégé and writing in a book everything he did, and freeing them from some dangers caused by themselves;

class two: They are the warrior protectors, they war with the black winged angels to protect the humans.

This class does not have a specific protégé, they stay on alert and will defend any human that is threatened by the fallen angels. I’m still not sure what humans are, I haven’t been able to observe any yet, I only know that they are the lord’s greatest creation, and that they are in his image and likeness. They must be so beautiful since they possess the image of my lord.

I also heard about something like free will, I don’t know exactly what it is, but from the conversations I heard in the corridors of other angels it is the power of choice, I don’t understand what it means, but I let it go, as Suriel told me, little by little I will know everything.

I didn’t mention the angels with black wings, right?

Well, no angel receives these wings, they are a reason for shame, because the wings turn black when the angel is expelled from heaven. This is a way of showing that he is unworthy, that he has erred and betrayed the Lord; that he has disobeyed the commandments, that he has done something against the Lord’s creation.

Okay, I was kind of surprised by those wings, I never imagined that there could be angels who would do such affronts to someone so good. I hope I never have to take my black wings and get kicked out of here. Although the other apprentices ignore me, I love paradise, here I have everything I need, here my life is perfect, I have nothing to worry about, and the other older angels like me, and that is enough for me to be happy here.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

– It depends only on you,” he says, placing his right hand on my shoulder and patting it twice.

– What do you mean? – I ask with a frown.

– If you’re a strong angel, you won’t faint – he winks his right eye at me and leaves the dorm.

Strange, isn’t it? I’m the only one in the dorm. The other apprentices are still disgusted with me; they blame me for the delay in getting their wings and the humiliation of being the only ones in history to start off on the wrong foot in their lives as angels. They are all packing up at Seraphim’s waterfall, and I am left here, alone; but as my best friend and coach always tells me:

‘Better alone, than in bad company ‘ – I still don’t understand what bad company means, but soon I will have wisdom about all this, for as soon as we gain our wings the curtain in our eyes opens.

He also tells me that I should not feel anger, hatred or hold grudges in my heart from my brothers, for we are angels! And angels should only be bearers of good feelings, for example: Love; hope; compassion; gratitude and so on.

He warned me that if I feel bad feelings, let myself be carried away by anger, envy, gluttony, sloth, lust, greed and pride, if I am dominated by any of these feelings my wings will also turn black, and after the wings turn black, there is no forgiveness for the bearer of these wings, once black, always black.

According to what was explained to me they don’t just turn black out of the blue without any process to this fact, rather these angels will feel their wings hurt a lot and the lord in his holy spirit form will in thought as a voice in the back of their mind alert them. And he will give them three chances to realize where they are going wrong, to repent and go to the palace to the lord to confess and ask for forgiveness.

Today’s garments are different, today all apprentices wear white trousers, however, after we receive our wings, the trousers will be the same colour as the tips of the wings of their respective owners.

I am already ready, just waiting for Suriel who will come to call me when it is time to go to the lord’s palace, where the wings ceremony will take place. This will be the second time in all my life that I will have the pleasure of contemplating the Lord, my creator, with my own eyes.

I walk from side to side, rubbing my hands together, I feel my heart pulsing hard in my chest causing me to have rapid uncompensated breathing, anxiety is something I need to work hard to stop feeling.

“Ahhhh! What’s taking so long!?” – I think out loud in my thoughts.

– Come on Anael, it’s time – shouts Suriel at the door of the room.

Hearing Suriel’s call, my blood freezes, it’s time! I take a deep breath, I pass my hands on my trousers to remove some of the sweat accumulated on them. After taking two more deep breaths, I follow Suriel out of the dormitory, a carriage is in front of it and in it I can already see all the other nine apprentice aspirants. I get into it, and the coachman heads for the palace.