Angel Dust by Aurora Morgenstern (summer beach reads .TXT) 📕

frames his face. His hair is a bit of a mess but it gives him the impression of an absent minded intellectual, contrasting the warrior image. He gives me a dazzling smile that reaches his blue eyes. To my surprise he is wearing Jeans and a white button down shirt with two slits in the back for a pair of respledent white wings with tips that appear to be covered in gold dust. I am aestruck in the most awkward and embarassing ay possible, I feel like I have been staring at him for way too long already so i divert my eyes toard the ground to discover the he apparently fancies walking barefoot. 

"Hello Felice, I´m Michael but I´m sure you know that. The plaque kind of gives it away", he winks at me and his voice has a kind, sort of playful tone to it. He extends his hand and I nervously shake it.

"Hello, well this is a bit awkard but why exactly is everyone calling me Felice when my name is Katherine?"

"It is custom that when a human soul transitions to become an angel he or she gets a new name to symbolise that they are no longer human but servants of the lord. I chose Felice and I believe it suits you well. But come on inside, I´m sure we have a lot to discuss. Fancy a cup of tea?", he gestures for me to follow him inside and sheepishly I do follow him. The door slams shut behind me and I cast an apologetic look to michael as he turns. This is going great, Kat...doing good ....one would think you´d be a more graceful angel, I think to myself. The interior of the house presents me with a black tiled marble floor and white walls. There are a couple of small framed drawings and paintings decorating the wall in the hallway leading into a big open spaced livingroom. One of the walls in the livingroom is completely made out of glass and oversees big garden. The furniture itself is all black and jewel colours and hard edges, which gives it a very modern look.

"How come your hosue is so modern, do you spend a lot of time on earth?", I blurt out, too nervous to control my impulses.

"I don´t get to spend much time there but I do get to observe a lot and I like to keep with the times instead of remaining still, fixed on one point in time", he answers me patiently. 

"Do you mind if I ask a couple more questions, I´m sorry buts this is just...a lot to take in and to be completely honest I can´t really believe any of it!", I admit in a small voice.

"Off course, I expected as much.", Michael remains utterly cool and collected waiting for my questions.

"What do I call this pace for starters?", I decide to begin with a simple question that should not completely wreck my idea of the universe and everything really.

"I thought you might be able to have figured that one out by yourself. This place as you call it is heaven."

At least I have a name for what might just be a figment of my own imagination, as I think about it a terrifying idea hits me. What if I am in a coma? What if all this is just a fever dream I experience while my body struggles to wake me up? 

"You are not in a coma I can assure you, Felice. You are truely right here, right now with me. Want me to prove it to you?", I don´t even bother asking how he knew what I was thinking and hastily nod. Michael closes his eyes and suddendly a picture explodes in my mind. I can see myself behind the wheel of my car, impatienty tapping my fingers to the beat of a distant tune on the wheel. Then I see how my own head turns, my attention caught by a lightning flare in an otherwise sunny sky and then ...the crash. The exoplosion tears my body apart instantly, but how long is instantly when you can feel your on body being torn into tiny fragments. Then nothing but black, no sound but my own heart racing. I open my eyes, not remembering when I closed them to begin with.

"While unpleasant that was necessary I believe. Have you regained some clarity on your current situation?"

"I...I am really dead...oh god I am actually dead. I have to let my aunt know I´m okay...oh my god", I begin to ramble of in a frenzied state of combined worry and shock. Up until this point some part of me had been sure that I would wake up to see that I had just imagined it all, made all this up. I bite my lip hard and clutch my hands to fists, trying desperately to regain some control.

"Are you alright? I am aware this must be of some shock to you but I have to ask you to calm down. I am very sorry but you cannot, under any circumstances, attempt to contact anyone you knew as a human. Believe me it is better that way, all it does is cause pain and distress for your loved ones and an awful lot of psychiatric treatment.", Michael reaches out and lays a comforting hand on my shoulder. Although I understand what he is saying I feel a sense of defiancy well up inside me, it´s not in my nature to just give up and let people tell me what I can and cannot do. But however strong my stubborn nature may be I do have a soft spot for reason and I therefore decide that for now the best course of action os to find out as much as I can about this new situation. I swallow heavily and move backwards, letting his hand slide off my shoulder gently before clearing my throat.

"I can see you have regained a hold on your emotions. Shall we continue?", there as no noticeable change in him at all from when he introduced himself, he has become a little more detached if there was any change at all.

"Where will I be staying now that I am here? How does all this work? Will I need to register somewhere?", I feel stupid asking those questions but deep down I know however ridiculous they may appear they are yet more answers that can provide me with information about my future and ym surroundings.

"Since I have taken it upon me to be your mentor you will be residing here in my house. And no there is no need for registration, you will be required to meet the council consisting of my brothers, the other archangels. They are very curious about your nature. It will all become clearer once we start your training.", he gives me a warm, reassuring smile. While it may appear odd to be staying with a man I just met I decide that staying is definetly a better idea than being homeless in heaven.

"You mentioned training, what am I training for?", I inquire and he must have picked up on the sharp tone in my voice because he raises a questioning eyebrow. 

"Since you weren´t born an angel you will have to learn how to fly and me and my brothers will help you discover what special talents you might have, that and you will learn how to fight. This is an essential skill for every angel, we always have to be prepared.", this explains why he has the looks of a warrior.

"Prepared for what?"

"Another war like the one that saw my brother betray us.", he sounds grim and there is a note of barely surpressed anger in his voice. I must have hit a nerve to make him loose his cool.

"Oh right...Lucifer is your brother. Why is his house still standing outside? I mean isn´t he the devil, the root of all evil?"

"Lucifer is not what you seem to think he is, he is not that fateful snake that crept into the garden and tempted Eve. Lucifer was the most powerful of us all, he was the lords favourite. Lucifer thought he coud be like god, in his arrogance he thought he could be a better god. He did not agree with gods ways, he wanted to give human kind knowledge...he did not know you weren´t ready for it. It was that same evil that tainted Eve that got a hold on my brother and made him the monster he is today. We have not had the heart to tear his seat down, there may still be hope for him to redeem himself and to ascend again. Although I must admit I have little faith that is what my brother desires. His fall has changhed him and the evil has taken deep roots within him.", there is a deep painful sadness in his words but I can also see a fire raging in his eyes. His words are a lot to take in considering we were having a comparingly light hearted discussion before, but i understand why he feels I need to know this. I decide to change the subject seeing that this one seems to bring him so much grief and anger.

"So why me? Shekinah said you haven´t mentored any angel the last five hundred years"

"You were only the second angel I have ever forseen, I sensed there is something special about you", he says this with utter conviction. 

"So when is all this training going to start because to be honest right now I am starving!", I try a smile to lighten the mood and he smiles back but I can see that like mine it is a rather forced smile. Well done Katherine...you´ve aready managed to fuck this one up pretty bad. Let´s hope he falls on his head and forgets about it. 

"We can begin your training tomorrow. I´ll show you your room and then we will get you something to eat", he promises and rises. I am stunned by the magnificance of his wings yet again and only disover when I attempt to get up from teh couch by myself that grace does not come with being an angel. After a few failed attempts that only end with hurting wings and a cramp in my arms I let Michael help me up. Embarassed I brush imaginary dust off myself and follo him out of the room. He leads me up a sturdy staircase to the second floor of the building, up here all the floors are solid wood of a warm honey like colour and the walls are creamy rather than white. The hallway is wide enough for two angels to walk alongside without touching each others wings and decorated with small shelves covered in endless eyecatching objects. We stop at a door just before the hallway takes a turn to unknown rooms I immediately vow to discover. He opens the door without a word and I take a step inside what feels strangely fitting. The room makes me wonder wether he reached into my mind before decorating it because everything in it is exactly the way I would have imagined it. The outer wall has a large window with a windowstill that enables a person, even one with wings, to sit comfortably in the afternoon sun. I can picture myself sitting there, reading and drawing or just gazing out the window. The walls are of a soft blue that matches the sheets and countless pillows on the big four poster bed that takes up most of the room. I am too amazed to take in all of the carefully selected, perfectly fairytale like furniture in the room. 

"Is this really my room?", I shyly ask Michael.

"Do you find it to your liking, Felice?", he asks with a smile that says he knows how much I have already fallen in love with this room. 

"Well come on then, let´s get you some food. You have all the time