In Between
By Daylight
Gabriel was the awkward middle child.
He was not perfect like Michael, or beautiful like Lucifer, or strong like Raphael.
He never quite fit in.
While his brothers waged war and sang songs of glory, he'd prefer to dance and talk, explore and laugh.
So he became the herald.
He flew about delivering messages, speaking the word of God, shouting heavenly news from the mountaintops.
His brothers said it suited him. He always did like to hear himself talk.
As a consequence, he found himself always in between, appropriate enough for a middle child.
He stood in between God and his creations, archangels and angels, heaven and Earth.
Of all the archangels, he was only one who cared about their younger brothers. The others preferred to look upon them as simply soldiers or minions, or at their worst, cannon fodder.
Gabriel preferred to teach them, to tease them, to encourage their curiosity. He'd pull at their feathers and tell them to fly, fly, fly…
His older brothers said he was a bad influence.
When God created the Earth and the humans, the other angels looked down on them with confusion and distaste.
But Gabriel was fascinated.
He loved watching the little humans. He loved what they created using their passion and free will.
They made him laugh.
He tried to make the other angels laugh, but they didn't seem to understand.
Then the fighting started, bitter and bloody.
And Gabriel was still in between.
Instead of delivering messages, he flew from brother to brother trying to bring appeasement, to make them understand, to make them stop.
All he wanted was for the fighting to stop.
But they didn't listen. Brother turned on brother and the losers were cast down to fiery depth.
A family broken.
He tried to pick up the pieces and comfort the younger ones, but it wasn't the same anymore.
Though the war was over, his brothers still squabbled.
Angels still fell.
And God was silent.
Finally, Gabriel had enough. He fled down to the Earth and hid among the humans.
Losing himself, he happily indulged in their passions and vices. He even picked up a new face laughing at the irony of an angel disguising himself as a pagan god.
He played with the humans, teased them, judged them, sentenced them with his own style of ironic justice.
Because there was no justice in heaven anymore.
He tried to forget about his brothers.
But every now and again, he'd look up to see a shooting star.
And he'd wonder who had fallen.