When Mica arrived on Earth, she was no longer adorned in her white angel dress. Instead, she was dressed in a rust-colored sweater with white and black stripes, similar to the colors of the robe of the Hebrew prophet, Moses. She wore black trousers and had sandals on her feet. Her wings were no longer visible, for they were concealed underneath the long white trenchcoat that was covering over her earthly attire. Her fingernails were painted black. Her halo was missing. She took it off before descending down to Earth. Nobody noticed her land in an alleyway in California. Nobody saw her.
She appeared unconscious lying there motionless in the alleyway, but when she opened her eyes and lifted her head, Mica found herself lying on a dirty ground surrounded by garbage and filth. Her body ached in several places, but she supposed this was normal, being inside a mortal's body and all. She sat up slowly and winced, feeling a slight burning sensation on her neck as something started to form there. Reaching her hand up, Mica ran her fingers across a mark of some kind. The mark of a loyal angel. This was all new and strange to her, but she knew this was all part of the 'transformation process' when being turned from angel to human.
Mica stood up very slowly and leaned herself against the brick wall until she found her balance, getting used to being inside her mortal body. She was so accustomed to being an angel and using her wings, she almost never used her legs. She walked before in Heaven, but not often. Once she found herself used to it, Mica walked out of the alley and gazed around her, taking in the many sights and sounds and smells of the bustling city.
The air wasn't exactly as sweet as she thought it would be, but the simple act of breathing was pleasant enough, as Mica walked through the streets, trying to blend in and act like a human. She jumped out of the way when some teenagers on skateboards came zooming by, laughing and having a great time. A black man in a business suit walked by talking into a cellular phone, clutching a briefcase in one hand. Mica looked to her right and saw a woman in her seventies wiping her grandson's nose and telling him to be still. A nicely-toned jogger ran by wearing a pair of headphones over his ears, listening to his favorite music while he exercised.
The humans were all different sizes and shapes and colors. Mica smiled and was amazed to see just how different each and every one of them was. They each had a certain feature or skill or ability that made them special and unique. To her, it was the same equivalent as someone looking at art in a museum. This was only but a small taste of the many people she would see and encounter during her time on Earth, as she would also learn about the many different ways of life people lived. Something that Gabriel never told her about.
Walking by a florist shop, Mica smelled a bouquet of flowers that a street vendor was selling. A twenty-something male right next to her was purchasing a dozens red roses for his girlfriend for her birthday. He paid the vendor and thanked him before he left, to which the vendor looked at Mica, who went about her business. She stopped at a corner and waited to walk across the street with some other people who wanted to get to the other side.
Mica continued walking until she came to a jewelry shop and stopped in front of the window, eying the many dazzling rings and necklaces, such things that angels never wore. They were indeed beautiful to look at, but angels had no need to wear sparkling stones to make them feel good about themselves or look beautiful. Angels were beautiful enough on their own.
Mica heard a loud disruption and turned around as a car came driving by, playing some type of strange music on what they called a radio. Hip hop music, the humans called it. Mica never understood why humans liked to hear profanity in their music. To her, it was completely unnecessary. So far, she liked half of the things she saw, but was more focused on looking for Gabriel, so that was what she went to do.
Never having realized just how big one city could be, Mica came to a park and sat down on a bench to rest, enjoying the sunshine and breathing the fresh air. So far, she had no luck in finding Gabriel, but looking to her right, she found a fluffy, ginger puppy, a Pomeranian, wondering around, looking lost. Mica got up from the bench and went over to pick up the little puppy. Her fur was dirty and she looked like she hadn't eaten in days.
"Hello, there", said Mica. "Where did you come from?"
The little puppy squirmed and whimpered in her arms, but Mica shushed her gently and patted her head. Two, sad-looking, dark brown eyes looked upon the face of the angel girl holding her and the little puppy stopped whimpering almost immediately. She trembled in Mica's arms, but welcomed the love she was being given.
Mica noticed the little puppy had a collar on and looked at the inscription tag. There was a name and an address on it, also a phone number. The license said the puppy's name was Daisy.
"Daisy." Mica looked at the little puppy and asked her, "Is that your name?"
The ginger pup whimpered and rested her head against Mica's chest.
"I guess that's a yes", Mica said to herself. She looked at the address again and started making her way to the neighborhood where the little puppy's owner lived. She didn't know how to use a telephone, but she had a good memory and remembered seeing the address before from watching humans on Earth. A little boy lived in a house on that address with his parents and two older brothers. His name was Elliott.
Mica walked until she came to the right address and went up to the door and knocked on it. She waited patiently until a woman with short brown hair came to the door and opened it.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"Hello." Mica presented the little ginger puppy to the woman. "I found this dog and-"
The woman gasped in shock and put a mouth over her mouth. "Oh, my God!" She exclaimed. Lowering her hand, she suddenly called over her shoulder, "Elliott! Elliot, come here!"
"What is it, Mommy?" The young voice of a five-year-old boy asked.
Mica looked down and saw a little boy with brown hair and hazel eyes come to the door. He gasped the same way as his mother did, his face lighting up like a star when he saw the puppy in Mica's arms.
"Daisy!" The boy shouted, joyfully.
The puppy squirmed and started barking excitedly, to which Mica handed the ginger puppy over to the boy. Daisy whimpered and started licking the boy's face. Elliott started crying, his face turning bright red.
"Thank you, thank you!" Elliott said through his tears, hugging Daisy tightly.
"Thank you so much for finding her", Elliott's mother said.
"You're welcome", said Mica.
"Wait, don't go anywhere", said Elliott's mother. "I have something for you."
"Oh, no, you don't have to give me anything", said Mica.
"Oh, but I insist. You went to so much trouble finding her. Just wait right here, please."
"Okay."
Elliott's mother left, and returned a moment later, counting out some money. "Here. That's two-hundred dollars."
"You're giving me money?" Mica asked, confused. She wasn't quite familiar with the concept of money, but she knew that it was a neutral thing. "Oh, no, please. That's not necessary."
"Please take it", said Elliott's mother. "You found my little boy's dog. He's been devastated without her."
Mica looked down at the boy, who simply nodded. The angel girl shrugged and accepted the money, putting it in her pocket without even looking at it. "Thank you, miss", she said. "That's very generous of you."
"No, thank you." Elliott's mother looked down at him and asked, "What do you say to the nice lady, Elliott?"
"Thank you for finding my puppy, miss lady", said Elliott. "I missed her so much."
Mica knelt down to the boy's level and said, "And she missed you, too. Make sure you give her lots of love, Elliott. Feed her plenty of food and give her a nice warm bath so she feels better."
"I will", Elliott promised.
Mica scratched behind the ginger puppy's ear and said, "Bye, Daisy."
Daisy barked in response, making Elliott laugh and smile. He hugged her tighter.
Mica rose up and said, "God bless you both."
"Same to you", said Elliott's mother. "Bye now."
"Bye!" Elliott shouted before his mother closed the door.
Mica turned and walked off the front porch. She stopped outside the fence surrounding the house and looked back, kissing two of her fingers and waving them above her head, giving them an angel's blessing.
Once she left the house with the money in her pocket, Mica tried to decide what to do next. She didn't have a home to go to, but there were places called motels that people usually stayed in while they traveled, and that was what she went to look for next. Mica entered a one-story building and asked to stay for the night. The manager asked her to sign her name and gave her a key to Room 7. Mica paid the manager fifty dollars and went down to the room and opened the door with the key. She switched on the light and opened the drapes, not liking it being so dark. She turned her attention over to the bed and crouched down to look underneath as though she were a mother checking for monsters under her child's bed. She found none.
Mica pulled the blanket back down and said to herself, "Good. So long as I keep the lights on, he won't bother to come look for me."
When nightfall came, Mica couldn't sleep and she had no idea how the strange box in her room worked, so she decided to go out for a walk and explore the nightlife. She walked the street by herself, viewing it as being no different during the day, except for the dangers that lurked in dark alleyways and abandoned buildings. She stopped momentarily to stare at a woman in a tasteless outfit standing on a corner, waiting patiently to lure a man into her trap with the promise of lust in exchange for money. Mica knew that not all people in that profession were bad, but the act itself was of a sinful nature. She looked away and pulled up the collar of her trenchcoat until she walked over to the next block up ahead.
Mica hadn't gotten very far when she caught sight of something glistening out of the corner of her eye and looked to her right. She ran over to pick up the object and was shocked to discover that it was a trumpet. She lifted her head and looked around for the owner of this very special trumpet, knowing that if this trumpet was here, that meant Gabriel couldn't be very far off.