Part 1
Declan Dunn paused in mid-sentence when he saw the familiar form of the hospital psychiatrist appear in the doorway of his classroom. She had arrived earlier than he'd expected, and the anthropologist knew that his friend didn't exactly give much credit to the topic of today's lecture.
"Angels," he repeated, covering his tracks. "Heavenly beings from another plane of existence. For thousands of years, man has spoken of them, looked for them, and some say," he glanced over at Peggy. "Made them up."
A young woman in one of the middle rows raised her hand tentatively. Declan nodded to her, acknowledging her desire to speak.
"The Bible is very clear on the existence of angels," she stated.
"What if you don't believe in the Bible?" someone else countered. "Or God?"
"What indeed?" Declan jumped back into the conversation, picking up where the skeptical young man had left off. "Some social scientist and anthropologists believe that angels were just a way for our God-fearing ancestors to explain the lights in the sky which we know associate as being UFO's. Which leads us to our topic for today"
~*~*~*~
"Angels, huh?" Peggy asked once the class was over. Dec shrugged.
"That's what the media are calling it." He grabbed his briefcase off the desk and headed for his office, Peggy at his side. Once there he snatched up the morning newspaper before it could disappear into the general clutter that was his office. "The Angels of Wash-out Lane."
"Declan" Peggy began to admonish him.
"I know, I know. 'There is no afterlife, no higher spiritual realm.' Blah, blah, blah. Just read the article, okay?"
"Sources reveal that one of the indigents, a man known only as Shep, claims to have seen a 'glistening white shape' hovering over him as he fell asleep," she read. "Declan, you do realize that this man's account can't really be trusted. He's a homeless old man! He was probably drunk or is just making it up."
"I didn't say you had to believe it, Peggy. Heck!" he grinned at her suddenly "I didn't even say I believed it. I just want to check it out, is all."
"That's all?" Peggy asked, a smile forming on her face as a direct result of his infectious grin.
"Sure. You're coming, right?"
"Declan, I" he was giving her that look again-half-pleading, all hopeful, and very adorable. "Oh, alright."
~*~*~*~