Chapter Three
I was blushing extremely hard as Ezra teased me, once again, about my lapse in attention.
"Look, Ezra, I will hurt you." I threatened. He just laughed harder; I'd never been much of a fighter.
"How could you not notice?" he asked, rhetorically.
"He was busy watching that girl." Nehemiah answered seriously. We were sitting in a tree; Nehemiah in a branch higher than mine, and Ezra on the ground.
"I know I keep saying this, but Jev, I'm worried. You know this; you know I'm not normally so serious-"
"Yeah, you've been a real killjoy as of late." Ezra interjected. Nehemiah ignored him.
"-but I sense something in your future. I don't want you to get hurt, man. Just…tread lightly." He finished. I'd heard enough of Nehemiah's warnings, so my answer was slightly arrogant.
"Nehemiah, lighten up. It's not this deep." Ignoring his grimace, I moved on to the question that had been on my mind for a while. Jesus had said that "she'd be waiting for me"; surely it was the woman in the fountain. I just knew that I was supposed to meet her!
"How do you feel about being human?" There was silence for a moment as they absorbed my question.
"Being human? I'd rather not. I find them quite brutish." Ezra said.
"I prefer my spot here, yes." Nehemiah answered. I turned to Ezra.
"You're a bit biased, considering you're an Avenging Angel. Your entire job is to punish. It's like you're taught to see the bad!" I'd always thought this, but I'd never let it slip. Under his jovial exterior, Ezra could be cold and merciless, and he was very sensitive about his training. Before he could get angry, I turned to Nehemiah.
"And you; you deal with the dead all of the time, but if you could just see them living!"
"Huh. Mr. High-and-Mighty Archangel, back again." Ezra commented.
"I want to watch them closely! I just want to see…" I looked around me, but spoke in mind speak anyway. What it's like to be human.
They stiffened.
It's forbidden, Jev! You must not attempt it. Nehemiah thought.
Ezra sat up, gazing at me. It's no light offense, cavorting with humans. It's not like sneaking out of a class, Jev.
I need to know. I don't plan on speaking to any of them, or mating. I just want to watch. Archangels go all of the time.
Yes, unseen! Nehemiah fired back. Those who are seen are on a divine mission! Not to play!
Being foolish, I refused to see reason. I won't get caught! If no one sees me… I saw Nehemiah shaking his head, and I got angry. You're on Earth all of the time!
It's my job, Jev, not some childish whim! It's what I am preordained to do! Nehemiah rarely rose his voice, thought or otherwise, and so I knew that I had bothered him. He fell from the tree, and began to walk away.
"I can't take this! There are too many bad feelings, and that's saying a lot coming from an Angel of Death. Jev, see reason!" And with that, he flew away. Ezra, who had been unusually quiet, stood.
"You know he's sensitive. I'll go get him." He murmured. "Look. You can't do this. Read the Book of Enoch, Jev. In detail, this time. And don't tell him I said this, but Nehemiah is rarely wrong when he has a "feeling" about something." He spread his wings, getting ready to take off. "We love you, man. We're always there for you, but this is too much. You're too smart to consider what that you have in mind a possibility. I'll give you some time to think about it." He took off to go find Nehemiah.
However, I was too self-possessed of the idea. It burned like a fire; I had to go see what was below. I had to see the girl that was in the fountain. It was my rebelliousness, I suppose, that pushed me. I needed to see what I found for myself. I even needed to prove my friends wrong about me. Preordained, ha! What if I didn't want to be preordained? I always questioned everything while in the Archangels' chamber, and I was rarely heeded, or I was called out for being rebellious or impudent. My decisions were rarely considered, although I could easily say I possessed enough power to be relevant. I needed to prove them all wrong. I might even decide to stay, and become a human, and then no one could preordain me!
I waited until night. With the image of the girl in my mind, pushing me forward, I walked to the cloudfall, where the clouds spilled from heaven and onto the Earth. I lifted from the ground, and plunged through them.
Tsk...he's so hard-headed.