A.O. Esther

This time, I sat next to a pixie girl called Takara, who had pinkish hair and wore a bright pink dress to match. She was the first forest-dweller I had seen wearing jewellery: she was wearing a necklace and bracelet of finely worked crystal beads. When she noticed my interest, she removed her bracelet and held it out to me. __ophiel, I would be so pleased if you would wear this!__ was surprised by this kind and very selfless gesture; after all, I had not been admiring her jewels with any intention of asking her to part with them!__ou__e very kind, Takara, but I was merely admiring your handiwork!_ I said, trying politely to refuse her gift. __itsuko told me that you make your jewellery yourself. You__e very talented, they__e really lovely pieces, but I wouldn__ want to take them away from you. It__ you that makes these jewels really beautiful!

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to choose between your loved ones, knowing that whatever you decided, you would have to lie to one of them?___es. More than once._ Elijah__ words sounded far too cold in the sudden silence. His finely chiselled face tensed up and his eyes grew cold. __nd before you ask, I chose you every time.

I lied to you,_ she said, hanging her head in shame, __ore than once. In fact, I swore that my lies were truth. I can__ understand how it could have happened. It just came out of my mouth and by the time I realised what I'd done, it was too late. __t__ never too late to realise that you were mistaken, Sophiel.

But life is beautiful, Sariel!_ Gabriel said, trying to convince him. __atch the sunrise sometime lying in the scented flowers of the field, or the shooting stars at the end of summer! Read a couple of really exciting books or lose yourself in the unselfconscious smiles of children. Have a swim in a clear mountain lake or take a run among trees clothed in autumn colours. If you can see the good in Earth, your own existence will become the richer for it!___hat all sounds very well and good, but you haven__ convinced me,_ the deep-voiced angel murmured and Ariel laughed. __y friend, Gabriel was very gently trying to suggest that you should fall in love and that will better dispose you to the world!

What am I to you?__ophiel smiled. __he sun. You are my sun, like Astrid said. My sun, that lights up my life. That looks after me with its fiery rays. I only have to turn towards it for it to set fire to my heart.

I opened the window to let some fresh air into the room and was surprised to see that the rain was not just falling, but that it formed an actual wall of water, as if the whole sky were falling. While I was staring at the strange phenomenon, the form of an angel began to appear before me_ It was Matariel, the Angel of Rain, whom I had not seen since my descent and who on this occasion appeared in a shiny, blue-grey form. She was only an arm__ length away and stared straight at me. She looked like a young woman floating on enormous wings -not a single drop of rain touched her. The smell of the cool rain swept the room as Matariel began talking to me. She never once moved her lips, but her every word was clearly audible in my head.

After a while I noticed that the pendant heart-shaped I wore around my neck, as every angel does, had begun to pulsate with blue light. I knew that this was thanks to Raphael and that he was sending healing energy for Joshua. I took my necklace off and gently put it round his neck so as not to wake him. The blue light grew stronger and started to flicker _ then, drawing circles on the sick boy__ skin, it vanished around the level of his heart chakras. As blue light pervaded his entire body from head to toe, I could feel his burning skin slowly cool and his breathing became even.

I was now blinded by a flood of light, but when I realised how many countless numbers of angels were imprisoned in Bardo__ dismal prison, it took my breath away. __abriel!_ I shouted to my leader with all my might, but he gave no sign of hearing me. __abriel!_ I said, trying again, and it seemed that the handsome face reacted just a little. At that moment, a band of goblins reached the hall with a terrible ruckus. I had to flee. I grabbed the chains binding Gabriel and cried one last time . __abriel!_ _the angel__ emerald green eyes looked up. He gazed deep into my eyes, . __lease forgive me,_ I whispered. My chest felt like it would burst with pain from the guilt burning inside me. __ swear I__l atone for my sin and get you out of here!_ . Gabriel gave no reply, but just looked at me sadly. I would have been less tortured if he had screamed at me or come at me, but he simply let me sink into my guilt.

The Dark Angel had seen much over the course of the past millennia, the passing of hundreds of thousands of mortal lives. He felt neither remorse nor mercy for the enemies he had felled in the course of wars and battles. He did what he had to do and believed that the people of Earth did not deserve all the good things they had received. For him, most people were harmful parasites who, in the process of their brief mortal lives, tried to get ahead by climbing over each other and destroying their own homes. He looked down on them and their love of material things. He believed that the star of humankind was waning, and that its brief stay on Earth would serve, at most, to swell the ranks of slaves in the underworld, where eventually darkness would eat them away.

In the end, Astrid couldn__ do anything about my . . . turning into light, but she made a prediction. She said the sun would help me and I would be cured thanks to its efforts.___he sun?___es. It was the symbol I drew from among the runes. Astrid says it represents . . ._ __hat?_ he said, looking at me curiously, and I could see that he really wanted to hear the answer. I became embarrassed. __t__ not important . . ._ I muttered. __lease tell me!_ He turned fully towards me and I could feel myself blushing pink. __he . . . man in my life.__ was done for. My heart was beating heavily but Elijah, for the first time since I had awoken, smiled. I was incredibly ashamed of myself, so I made to go back to the house, but the Dark Angel grabbed my wrist.

Can I ask you something very personal while you try things on?___es, of course, what do you want to know?___well, it__ just that_ I don__ want to offend you,_ she said uncertainly. __h come on, Akane, out with it!_ Mitsuko prompted her, __ want to know the answer too!___ery well,_ agreed the little auburn pixie and cut to the chase: __here are your wings?__he question was so unexpected that I burst out laughing. __ had to part with them when I came down to Earth. __t__ something every angel has to deal with if they__e planning to spend any length of time down here.___nd what__ your life like, up there?_ Akane asked. __n the Kingdom of Heaven, we live as beings of pure light._ __p there, there__ no such thing as fear, pain, hot or cold. We don__ know hunger, suffering, ageing or death. We have no need of food and we don__ sleep. We are the messengers of God and we watch over the lives of mortals. We come to Earth often, but only as spirits, and once we__e completed our task down here, we always go back to the White Woods.