Angel
“What do angels look like?”
“Why?”
“I saw one in the front garden.”
“An angel?”
“Yeah.”
“How d’you know it was an angel?”
“It was tall. And floaty.”
“Did it have wings?”
“Don’t know.”
“Probably not an angel then.”
“It was.”
“Well, did it have a halo?”
“A what?”
“A ring of light on top of its head.”
“The light was kind of everywhere.”
“Cool.”
“And it had like a bird’s face, with a beak.”
“So, it was a big bird.”
“No, it was only like a bird.”
“That’s all you saw?”
“I saw the feet!”
“What about them?”
“They had wellies on.”
“Wellies?”
“Yeah.”
“Right.”
“Well, it’s rainy outside!”
“You little liar.”
“I’m not!”
“Just admit you’re having me on.”
“I swear I’m not!”
“…You really think there was an angel?” “Yes!”
“But couldn’t it just have been an ugly neighbour walking past?”
“It was an angel!”
“I don’t think angels wear wellington boots.”
“Yes, they do!”
“…Then I guess it was.”
“Was what?”
“I guess it was an angel.”
“Good.”
“…”
“…”
“You mad with me?”
“You don’t believe me.”
“You want biscuits?”
“No.”
“You want to play trains?”
“…All right.”
“Where’s the toy-box?”
“On the shelf. You put the tracks out. And you can’t be the red one, I’m the red one.”
“OK.”
“The green one is you.”
“OK.”
“It’s my fourth-favourite.”
“…”
“…”
“Is that you and me by the station?”
“No. It’s me and the angel.”
“Oh. What’s it doing to you there?”
“It’s stepping inside me. Like it promised.”
“What’s happening now?”
“The angel doesn’t like trains. It’s made them all crash.”
“Danny can we please-
“MAY THEY BE LIKE CHAFF BEFORE THE WIND, WITH THE ANGEL OF THE LORD DRIVING THEM AWAY. MAY THEIR PATH BE SLICK AND DARK, WITH THE ANGEL OF THE LORD PURSUING THEM.”
“Danny-”
“THIS IS HOW IT WILL BE AT THE END OF AN AGE. THE ANGELS WILL COME AND SEPARATE THE WICKED FROM THE RIGHTEOUS AND THROW THEM INTO THE BLAZING FURNACE.”
“Jesus Christ, what the hell is that?”
Hannah Froggatt is a final-year English Literature and Creative Writing student at the University of Warwick. She is Local News Editor of the nationally syndicated University Paper and an editor at the Basilica Press Literary Journal. You can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JustHantastic
Picture credit to Frank Borga.
