Lost Soul (2 page)

“Wow,” Michael replied in awe, gazing around with a new appreciation for his fellow guardians in light of his newfound understanding.

Emit chuckled then his voice turned serious.
 
“Yes, Michael, guardians are very powerful beings, entrusted with great responsibility.
 
The Father has placed his most beloved creation in our care.
 
Only those who exhibit supreme dedication are given the task of guarding a human.
 
And the Lord believes YOU are equal to the task, Michael.”

“But, he doesn’t even know me yet!” Michael wondered, “How can he know I’m cut out for this?”

“He made you, Michael, he knows exactly who you are and what you will become.
 
You can feel honored he has chosen you and pledge to do your best to fulfill your duties.”

“I will, Dominion Emit, I promise,” Michael replied earnestly, his eagerness replaced by trepidation.

“You have much to learn still, Michael.
 
Let us return to heaven and resume your lessons.”

“Yes, Dominion, but first, can we see just a little more of Earth?” Michael begged, a mischievous smile on his angelic face.

“I suppose it won’t hurt to show you a few more sights,” Emit conceded and immediately whisked Michael away on a whirlwind tour of his favorites places on Earth.

chapter two

Three weeks into his training, Michael thought he was definitely getting the hang of the whole guardian angel gig.
 
Between taking classes on ancient Israel, understanding human idiosyncrasies, and Armageddon preparation, Michael was also surreptitiously practicing human embodiment techniques and he was itching to test out his skills in the real world.
 
He thought it would be totally awesome if he could pass for a human long enough to actually talk to one.
 
Humans were captivating and he was quickly learning why they were the Big Guy’s favorite creation.
 
Sure, a lot of them were selfish and terrible, but just as many were kind and generous and considerate.
 
Plus, they were exciting — always coming up with fresh ideas and creating new things — sort of like God himself.
 
Their jobs were sometimes strange, but always intriguing.
 
Some people poked at computers all day, some slaved away in the fields, and some operated enormous machinery that could crush them like bugs, but instead they had complete mastery of it.
 
Some even got paid to let TV cameras follow them around all day.
 
At first he couldn’t figure why anyone cared what those “celebrities” did all day, but then he realized he too spent most of his free time watching random people go about their daily lives.
 
Humans were just so fascinating!

Their appearance was interesting, too.
 
So many different skin tones and body shapes and facial configurations!
 
It was amazing how God had made each one of them totally unique.
 
When Michael practiced incarnation, he tried a different look every time.
 
He wished he knew what it felt like to be human.
 
He was pretty sure the different ages and races and genders experienced human life very differently, but he had no idea what it felt like to be any kind of human, let alone a specific one.
 
He wondered if it would be hard to anticipate the danger humans might get into since he couldn’t get inside their heads.
 
He really wished he could know what they were thinking!
 
After class was over each day, he would watch the humans scurrying around and imagine exactly who his charge would be.
 
Since he would be assigned to a human at birth, he knew his human wasn’t even alive yet, but he couldn’t help but imagine himself with the humans who caught his eye each night as he watched them, planning and dreaming about life on Earth.

Dominion Emit encouraged the guardians-in-training to spend some of their free time watching the active-duty angels in action so they could learn from the pros.
 
Michael would watch for hours, choosing a different subject each day, but his attention was more focused on the humans than the angels.
 
He loved to see them laugh and play and hug.
 
Even their anger was intriguing.
 
Nobody ever got angry in heaven.
 
He liked to try to predict what each of them would do when they got angry.
 
Would they cry, or scream, or throw something?
 
Their responses were as unique as their appearances.
 
Some of them were downright scary when they got upset, and for a brief moment he worried, what if he didn’t like his human?
 
Surely God wouldn’t do that, would he?
 
His ways were awfully mysterious sometimes.

Michael was contemplating the mysteries of the universe when something unusual caught his eye — a teenage girl with two guardian angels.
 
His eyes did a double-take, not only because of the double angels but also because of the stunning beauty of the girl they surrounded.
 
She was as magnificent a creature as God had ever made and her face glowed with pleasure as she laughed, full and throaty, head thrown back in happiness.
 
Who was she to require twice the allotted angelic protection?
 
Intrigued by the enigma, Michael decided to investigate.
 
He hunkered down, intent on watching her until he figured out the answer.
 
The girl lived in a quaint neighborhood in a small American town —a nice enough place, but nowhere anyone important would be expected to live.
 
Perhaps she had a pivotal spiritual destiny to fulfill, one the devil was anxious to prevent.
 
Michael watched as the girl chatted on the phone animatedly.
 
She was lounging on a blanket in her backyard, the sun bright and warm on her lithe, tan body.
 
Its golden rays bounced off her silky blonde curtain of hair as she tossed it behind her shoulder.
 
Michael noticed that one angel was sitting next to her, his watchful eyes alternating between her person and the world around her, anticipating every possible danger.
 

The other angel, however, was hovering behind them, staring intently at the girl’s body.
 
As the girl shifted on the blanket, briefly exposing the swell of her breasts, the second angel’s eyes burned with an emotion Michael had never seen on a guardian’s face before: lust.
 
In shock, Michael glanced around to see who else might have witnessed this unusual behavior.
 
Only one other angel was within sight: a guardian protecting a young mother and her baby in the next yard over.
 
Michael blinked and looked again.
 
That couldn’t be right!
 
No angel was assigned two humans to protect!
 
It would be impossible to look after them both all the time.
 
That’s why humans were assigned their own guardian as soon as they were born.
 
With sudden clarity, Michael realized what was happening.
 
The girl was not so special as to warrant an extra guardian angel, she was just beautiful enough to attract one.
 
The guardian staring lustfully after her belonged to the baby lying safely in its mother’s arms.

Michael gasped as he realized the significance of what he had witnessed.
 
Angels were not like humans.
 
They did not have the same level of free will that allowed humans to make all their own choices, including the ones that had gotten humans kicked out of the garden of Eden in the first place.
 
Angels had duties assigned by the Lord and they were expected to fulfill them.
 
They were created in the bosom of heaven and had intimate knowledge of their Sovereign and his perfection, so it was easy for them to follow his commands.
 
His glory and righteousness inspired obedience.
 
Angels did not live in the same realm as humans, and they were not tempted in the same way as humans.
 
The last time an angel had sinned, a third of heaven was cast out!
 
Michael didn’t even know what to think of this development.
 
The Lord knew everything, so surely he was aware of what was going on.
 
Why wasn’t he doing anything about it?
 
Things were getting curiouser and curiouser.

Michael watched as the young mother set the baby on an activity mat by her feet and picked up a novel.
 
The infant swatted happily at the toys dangling from the crisscrossed armature of the play-piece, squeezing the belly of the squeaky stuffed frog and staring intently at the monkey-shaped mirror.
 
She giggled and cooed at her image in the mirror then grabbed the slinky-like body of the snake and gave it a hard pull.
 
It bounced and bobbed, inciting a squeal of laughter.
 
She waved her arms and legs in happiness and Michael smiled, entranced by her antics.
 
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and his heart squeezed with an emotion too intense for him to name.
 
Eventually, the baby managed to roll herself onto her stomach, but was disappointed by the lack of entertainment available in that position.
 
Soon, she had hoisted herself onto her hands and knees and was wriggling her butt back and forth as tried to generate locomotion.
 
Michael chuckled at her adorable wiggle.

Absorbed in her book, the mother didn’t notice when the infant managed to crawl off the mat and into the soft grass.
 
She hadn’t gone far when she stopped abruptly, intrigued by something she saw in front of her.
 
Before Michael could even identify the object of her attention, the baby had popped it into her mouth and was rolling it around on her tongue, her face scrunched up in distaste.
 
The expression quickly morphed into one of shock and Michael was confused until the child’s eyes popped open in fear and her mouth gaped in an airless breath.
 
Michael quickly glanced towards the infant’s angel, who was still staring lustfully at the teenage girl, then back towards the mother who was still engrossed in her novel.
 
The baby was suffocating and no one even noticed!

In a panic, Michael did the only thing he could think of to do, he jumped.
 
Without thought to the consequences, Michael made the astronomical leap from heaven to Earth, straight into the baby’s body.
 
He knocked her arms out from under her, dropping her hard onto the ground, the sudden pressure on her belly expelling the object with a gasp of air.
 
The baby cried out and a small rock shot from her mouth and landed silently on the grass in front of her.
 
Michael sighed with relief as the air filled her lungs and she resumed her happy gurgling.
 
She pulled herself up and laughed, her little giggle the sweetest sound Michael had ever heard.
 
Instantly forgetting her trauma, the infant reached out her chubby hand to grab the rock again and Michael immediately pulled her back, his heart pounding with anxiety.
 
Michael looked around through the baby’s eyes and saw the others still involved in their own pursuits.
 
He expected them to be staring at him in surprise or admiration, but no one had even noticed what had happened.
 
It had only taken a few seconds, but it had felt like a lifetime.
 
His thudding heart eventually settled into a more normal rhythm as he watched the people around him from the eyes of his pint-size host.

That other angel hadn’t looked his way even once!
 
Michael might be a brand new angel, but he knew the most important rule of guarding — keep your charge safe.
 
How could that guardian expect to watch over the baby when he only had eyes for the neighbor girl?
 
And why hadn’t anyone called him on it?
 
Was there no accountability?
 
Who was watching the angels?
 
He expected Dominion Emit or some other higher authority to come investigate the situation, but no one in heaven seemed to be paying attention either.
 
Didn’t anyone notice a lowly guardian-in-training jumping into a human to save it?
 
Michael began to fume in resentment, an emotion he had never experienced before.
 
He halted his grumblings as soon as he recognized the new emotion.
 
Was sharing the human’s body what had generated these strange feelings?
 
Michael marveled at the complexity of his emotional state.
 
He could feel everything!
 
The baby’s happiness and confusion and wonder, his own anger and apprehension and excitement — it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
 
Was this what it was like to be human?
 
He was mesmerized.

He also felt a strong rush of pride at his accomplishment.
 
How many other guardians could claim to have saved a human in their first month of training?!
 
Perhaps he was more advanced than all the other guardian angels who took months or even years to prepare for their duties.
 
Surely if he could already save a life, he was ready for active duty.
 
His ego swelled as he imagined the commendations he would receive when he returned to heaven and everyone learned of his actions.
 
He was playing out the scenario in his mind when a strong voice interrupted his reverie.