The Rock of Knowledge and Justice
In the land of Blue Yonder an angel sat waiting. It has been a hundred years since she first arrived, sent to stay at the Rock of all Knowledge and Justice. There she had to wait for that very special being to complete his or her time on Earth. Many have passed in the distance but none had the Light of Knowledge and Justice shine upon them and each time the Angel returned to the rock. With a sigh she would lift her garment to sit down and fold her wings so that they are hidden from the sun. There was no mercy for the angel as she sat waiting.
On the second day after a hundred years have passed the angel bellowed into the heavens.
“Lord, my master, have mercy on your servant and allow me to return to Heaven.”
No answer came and she once again sat down on the rock, folded her wings and cried.
On the third day the sun was particularly warm and the angel was suffering greatly. Again she lifted herself and bellowed into the heavens.
“Lord have mercy on your servant. Allow me then to go in search of that one special being who deserves to sit at your feet for eternity.”
No answer came, but the angel could feel that her energy was being depleted and she feared that she would not see another day if she stayed on the rock. Taking a deep breath she stretched her wings and slowly glided into the air.
Below her she could see the line of people heading towards the Port of Judgement. Some were ravaged by war, their scars were deep and puss was oozing from their wounds. Some were old, some very young. Some still reeked of illness and others were just old an tired. But none, not even the very young ones who had not seen more than a day or two on Earth had the Light of Knowledge and Justice shine on them. The angel knew that each soul would receive the justice they deserved at the Port of Judgement and she knew some would be safe and head for Heaven and others would be cast into the darkness and she also knew that it was too late and that there was nothing she could do for them, so she moved on. Using what strength she had left she lifted herself higher into the sky.
Towards evening the outline of a city appeared below her and with a sigh she dipped her wings to descend. The concrete under her feet felt hard and cold. It had been a very long time since she had last been on earth herself. The pebbles and rubble pushed into the soles of her naked feet, but the cool breeze revived her and after taking a few deep breaths she felt energy return to her body. Then she saw her reflection in the glass of a store front. For a moment she was taken aback; her white robe was replaced by a grubby torn one and her wings no longer bundled up behind her back. Then she realized that this transformation was likely a mechanism afforded to her by the Lord as no angel would be accepted by earthly beings as being real – such was the sceptic nature of the human race.
People were pushing past her, all on their way to their homes. In the road vehicles were blaring, one trying to overtake the other only to reach their destination a minute or two sooner than the other, because patience was never known to be a human virtue.
No one paid any attention to her, the dirty, disheveled girl she had turned into. A man wearing a dark suit and long coat bumped into her.
“Excuse me sir, can you show me the way to the nearest hospital?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have time, ask someone else…” The man walked off and disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
A young woman, negotiating the crowd while still looking on her phone approached and although the angel could see she was heading straight for her, she did not step back and allowed the girl to bump into her.
“Excuse me madam, can you show me the way to the nearest hospital?”
“Huh?” The girl grunted before continuing on her way.
By nightfall, as the streets cleared the angel was despondent. Where was she suppose to find someone who had completed his or her journey on earth and who was knowledgeable and just, if not at a hospital where the sick and old went to die? She did not even know what a modern hospital would look like in modern times.
As midnight approached the angel started to feel hungry and cold, things she had not felt in decades. As a matter of fact she had all but forgotten what it was like to be human.
Like she had seen a few other equally disheveled men and women do, she found herself a doorway to huddle in. Huddled in a tight ball she felt a sharp stabbing pain in the region of her abdomen. Not the pain of hunger, but something else much more painful and then she remembered… she remembered the pain and the illness which took her life. She remembered her parents and other people huddled around her bed, the priest praying for her and children crying somewhere in the background. A tear started rolling down her cheek and she felt lonely, something else she had not felt for decades.
At the height of her despair the angel felt a hand touch her shoulder.
“Hey darling, don’t let yourself freeze to death, come join me at my little fire in the alley…”
The man was old and his beard stained. His clothes did not look any better than her own. Desperate for warmth and company the angel started to lift herself but stopped. She did not know this human and somewhere in her memory was buried an image of dark, dirty alleys in a different world and different country. There where old men and ladies of the night laughing and drinking and where it reeked of bodily fluids and rotten food.
“I won’t harm you. I am old. I just do not want to be the one who will have to report a dead body to the police in the morning.”
Still silent the angel stayed in place. So what, she was already dead. If she was to die a second time there may be nothing left to report but a spot of ash or dirt.
Unable to voice her fears but with tears streaming down her face the angel huddled back into the doorway.
“Okay, be that way then, I was only trying to help.” The old man started to walk away.
Then the angel felt a warm wet breath in her face. Looking to her right she saw a scraggly old dog. His coat was matted and dirt clung to him like moss. Before she could move the dog gave her hand a lick. His tongue was warm and the angel felt it comforting.
“Come on Bruno, leave the girl alone…” The old man turned back to call his dog, but instead of following his master the dog dipped his head and licked her hand again. His brown eyes were soft and kind and there was a message in them, if only she knew what it was.
Comforted by the dog’s presence the angel got up and followed him and his master to their fire in the alley, Bruno the dog, sticking close to her.
Warmed by the fire the angel could feel tiredness overcoming her and with Bruno curled up by her side she finally fell asleep.
The angel was woken by the harshness of the sun. Perplexed she shielded her eyes and tried to focus. She was back at the Rock of Knowledge and Justice and by her side was Bruno and the Light of Justice was shining upon him brighter than anything she had ever seen.