I Can't Hang

Brady fidgeted for a few seconds, pacing around in circles and mumbling non-swear-words-that-were-substitutes-for-swears. I kinda had to stand back and just watch him, ‘cause I was getting a little uneasy. What did I do to make him do that? I didn’t know at the time, the idiot I was.

“Dude, calm down. All I did was fall, and you saved me anyways, so…” I trailed off. I tried my best to bargain with him, but apparently that wasn’t enough.

“Kyle, that’s not the point! Point is, you had your wings up and THAT causes a distraction. People saw you. I saw ‘em staring, I saw ‘em pointing up at us.” Brady’s voice trembled with fear, even if he said each word sternly. “You can’t let that happen. I can’t let that happen.”

“So what if people saw me?!”

“That violates the rules, big time!” he yelled. Pulling his shaking hands up to brush his hair out of his eyes, he stuttered some more and finally grabbed my arm. “C’mon. We gotta get outta here before you do any more stupid crap.”

Before I could object Brady was taking me back up to Heaven by yanking me upward as he flew higher into the sky. I peered downward back at Manhattan, knowing in my gut that something was about to go wrong. I had the hindsight…just not the foresight.

We crossed the clouds, turbulence ripping at my skin, and were at the gates again, speeding up faster than before. This time, the guy behind the pedestal didn’t look as warm and inviting as he was before.

“Brady…” he spoke, that little twinge of paranoia in his voice. “That was….”

My angel chauffer’s face fell and he dropped my arm slowly. “I…I…Jack, c’mon! J-just…I didn’t…he’s…it was an accident!”

“What’s going on?” I asked firmly, stating the question in their general direction.

The man nodded at me with the same look of disproval he was giving Brady. “Son…God would like to speak with both of you.”

“God?” Brady and I said in unison.

“Really? God?” I broke off, wanting to know.

Brady lost it for a moment and began shaking me by the shoulders. “GOD is the guy who decided you’re an angel and not a demon, Kyle! GOD is the one you wanted to meet!”

My heart stopped. “…Oh.”

~~~~~

Brady and I stood in front of a big elegant gate with old classical golden swirls painted upon it. He was bouncing off the walls and tapping his fingers against his arms, but I was just kinda confused. I mean, I didn’t think I did anything wrong.

We heard something crack, and the gate slowly creaked open.

He gasped while I just cocked my eyebrow at the movement.

A big bright light shone in front of us, nearly piercing our vision and making us blind. I threw my hands over my eyes and did my best to shield them from the blinding whiteness. When that didn’t work, I gave up and tried to adjust. Brady, standing next to me still, seemed to be unaffected.

“Kyle…let’s go.”

I tried to speak, but I found that my throat had dried out.

He took me by the forearm and dragged me forward. We walked through the gate and over clouds even whiter than the rest of Heaven; it seemed like ages before we saw anything other than brightness.

Once we got close enough, though, we saw God – something people only say you see when you’re on your deathbed.

There stood a throne in the clouded area; this throne was ruby red and decked out in gold decorations that lined the edges. It looked soft – fit for a king in the middle ages – but in my altered state of mind, the shock from becoming an angel, the pain from having newborn wings on my back, I didn’t even see the guy sitting there.

But the throne was empty. At least, it was, until a light peered in through a crack in the clouds above our heads, a funnel of brightness falling down below and illuminating the chair, glimmering red and gold, riches of life telling unknown tales in mere seconds.

When God saw me and Brady standing next to each other, the light wavered for a moment before brightening again.

And God sighed. Heavily. I didn’t think light had a voice.

“Brady…I trusted you,” the beam stated, a mixture of voices from all ages, races, and genders. It was eerie to hear something materialized after years of speculation.

“B-b-but I -” Brady stuttered, trying to bargain but failing miserably.

“No buts! I told you to go out and get this kid, and you let him be seen by all of Manhattan?!” the entity objected, growing bigger.

“Who are you?” I asked defiantly, crossing my arms across my chest.

God seem to have glanced at me for a moment, but even though there was plenty of emotion a short while ago, the glimmer felt like a warm smile. “You don’t know who I am?”

“I just asked who you were,” I said flatly.

“I am God.” The light flickered down the throne and stood at the base of the throne, as if to sweep across the world. “I am the reason you’re here, Kyle.”

A silence blanketed the three of us. I could even hear my own heartbeat.

Brady decided to step in. “Yeah, Kyle, God’s the r-reason for everything,” he boasted, staring up at the light. “They m-m-made you, and They m-made the w-world, and They did a d-d-darn g-good job at it-t.”

God didn’t sound amused. “Brady, don’t brown-nose me.”

“Okay!” Brady gasped, standing up straight.

Another multi-voiced sigh sounded from the crack in the clouds. “Did Brady tell you why I don’t like angels being seen by earth?”

I shrugged. “Something about being discovered…”

“Exactly!” They paid no attention to the quivering mess of nerves beside me. “Look, Kyle, there are skeptics everywhere. If angels showed up on Earth, there wouldn’t be any salvation – just a bunch of chaos between people who have every right to argue in a civil way.”

Brady elbowed me. “Told’ja.”

“Shut up, Brady.”

“Okay!”

“So, you’d rather live in secrecy than tell the truth to everyone,” I stated in a deadpan fashion.

They shrugged. “It’s the smarter choice, Kyle.”

I couldn’t help but snicker a little bit. “And because I goofed up, you’re mad.”

“As long as everything is kept under control, it should not be a problem,” They explained, as simple an answer as could be. Then that easygoing atmosphere was cut short by a little glare shined in Brady’s direction.

“I’m sorry! It’ll never happen again, I swe – I mean, I promise!” he bargained, practically getting on his knees to beg.

God laughed, an airy and multi-dimensional chuckle full of amusement. “Look, I may be God, but I am nowhere near heartless.”

Brady gasped, his eyes widening. “D-does that mean -”

He sighed a sigh of relief and waved his hand. “You’re both off the hook…”

He leapt around with a big smile written across his face, pulling me into a giant hug out of sheer happiness. “Yesss!”

“…But not completely,” God added.

Brady and I stopped.

“Wait…what?” I inquired, tilting my head.

“You both heard me,” They said. “The thing is, yeah, it was an accident and all, but…that does not mean it doesn’t call for some kind of punishment.”

“Oh, no…” Brady trailed off. “Wh-what’re you g-gonna do, sir…? Are we…do we have to…fight off demons and skin them alive, or…or…string up rats by their intestines, or -”

“No! What’re you, delusional?! That’s just sick!” God spat with the light flickering and flashing. “Good Me, you just never can think of a positive outcome, can you?!”

Brady cowered some more. Man, he was kinda funny when he was scared shitless.

“Look, I just need you two to run an errand for me. And no, it doesn’t involve killing people or skinning anybody alive, Brady,” They commanded. “Do you think you’re up for it?”