Afterlife Adventures

"Once you are back on earth, you will still be a soul. You will not be provided with a body which means you can float if you want or walk around. You can feel what the humans feel like weather or touching an animal. People will not see you except another angel or a lost soul or a human who is in a verge of dying but he/she will only see a shadow, nothing more. The person who is your mission can hear you in a way with a soft whisper. How you would deal with the situation is up to you, you may call me anytime if you wish or when you feel lost. The holy father would always be watching so mind your actions. If you touch things on earth like a towel or a rock, in the eyes of the human the object would seem to float. So be careful if you wish to touch things that' will help you on your mission.

In case you want to transport somewhere specific, try imagining the place in your head and look up. If you feel that the earth beneath you moved, that means it has taken you to the place you wanted to be. You can go wherever you want but take note, each mission has it's own time limit therefore if you don't finish on time, the assignment would be considered invalid and you would be sent back to the place you first came. You may have five missions but if you complete the first three without error, immediately you would be sent to the gates. The holy father would welcome you, but seeing him personally is still on question. It entirely depends on him"

Gabriel walked through some sort of portal thingy, when his arm and feet touched the surface, light came out. He held out his hand from the other side motioning me to follow him. Reluctantly, I walked closer and inspected the portal. It smelt nothing, it's not solid either but I could hear voices. With the tip of my index finger, or so I think it is my finger, I slowly pointed at the portal until the tip was covered in light. It didn't hurt, the other side felt very cold and wet. Thinking it was safe I walked through it closing my eyes. When I opened them I was surrounded by snow, and pine trees. We were standing I think or floating on an iced lake and it was night time. The atmosphere felt very cold but something inside me warmed up making the snow ineffective on me.

"Why can I feel the cold but it doesn't bother me?" I asked walking around opening my arms.

"It is not specifically stated why because it is a gift from the holy father. I may have answers that I can give to you but not everything" Gabriel answered calmly walking on the left direction. "Come thru here"

We walked onto the path towards a wooden house surrounded by pine trees and peeked by the frosty window. Inside, there was an elderly man on a rocking chair facing the fire. A woman was with him by the side, knitting. I looked at Gabriel and tilted my head a little indicating that I'm asking him on what to do. He didn't flinch or move but instead just looked at the direction of the couple. I looked back again in the window, the woman adjusted her position towards the old man. Their lips moving,

"When do you think our grandson would visit?" the lady asked while continuing her knitting.

The man shrugged "You know how the youth are these days, they seem so busy and occupied. Forgetting about their good ol grandparents as if we never existed. Don't cling onto false hope my love"

"I just miss him. When he was little he never missed a visit but look at it now. What happened? Did we scare him off?" the lady's voice trembled as if she was going to cry.

"Life happened, he grew up maybe fell in love, got a new job, had other responsibilities. We are not at fault dear, let's just be thankful your daughter still visits" he replied soothingly patting gently the woman's back.

"Do you see the problem now?" Gabriel suddenly spoke making me jump.

"Where is their grandson?" I asked feeling sorry for the couple.

"That is for you to know and find out. Your mission starts now and you have one week or seven days on earth to complete. That's based on the physical world's time since we don't have it in our world. I'll set a timer on your arm to be reminded. Remember all the warnings and things that I told you about before. Good luck" Gabriel vanished in thin air leaving specs of light.

Digital numbers appeared on my arm like a neon light. It was small but ticking, Gabriel was not joking. This shouldn't be that hard won't it? But first, I need to find out who their grandson is and how do I do that without going thru the front door. They might think their house is haunted. I did a quick round on the house and found a back door, it was locked. I searched for another entrance and found the door leading to an underground room. I tried to lift the heavy door gently, creaking sounds echoing in the still night. I lifted slower avoiding the noise taking my time. Slowly, I walked down the stairs careful with each step I make. The only light source of the room is from the small lamp coming from the corner. Why would they keep a lamp if no one is here?

Minding my own business, I walked around cautiously just in case I might bump into something and attract attention. There were all sorts of things and junk, papers scattered, tools stacked on one another, dirty laundry on the basket. It's as if the couple hasn't been down here for a while. By the side of the door, a dusty frame was hanged. I wiped the glass gently revealing unfamiliar faces. The photo itself was still distinguishable but the colour was faded. There were four of them in the picture, a tall man his other hand hanged on the shoulder of the woman and two young boys sat in front of them.

This could be the clue I'm looking for but it's hard to assume. Anyone could be in this picture but why do I get a feeling that it's them? I walked up slowly feeling the wooden railings of the stairs. I tried to push the door hoping that they didn't lock it on the other side. It wouldn't budge, dammit I cursed. Having no choice, I gave a big knock on the door. The other side gave no sound. I tried something bigger and went down the stairs. I grabbed the stack of tools and counted to three before letting them fall onto the ground. The metallic sound did the trick as footsteps were running hurriedly towards the door.

I readied myself on the bottom preparing to run up. The door opened and the old man came to view holding a flashlight and a bat on the other waiting to strike. I walked up quickly, it felt weird just walking through people I felt like smoke. The man went down further to investigate and I let him be and observed my surroundings.