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When death is met, no bribery can stop what has to arrive. Furthermore, its arrival declares the beginning of an end. The beginning of which people are sent to Midpoint—the border between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. The moral ethics of humans will be analyzed to see whether they belong to the pits of Hell or up in the Kingdom of God. Angels, on the other hand, will take off at Departure Midpoint to reach earth. Then they will find their designated human God has chosen for them. An angel fairly tall, slightly muscular, and covered with metal armor strikingly glances into everyone's stressed eyes. ''You all trained for this very moment so you better not mess up,'' the armoured angel says. ''Don't expose who you truly are to anyone. And make sure to have the key-card of your chosen human at ALL costs.''
''Yes sir!'' The large group of angels say in unison.
Natalie puts on her protective black glasses, the ends of the frame tipped with cool metal spikes. She slides her right hand over her left, then smacks her left palm. As a result, a breeze of thick navy blue aura swarms around her in a clockwise direction. She now has a carry-on filled with clothes and essentials. The clothes she had on before—a white fitted shirt, sweater, and long skirt— morph into a new shape. It transforms Natalie into an angel with a peculiar attire. She's now embodied in an over-sized black band t-shirt titled “Dead4U,” a half-zipped skeletal rib sweater, black cargo pants with hand-made skull patches, short black ankle boots, and spiked leather cuffs. Her beautiful blonde hair now has long streaks of purple highlights.
She grabs hold of her key card, revealing a picture of the human she's assigned to protect, ''Terria.'' Natalie shoves her key card down to her pocket, gracefully opens her medium-sized white wings, and jumps into the circle where all the angels are headed. Around the circle angels are standing ready to take off, and inside the empty circle lies Planet Earth—just a few kilometers below. She heads towards Planet Earth at full speed, like a rocket ship taking off. Terria's key card buzzes, jumps out of her pocket and lights up. From the same key card, a white arrow lights up and points towards the Northern Hemisphere. Natalie brings herself closer to earth, which is now about a hundred meters away from her. She snaps her fingers and becomes invisible; after flying at full supersonic speed she arrives in a suburban town. The area is filled with a bright blue sky, many houses, and pretty trees with light green leaves. As she analyzes the area from a bird's eye view, she takes note of a few things around her: the grocery store, a small alleyway in the corner, and a university for arts. She lands in front of a well-kept brown house that has gorgeous lilies and daisies decorating the front porch. A couple of people pass by and Natalie lets them walk away. As their presence diminishes, she snaps her fingers and turns visible. She snatches the key card which was floating in the air and shoves it inside her pocket. Natalie knocks on the door and the door opens to a girl who appears to be about nineteen years old. The girl has black hair styled in a dutch braid, emerald green eyes, a rose pink tank top paired with rose pink flared pants. She greets Natalie with a friendly smile.
''You must be Natalie right?'' The girl asks curiously.
''Yeah,'' said Natalie acceptingly.
''I got your email yesterday, you wanted to rent the basement right?''
''Yeah, the price seems reasonable for my pocket money. I was wondering if it's possible to check out the place before making any final decisions?''
''Sounds great! Please, come in.''
Natalie takes off her ankle boots and follows Terria downstairs into a nicely lit basement. The basement contains a folded bed, a closet just big enough for one person, and a small table perfect for journaling—with a board game placed on top of it. Natalie stops and takes in the entire vibe of the basement. Her eyes return back to the board game and she steps closer to see what game it is. It is a snakes and ladders board game . ''I'll take it! The room seems cozy and it's the cheaper than the other homes I've visited.''
''I'm glad to hear that,'' Terria pulls out a little machine and Natalie takes out her credit card and taps. ''Now Natalie if there's anything you need don't hesitate to come upstairs and ask me.''
''There is something,'' Natalie says.
''And what's that?'' Terria questions curiously.
''I would like for us to have a game night tomorrow: I want to bond with you,'' expresses Natalie.
Terria's cheeks turn red and her lips curve into a cute smile. After the game night Natalie and Terria spend more time with each other. They go out to visit malls and parks, to enjoy fun adventures together. Over the next six months they get to know each other very well. They learn each other's hobbies, favourite food, music, dislikes and share their secrets with one another. The trust built through honesty and calmness soon becomes an important part of their lives. Natalie comes back from her part-time job at Mc Donalds and visits Terria when her classes finish. They have deep conversations explaining how time can change people's souls. One day, Natalie attempts coming back home after work— walking through many roads and sidewalks. The cool breeze of wind brushes against her young face; a big inhale accumulates fresh oxygen in her lungs. She feels fresh knowing there isn’t any crowd demanding food from her, nor strong aromas of over-burnt fries soaking in the rancid oil—which probably hasn't changed since 1985.
''HELP!'' A distinct sound screeches and echoes. Inside Natalie's pocket her key card buzzes and shakes. It is at this very moment that her attention falls upon one person she so deeply cares for:
''Terria.'' Her posture stiffens, her pupils contract and her breathing almost stops. About 200m away from her stands a fat middle-aged guy, and another younger man in his 30s assaulting Terria.
''HELP!'' Terria muffled as the fat man grabbed her tightly by the mouth and stomach, holding her in place. The younger man started unbuttoning her shirt, and Terria struggled desperately to push free from his grasp. Natalie performs her hand trick, only this time she turns only her wings invisible. She flies straight to Terria, not caring in the slightest if strangers catch her in motion. She speeds through the alleyway littered with graffiti, garbage cans and trash, pulling out a sword that is not invisible. She grabs Terria, locks eyes with the middle-aged man, and drives a blade straight through his heart without question. Blood splatters across her face. Before she even gets the chance to move on to the younger man, a black car crashes into both of them, hitting Natalie and Terria and sending their bodies flying. Natalie's body is now covered in blood, splattered everywhere. As her vision blurs, her opacity gradually fades leaving her translucent. Terria too was painted in blood, her teeth crushed from the car's hood with impaired intestines smear on her chest. As Natalie's body vanishes, Terria lays on the ground inanimate and lifeless. A blurry silhouette opens the front door of the car, hops out and opens the trunk grabbing Terria and shoving her in.
A bunch of angels with surgical masks circle around Natalie. The angels extend their arms emitting a white aura from their palms healing her scars and injuries. Despite all the efforts, her back continues to bleed due to her ruptured wings from the accident. Natalie wakes up, her eyes adjusting to the blurry atmosphere and her weak body aching with searing pain. As her vision slowly improves she examines the white space; she's in a hospital. The surgeon angels look down at Natalie with pity. It is then when she realizes that she is settled in midpoint. One of them step up front to face Natalie:
"We were able to repair most of your injuries; however, your wings are torn apart which cannot be fixed even with proper care." The angel goes on about the situation of her wings.
Natalie sits up in her hospital chair devastated; her focus being caught up with the events and aftermath of the assault of Terria. "Terria," she breathes heavily. "I need to go and get her! I can't let anything else happen to her—she still has a chance to become conscious if I bring her here! You surgeon angels can heal her!" Natalie shoves the blanket aside and leaves her hospital bed. The angels try to stop her from going anywhere but Natalie runs as fast as she can, taking the quickest escape route in order to reach the departure midpoint. Safely descending the staircase and leaving the hospital, she finds herself closer to the Departure Midpoint. Outside the area around her is surreal, it glistens with white, and unusually spiral-formed trees neighbour the bizarre surrounding enveloped in mist. With each step her breath becomes heavier, her heart beats faster, and sweat runs down her forehead. She makes her way to Departure Midpoint where the other angels are taking off; she jumps off the cloudy edge grabbing onto her GPS to track down Terria. Natalie tries to move and position her body, but everything becomes uncontrollable. The GPS’s arrow leads Natalie to the direction she should head towards; because of the consistent air pressure and lack of wings Natalie can't push herself to where she has to be. "No..." Natalie says, as hopelessness trembles out her mouth. She comes crashing down to earth, her bones shake with the air pressure, her hair close to ripping out, and smothering dust coats her face. Natalie's body hits the ground paved in cobblestone. What seems like hours pass by and Natalie wakes up in an unfamiliar room. Her vision is unclear at first but opens up like a soda can.
Natalie is laid on a colourful Colombian designed mat, absorbing her into its wool in a lit living room. A small black girl about 8 years of age glares at Natalie from behind a comfortable beige couch. The girl has dark brown eyes, black afro hair and a yellow dress decorated with colourful margarita flowers on it. Natalie's eyes meet with the girls and she gasps with shock. Natalie takes a second to analyze her with piercing eyes; as she steps closer to the girl, drops of blood roll down from her injured forehead to her chin and splatter to the ground. Natalie looks down and places her hand on her face, which is now covered in blood; she looks up at the girl.
“I won’t hurt you, I promise.” Natalie's eyes sparkle as she extends her arms opening up for a warm embrace. The girl hesitates at first—but slowly steps forward until she feels comfortable enough. After a couple of seconds the little girl hugs the hurt angel. The girl's head rests on Natalie's stomach, and Natalie's long blond hair with purple highlights cascades down to her abdomen. It covers the girl like an umbrella as a result of her tilting head. “What’s your name?”
“Sofiya,” the girl comments softly. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Natalie,” Natalie lets go of the embrace and leans her head to the side, looking at her back which had no wings but remnants of flesh and feathers now covered by pink hello kitty bandages.
“It was bleeding so I got some bandages! But what are those things that are sticking out?” enquired Sofiya.
“Those were a part of my wings, but they’re gone because of a physical accident.”
“Wings?!! That’s so cool! Are you an angel?” she asks excitedly.
“Yes I am, but don’t tell anyone!” Natalie says, trying to quiet her down.
“That’s so awesome, but how did you get into an accident? Who’s Terria? And why are you on earth? Shouldn’t you be in heaven right now? What’s it like to fly?!” The stream of her youthful questions amuses Natalie.
Natalie lifts Sofiya and holds her up high with one hand. “You are quite the chatterbox huh—didn’t expect it from a shy girl like you. Well Terria is my friend and she’s not doing so well right now. I have to find her as soon as possible. Also, didn’t mama tell you not to talk so much to strangers?” As Natalie says this, Sofiya opens her arms, extends her legs, and pretends she’s flying squealing “weeee,” ignoring Natalie's comment. Sofiya wiggles around more and Natalie’s eyes drift past her; landing on the hallway, which has some scattered paper on the floor emerging from a cherry red door. Natalie lowers Sofiya and settles her down on the floor, fixing her gaze on the papers. The papers are colourful, messy sketches, one drawing attempting to represent a Glaceon. “So what’s all that?” Natalie asks, gesturing towards the hallway.
“OH! Those are my drawings, and that’s my room!” Sofiya exclaims. Without any question she dashes to her room and Natalie follows. Entering the room, Natalie finds nothing but life, colour, innocence, and imagination spread everywhere. Colourful Care Bear plushies sit on Sofiya's bed, huge green owl stickers from 2012 are taped on her wall, and all sorts of drawings are stacked on top of each other. The drawings are also scattered everywhere on the floor. Natalie sits down and points to a colourful unicorn drawing with butterflies in the background. “This one is my favourite! Though I wish I was as good as my friend at drawing. She's so talented!”
“It looks good,” Natalie mentions and nods. She crosses her arms, seriously looks at her and continues, “Though in my opinion, no one is talented,”
“What? What do you mean?” Sofiya raises her eyebrow.
“A talented person is someone who is naturally good at something, which comes easily to the individual. Everything is hard for everyone at first, but with practice it becomes easier. Walking, talking, drawing, exercising, and even understanding new concepts. It is with consistency, effort, and determination that people improve. For some it takes a shorter time than others, but it doesn’t mean they are born with knowing how to do everything perfectly. I see huge potential if you continue drawing a lot. You Promise me not to quit?” Natalie clenches her fingers into a fist bump.
“I promise,” Sofiya fists bump Natalie back. Natalie takes a moment to examine all the drawings she made—under the unicorn drawing her eyes land on a cute drawing of Sofiya riding a bicycle. The drawings were positioned in a way that the bicycle was covering the unicorn's body except for the extended wings. It was as if the bicycle had wings attached to it. That is when it clicked. A bicycle with wings.
“Oh my days,” muttered Natalie.
“What? Is there something wrong with the drawing?” Questioned Sofiya.
“No. But you drew these separately right?” Natalie points once more, and gestures to the paper overlapping each other.
“Yeah! That one is a flying unicorn… and that’s just me riding my bike!”
“It’s almost like you drew them together,”
“Oh that’s cool, I see it!! I should’ve drawn that instea-” Sofiya’s words cut off and before she could grab a crayon Natalie held her hand stopping her.
“What if we build one instead?” quizzes Natalie. Sofiya’s eyes widen with intrigue and she runs to grab more crayons and papers. She comes back sketching out all sorts of possibilities.
“It’s nice that you have all sorts of ideas but let's brainstorm and discuss everything first, starting with the basics. How does a bicycle work?”
“Ugh but that’s boring, everyone knows how a bicycle works!”
“Valid, but it’s good to break things down, even the simple things. Bikes use leg power and they convert it into motion—the crucial part allowing this to happen is the pedal.”
“True, but after a while, riding a bike gets tiring; maybe we should allow autopilot at some point,” stated Sofiya.
“Yeah we should, we can connect the wings with the pedals,” Natalie grabs a crayon; she draws a quick sketch of what she envisions. “Whenever a cyclist pedals, it moves the wings,”
“Also, we need a basket to fit a person!” remarks Sofiya. “I have some pesos; we can try to buy cardboard and paint. I’m sure someone will leave an abandoned bike somewhere… ”
Natalie and Sofiya travel around Cartagena, Colombia. Colourful houses with geometric tiles and flowers with mesmerizing aroma fill the area joyfully. Musicians gather in the streets and start playing the tambora. Crossing many vibrant intersections, Sofiya and Natalie stumble across a sketchy alleyway, and Sofiya’s gaze fixates on a bike.
“There! I see one!” says Sofiya, exhilarated. Sofiya’s excitement drives her closer to the bike but Natalie stops her from going farther than herself.
“Stay at the same pace as me,” Natalie says with solemness, checking both sides of the alleyway making sure there isn’t anyone other than them. Natalie hops on the bike and makes space for Sofiya to sit behind her—the bike is surprisingly not in a terrible condition. The only thing which needs fixing is the brakes, and it can also do with a new coat of paint since it's rusty and most of the paint has worn off. Sofiya starts giving directions to Natalie, guiding her to a small arts and crafts shop.
Natalie parks the bike and heads into the shop with Sofiya, where Sofiya starts speaking in Spanish to one of the female staff members giving her a warm hug. Sofiya turns to Natalie “She’s mama’s friend!” The woman directs Natalie and Sofiya to where all the materials they need are. Natalie also manages to find some paint, some sheets of cardboard and a stack of metal sheets. When they head to the cashier, the same woman gives them a generous discount—and Sofiya pays with ease. Natalie clutches the bike with one hand and carries cardboard and metal sheets with the other, while Sofiya carries the paint buckets. They head home. When Sofiya and Natalie arrive home they gather all the materials which they have bought. They also search around the house to find anything that matches their sketches; they end up finding a large cardboard box, duct tape, a cordless jigsaw, and cable ties. Both of them start getting to work. Natalie records the measurements for the wings and Sofiya starts cutting the outline. When Sofiya finishes sketching and cutting the cardboard wings, Natalie layers it on top of the metal sheets. With the jigsaw Natalie cuts out the same wings but on a different medium and screws them both together. Sofiya duct tapes the inside of the cardboard box, leaving a semi-circular gap between the tape and the surface to serve as a seatbelt. Natalie grasps many cable ties; she connects them to the rear bike rack and Sofiya then secures the cardboard box onto the rear bike rack.
Natalie manages to fix the brakes on the bike and the girls start painting the bike in their favourite colours. Natalie paints it black, while sofiya paints it pink. Natalie then adds zig-zags where the contrasting colours collide and also adds the icon of her favourite alternative bands whereas Sofiya paints colourful unicorns and purple flowers. When the paint dries, Sofiya and Natalie attach the handle of the wings onto the pedals. After a few hours they sit back and admire the hard work put into the final product. The two girls agree on testing the invention out before officially departing.
Natalie sits in the front row and Sofiya jumps on the back where the basket is placed. Natalie starts pedaling, activating the wings; thus creating a flapping motion and they take off. Sofiya exclaims in amazement. “We’re in the air! We’re flying!”
“We are—we really are!” Natalie's eyes sparkle with happiness, her grip tightens on the handlebar. The birds eye view reveals the roof of Sofiya’s home and the beautiful old Spanish Colonial architecture of the other structures. After five minutes of roaming around in the sky Natalie deviates back to Sofiya’s backyard. They both hop-off the vehicle realization striking Sofiya. She glares at Natalie—Sofiya’s eyebrows lower, her pupils dilate and her hand hangs freely as if someone is holding them. Her eyes shimmer with sorrow—she takes a deep breath and finally exhales.
“Are you gonna come back? Can you please stay for a little longer? I still didn’t have time to show you my Pokemon plushies!” Sofiya’s eyes start tearing up. “Who am I gonna draw with, or build cool inventions with? Please don’t leave me!” More tears start streaming down her face like a river. “I don’t want to be alone,” Sofiya pleads, gripping onto Natalie's arm. Natalie stands in dismay not knowing how to react. She wraps her other hand around Sofiya, keeping her close, trying her best to comfort her.
“Sofiya, if you ever feel alone, just know that I’m always here! Maybe not physically but I am an angel. It is my duty to observe the life of human beings.” Natalie releases her arms from Sofiya’s grip and goes on one of her knees. Natalie moves her right arm in a clockwise direction. She closes her eyes and puts her full attention to the swift movement. A cool breeze of clouds slowly transforms into a physical object. It forms a rectangular shape with sharp edges and a flat red cover. Many sheets of blank paper pile on top of each other and compress. The clockwise air movement fades away and a full sketchbook falls into Natalie's hands as she offers the gift to Sofiya. “You are a part and parcel of this whole world. I am 100% sure many people would love to spend their time with you—and if they don’t, just remember that they are blind.” Natalie puts on her spike-edged glasses, covering her tears and sits on the bike. “I’ll see you soon. Trust me!” Natalie begins to pedal and waves good bye to Sofiya. She takes off and starts pedaling to where the GPS tracks Terria’s signal. The bike moves in a very speedy motion with no second passenger. In less than an hour she arrives in America and parks behind an old derelict house which looks like it hasn’t been touched for millenniums.
Natalie snaps her fingers and turns invisible; with concentration, she closes her eyes and creates a lock pick which allows her to break in quietly without making too much sound. The house is messy and dim on the inside—it also smells like molding corpses. Alcohol bottles are shattered on the kitchen floor and blood stains paint the carpet scarlet red. Posters of nude strippers hang from the walls, and a bunch of young men are by the TV. Nataline notices the same man involved in Terria’s kidnapping. There are three rooms standing a couple of meters away from the living room and kitchen. Natalie starts tip-toeing to each room in order to find Terria. Instead, she comes across a young woman in her early 20’s who looks very pale. Natalie is left in utter disbelief—her mouth curves downwards, disappointed by the unfortunate things that must have happened to her. She wraps a light blanket around her and carries the girl in a bridal pose. She tip-toes to the next room and stumbles across a young boy about six years of age. Natalie lets the girl down gently and lifts the boy into her arms, resting his head against her shoulder. After securing him to her torso with a blanket, she picks the girl up again. Natalie tip-toes to the last room where her eyes finally meet the face of the girl she yearned to find: Terria. Natalie's eyes jerk with tears—she ties another blanket to attach Terria to her. The bed her body laid on is filled with blood, and her face is covered with a huge, purple bruise. Natalie sneaks out of the room and into the hallway where she heads to the exit hall; it is located away from the living room. When she attempts to exit, she struggles to open it quietly, and the exit door creaks open. A shiver runs down Natalie’s spine; her invisibility fades away, and she runs without question. The men notice the exit door which has creaked open and see that the victim rooms are now empty.
“Those bastards we wanted to sell have escaped!” One of the men screamed. The men rush out with knives, spiked knuckles, and tasers to catch Natalie. She unties the blanket of the boy and manages to stack the little boy and young girl in the cardboard basket with overwhelming difficulty. Sweat runs down her forehead, as she fastens both victims with a duct tape seat belt. She sits on the bike with Terria still clinging onto her back. Natalie starts cycling—the bike starts moving forward, but struggles with great difficulty. The men are just meters away, their distance shrinking with every step. Natalie puts all her strength and effort into the pedals; with all the force she can gather, she manages to take off into the air. One of the men grabs a couple of rocks the size of his fists and starts aiming at the bike, and manages to make a few successful hits. The bike starts falling downwards, and begins to break down.
“No!” Natalie snaps and starts trembling, as uncontrollable tears pool down her face. She grabs onto the box of victims, grips it extremely tight, and lets go of the bike which is dismantling. “Please I can’t fail like this, not again God please! All I want is for these people to be safe!” Natalie bawled, praying with an intense desire. A sudden gust of magical wind spirals around them in a clockwise direction. A pale silhouette expands from Natalie's broken wings. It stretches and widens until at last a pair of vast, breathtaking, rainbow wings emerge. In this moment of despair when nearly crashing to the floor, she rises instead. She rises high into the sky, holding the people close. A huge sense of relief and gratitude blooms within her as she brings them to midpoint. She embraces a new beginning—a chance to heal them and to start their lives somewhere new, in complete protection.
The men stand there, eyes widening, mouth falling open, completely astounded. They observe the angel heading far away growing out of reach.