Angel

I saw an angel today. Or maybe it was yesterday. I'm not so sure anymore. I know that time is passing, I can feel the air growing cooler, but I cannot see the sun setting. All I can see is the angel's halo, scorched into my eyes- and what a glorious sight it is!

I was lost. Wandering through the crumbling ruins of our city, starving, desperate for a drink of water. I was choking on the remnants of gunfire and dust. Weak. I passed the bodies of the dead. Mangled, or torn apart. A mass grave. I was sure that I would join the bodies around me soon. As the first night fell, I was sure it'd be my last. But I awoke the next morning, and the one after that. Somewhere in the bleary hours, stumbling through the rebar and collapsed homes, I prayed for a swifter death. This slow agony, my body cannibalizing itself, it was torture. Every few steps, my stomach spasmed. I thought, more than once, of eating the bodies around me. But I saw the way their blood bubbled and blackened on the concrete. There was something toxic in the air. A putrid smell, not of death but evil. Everything here- perhaps myself too- was cursed.

At dusk on the final day, as the last beams of sunlight were torn from the city, I saw a light. Blinding white. At first, I thought it was more soldiers. Come to recover weapons and pilfer the dead. I thought maybe they would provide the respite from life I so deeply coveted.

But before I could reach them, the light retreated. Turning down a long corridor of abandoned vehicles and ravaged tanks. I chased it. Mustering every ounce of energy to keep the light in my sight. Is this what moths feel like? Chasing flickering lights?

Eventually, my eyes fell shut, too tired to strain against the ghastly sights. My feet wobbled forward. I could still feel the warmth in the cool night, just at the edge of my perception. I walked for hours. When the warmth left me, when my legs gave out, when my blurred vision couldn't make out the silhouettes of buildings against the moonless night, I thought I was done for.

And then the warmth returned. I blinked through the grit, my eyes too dry to clear the dirt away. But I knew he was there. An angel. I couldn't make out his face, but I saw a fiery halo hanging over his head. I felt his warm hand caress my face. A miracle.

My hunger subsided, and my mouth was no longer cracked and bleeding. I felt energy return to me. Shakily, at first, I got to my feet, but every moment I felt stronger. I didn't try to chase the light. I just stood basking in its healing aura. I stared at the halo until all around me had faded, leaving only the angel's outline.

Now, I walk through the ruins of our home. Though I can no longer see, I know my path. Providence guides me now. And it has brought me here, to your door, so that I may tell you about His light.

The shadows stretching over our city may seem long, and monsters may spawn from the dark corners, but it doesn't need to be this way. There are angels here. They saved me, and they can save you, too. You just need to let go. Leave behind this false comfort, and journey into the heart of the city, where He will deliver you.

He awaits us all.