Exactly at 12 a.m., the boys gathered at the door of the house. They had packed up and kept their bags in the old black car they got for their job. They squeezed in, and went on their way. The special thing about this car is that it doesn’t just drive. It could fly, too. But it can’t just take off in public. They had to go somewhere private. The nearest private place they could go to was a harbor.

Clef took the wheels as the best driver between them. Joseph sat at the front passenger’s seat, and the other three got a seat at the back. On their way, Terrance looked out of the car window. Goodbye, Earth. We’ll be back in a week. Or rather, a week.

Suddenly a black butterfly fluttered in front of him. By instinct, Terrance held his hand out. The butterfly landed on his index finger.

“Get ready, everyone, we’re reaching the harbor,” Clef announced. Terrance looked front, then back to the black beauty. He had no choice but to let it go. He rolled the window back up and wore his seatbelt. His brothers were steady – they were used to flying. Terrance on the other hand still wasn’t used to it, as he had only been to Earth a couple of times. He was still young and inexperienced, unlike his big brothers who had entered and exited the Earth atmosphere plenty of times in their years.

“We’re off!” Clef announced as he pressed the special pedal this car that made the car lift itself, removing the tires from the tar road. Slowly, but soon enough, the car was floating, and was heading for the skies. Terrance tried his best not to look out of the window as they flew at a high speed through the clouds.

“We passed Cloud One! That was fast! We’d get to Cloud Seven in no time!” Joseph exclaimed, excited. The rest just kept quiet, a smile creeping on their faces. They didn’t want to admit it, but going back home was really exciting. The feeling of atmosphere change, seeing clouds follow you as you drive pass it, but falling behind.

For about five minutes on Earth, they finally arrived on Cloud Seven. Clef dropped the flying pedal and started driving on the soft clouds. They found a parking spot and got off the car. They looked around. A lot has changed in eight decades, but they’ve been updated through a newsletter.  Everyone walking past had wings on their back, all full of colours.

Wings to angels are like hair, they could colour it any colour they like, or they could leave them as they are – most of them are either white or black. The boys were excited to finally be able to show themselves, so they stretched their beautiful wings through the cold air of the high sky. Out of all five of them, Joseph and Terrance were the only one with white wings. The other three had black. They never coloured it – they thought the purity of the wings should be preserved.

“Alright well, see you guys in a week,” Joseph told them. They parted, Martin and Oliver walked while Clef, Joseph and Terrance flew back home.

When Joseph arrived at where his house used to stand, he was surprised. What used to be a single storey Victorian house was now a triple storey modern house. He knocked on the front door, and a voice echoed and went pass it. “Coming!!!”

Soon, the door opened, and on the front door appeared an old lady with white wings. She wasn’t very high, and she had to look up to see Joseph. “Joseph?”

“Hi, mom,” Joseph said, smiling. Tears formed in the old lady’s eyes. She reached out for her son and gave him a hug. Joseph hugged his mom back.

“Joseph! It’s been over seven decades!” she cried. The feeling of having her son back in her arms was amazing. See, angels don’t age much, but they feel the years pass. Even Joseph felt a type of happiness he hadn’t felt for a long time.

Suddenly, a hurdle of footsteps came. Joseph let go of his mother and looked up. There stood a lady who looked she was in her thirties, holding a child’s hand. The child looked curiously at the man he had never seen. Who was he to hug his grandmother?

“Joseph?” the lady said.

“Hi Denise,” Joseph smiled.

“Oh my God, Joseph, I haven’t seen you in decades! You haven’t changed one bit!” she exclaimed, offering Joseph a hug. He walked over to receive it. “And I mean literally. You were supposed to be older than me, but you look ten years younger than me.”

“Well, I think I’d still stay this handsome even if I stayed on Cloud Seven,” Joseph said, full of himself. Denise gave him a slap on the back. Joseph laughed. He then took notice of the child. “And who’s this? Is this the baby I last saw eight decades ago?”

“I’m not a baby,” the child told Joseph. Joseph smirked and crouched down so that he was a level with the boy.

“Of course you’re not. Not anymore. You’re all grown up. So, what’s your name?”

“Mac,” the child replied.

“Mac?” Joseph repeated. “Wow. Very human, sis,” Joseph said as he looked up to Denise.

“It’s a trend,” Denise said, shrugging. Suddenly Joseph heard something in his head.

He stood up and let go of a sigh. “Believe it or not, but boss’s calling. He’s telling me to meet up with him at the headquarters.”

“But you just got home,” his mother said.

“Yes, I know mother, but I’ll be back.” So he went off, his wings soaring in the air. “See you later!”

At the headquarters, the five boys met up.

“I can’t believe they told us to come here, less than two hours since we arrived,” Clef exclaimed. Terrance seemed a bit down, but the others were as usual. Probably Joseph was the happiest, since he met his family. He remembered hearing the news that his father died during his third year on Earth, but they didn’t let him get a break. But it seems as if everything was just fine. Everything was just forgotten.

“Thing is, he told us to come here, but he’s not here,” Martin said.

“THE FIVE OF YOU! The Black Angels. Please, come forth,” a deep booming voice called. The five boys walked into a white entry way that lead them from a light blue lobby to a white hall. On a throne-like chair, sat a man in a white suit, his black wings hovering above him. He had dark short hair, and squinty eyes with dark pupils. He seemed a bit older than the last time they saw him. But his stare would kill, and his smirk was irritating, just as before. “Hello, boys. It’s been a while.”

“Hello, Edward,” Oliver said, leading the group as the eldest. “We haven’t exactly been missing you, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“No, that hasn’t crossed my mind at all,” Edward replied, sitting up. “There are so many other more important things to think about.” The boys’ faces changed from teasing to defeated. “So back to business, boys. So I’ve heard that you boys have been slacking off.”

“Slacking off?” Clef repeated, totally shocked anyone could ever say that.

“Yes, slacking off. Doing very human things, like trying origami and buying a laptop. See, maybe you boys should try to get to your jobs in time rather than trying to fit in. Putting your head in the clouds. You know that you would never be promoted, right?” Edward’s right eyebrow raised.

“Edward, we have been working our wings off. Some of us have to walk to our jobs because we can’t fly, and apparently you only gave us one car, so when we get an emergency job and the car isn’t around, we’d have to walk there. And there isn’t really a limit to where we get our jobs from, too.”

“Actually, you did get a limit; a country per group of angels,” Edward debated.

“Yes, and we got America. The country where one state could be five times bigger than a country in Asia,” Joseph said.

“Yes, well it does not stop you from planning your jobs to fit each other’s schedule.” The boys didn’t debate any longer. Edward was tough meat. “So everybody agrees that you guys have been slacking off? Juries?” He looked at a blank space to his left, as if there were actual juries there and their opinions matter in what happens next.

“Agreed?” Edward said to himself. “Agreed then. You boys will go on service for another five years.”

“WHAT?!” the boys exclaimed. They have suffered enough. They were almost done with their services, but now they had to go on? They had to leave their families again? How long will this go on?

“NO!” Terrance shouted. “I will NOT go on for another five years. I want to get a promotion. I want to be human.”

“You’re practically being demoted for your misbehavior, and now you’re asking for a promotion?” Edward exclaimed, giving out a laugh. “You boys should really educate this rookie. You boys went against the laws of the Seventh Cloud, sentenced to a century of service, a job that isn’t as bad as what you should’ve gotten. You slack off, and now you’re asking for a promotion?”

“We did not slack off. And we don’t even get paid for this job,” Martin told Edward.

“THAT IS NOT THE POINT!” Edward shouted. “The five of you should’ve been sentenced to jail, then your wings should’ve been cut, not a job that hundreds would have asked for.”

“Hundreds, out of the millions of angels that exist,” Terrance told. “Because this job is misery. It is jail in another form. You have no freedom. You can’t fly. You see humans die and you lead them to the after world. If many humans were nice and all went to heaven that it wouldn’t be half bad. But most of them go to hell. This is a dream job? I’d rather give it to someone else.”

“Then what would you have if not this job, Terrance? You don’t have a family to go back to. You have no education. You’ll live on the streets, asking for spare change. Would you rather do that?” Terrance’s eyes flared with anger.

“That’s why I need the promotion,” he said, controlling his anger. “I’d rather have my wings cut off. I want to live – as a human.”

Edward kept quiet. He actually seemed like he considered it. “I’m sorry,” he finally said after what seemed like an hour. “But we have no more recruits. You’re right. It’s not easy to find replacements for you boys. That’s why we need you to stay longer.”

The five didn’t say a word. They seemed to accept their fate. All their dreams were gone. They would never be able to do whatever they’ve always dreamed of doing. Having a family. Working with the higher placed angels. It all broke down into pieces, just because of something they did 8 decades ago.

Suddenly, a clerk flew into the hall. “Actually, sir, we just got three recruits, offering their services.” The lady smiled at the five boys. She was very pretty, her dark blonde straight hair falling off on her shoulders. Her wings were light brown – coloured, of course, but still beautiful.

“Theresa,” Joseph said, the lady seeming very familiar.

The boys looked at Edward with hope. He was just as surprised. “Well, the boys will need training and orientation…”

“No worries, we’ll finish off our century, but after that…” Clef said.

“After that, all of you shall get whatever you want,” Edward told them. The boys smiled. This is a miracle.

“Thank you, God…” Oliver teared up. Martin was thinking of all he could do. Clef laughed of happiness, hugging Terrance. Terrance was happy too. He can finally live.

Joseph smiled at Theresa. He flashed his teeth, and Theresa smiled back. She was happy she could help such good beings. Edward saw the two, and got a plan.

“And Theresa, you’ve been asking for a promotion too, yes?” Edward asked. “Why don’t you join the boys?”

“Really?” Theresa exclaimed. Her smile stretched to her ears.

“Yeah, and I’ve got an extra bed in my room,” Joseph said jokingly. Theresa eyed him.

“You’re SO sleeping on the couch,” she told him. But in truth, she would love to be roommates with Joseph. They smiled at each other, and they all knew where this was leading.

“I haven’t seen you in years. You were in your teens last time I saw you,” Joseph said to Theresa softly.

“Well, I’ve grown up,” Theresa told him. “And I’ve got a job. With you.”

“The next two decades is going to be fantastic.”

“And Terrance won’t mistakenly put an extra plate again!” Clef cheered.

**

SEE TOLD YOU.

But it's not done just yet. Last part coming right up ;)

-LynnM