32. Heaven
488 Words
At the Heavenly Healing Spa, located on a high plateau in the distant mountains far away from Heaven Interportal airport, a young man lies face down on a massage table in an austere white room. A sheet covers everything but his bare shoulders and head. As evidenced by the sandy-colored, sticking-up hair, it is clearly Jason Wallet.
An angel dressed in blue hospital garb, his back to the table, fiddles with dials on a large machine sitting on a nearby table. Sheer white drapes flutter on the small window, revealing a starlit sky behind them.
Angel Lionel speaks in calm tones, “You still comfortable, Jason?”
A muffled yes emerges from the young man.
yes“There,” the angel says. The room fills with beams of vibrant lights in variations of yellow and orange directed at the body on the massage table. Satisfied with the result, Angel Lionel takes a seat in the single wooden chair at the rear of the room, opening up a copy of Angel magazine. Patsy Cline is on the cover. “Shame about her,” he comments under his breath. “Just when she’s becoming famous, she dies in a plane crash.”
AngelHalf an hour goes by when he takes a look at his watch. Glancing over at the peaceful lad on the table, he whispers, “Mind if I leave you for a few moments? Just got to dash out and buy a welcome home gift for an elf. He’s been gone in Dublin for well over a couple of hundred years. We used to spend hours gabbing. In the old days, humans could see and communicate with elves and fairies. Now they’re too busy trying to be rich and famous to see what’s right in front of their eyes. Anyway, be back in a flash. You relax now. Be five minutes.”
Hearing no reply, he gets up to peer into the closed eyes of the young man. “Deep asleep again,” he murmurs. “This treatment does wonders.” Carefully, he lays his magazine on the chair and tiptoes out of the room, closing the door so quietly that there is no sound.
The minute he’s gone, Jason’s eyes pop open. He lies perfectly still for a few seconds, testing the atmosphere for unseen dangers. Sensing none, he quickly throws off the sheet. In only his underwear, he begins to struggle with the window fastener, desperate to shove up the resisting pane. Evidently, it has been well secured for just such occasions. It seems Jason is not the first patient who has tried to escape the colorful energies of the Heavenly Healing Spa.
Suddenly, the window gives under his powerful shove. In an instant, he’s got one shoulder out when a petite, well-manicured hand grabs him from behind by his briefs.
“And where do you think you’re going, young man?” Angel Rachel demands.
- Writer
