2 Haven on Earth

Two years ago

Micca

I was sent to earth to fulfill my mission—to find heaven's most precious soul, Human. However, it was difficult for me to find him since the earth had limitations for angels like me. I tried to look everywhere and asked every living thing I would meet along the way.

"Have you seen Human?" I asked a cat who turned out scared and ran away. I tried to ask other animals—horses, dogs, chickens, pigs, skunks, worms, and ants, but they all ran away from me. Do I look scary?

I traveled further and tried asking the trees, plants, rivers, rocks, and waterfalls, but no one had ever found Human. Surprisingly, I came to a place lit with bright lights and filled with human beings who were clothed with garments but whose minds were full of lustful desires. Of course, I could see darkness in their hearts through my divine eyes.

"Ugh! What disgusting creatures! I thought the earth was created beautiful. Turns out I'm wrong. Pft! I had to find Human and get out of this filthy place," I muttered.

I stood on the sidewalk and looked around. I wondered why I couldn’t find trees, rivers, oceans, and other creations our Creator in heaven had made on the fourth day when he made the earth. My eyes caught something wide above me. It had a photo of a half-naked angel with wings, holding something white. On her side said in bold letters:

Angel Soap.

Cleanse your body. Cleanse your soul.

"Excuse me, have you seen Human?" I asked in a loud voice. When it didn't respond, Barachiel answered me in my head.

That's a Billboard, Micca. That's an object. It won't answer you. You need to find a vessel. A human being with a pure soul to possess.

"Oh come on, Barachiel. This is unbelievable. We know that possessing a human being is the most dangerous thing ever. Are you going to have my soul tainted and eventually lose myself as an angel?"

You planned for this, didn’t you? We all agreed to it. You're supposed to be the angel of intelligence, Archangel Micca. There's not enough time. If there's another way, then do it. But if you can't think of anything better than possession, you have no choice but to find a human being with a good and pure soul. That's the only way to track Human.

"Told you I—"

Suddenly, something bumped into me. It was such an unexplainable force that I fell on the ground faster than the wind. Lying on the ground, I started to feel heavy; both in heart and body. It was overwhelming that it felt like I was a different being. Just then I felt something hit my face and saw two men punching me all over, and I didn't know why.

"Wait, can you see me?" My mouth was bleeding.

"You effin' idiot. Of course, we can see you. We saw you steal this bag filled with millions!" one of the two said while holding a black bag in his hand. The other one was pointing something at me. I reached out to touch it curiously which made them look at each other and scoff.

"You nuts, Amber? You must have hit your head or something when we knocked you down, huh!" the other man said.

“Yeah, you're acting sh**! Come on, buddy. Let's go," he said, still pointing the black thing at me.

The two ran away and left me trying to get on my feet. Struggling, I walked towards a door with a sign saying "Haven's Café" and went in. A woman in her forties showed up, holding a tray and said. "Are you sure you need food and not a doctor?"

"You can see me too?" I asked.

"No I don't. I shouldn't be talking to you because I don't see you, right?" she said while taking me to a table. "Have a seat. I'll give you something for your bleeding mouth and bruised pretty face, young lady," she added before turning on her heel.

I looked around and saw others looking at me. I smiled at them as I stood up.

"Have you seen Human?" I asked.

Everyone seemed puzzled and looked at each other. Nobody uttered a single word and continued sipping a . . .

"You want a cup of coffee?" The woman came back . "I can see you looking at them sipping their cups. Seriously, do you want some?"

"No. I don't know what coffee is, Angel," I replied.

"Well coffee is—oh, you called me an angel! That's so sweet of you. Here, let me put some ice on your face. You must have been into a fight, young lady. A girl like you should stay away from trouble," she said. I flinched as an ice cube touched my face.

"Ouch!" I screamed.

Everybody looked at me again but immediately returned to their business—the cup of coffee as the woman said it was called.

"This city is filled with gangsters, you've gotta be careful. With a costume and make up like that . . ." she paused. "You could be mistaken as a notorious juvenile."

She looked at me and clucked her tongue repeatedly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are a gangster," she said while I remained confused, trying to digest her foreign words and the things around me.

"Haven, can I ask for cheese, please? And creamer too." A girl raised her hand.

"Yeah sure, honey. In a minute," the woman responded, still holding the piece of cloth with the ice cube in it.

"Why are they calling you Heaven?" I asked.

Haven stood up. "Because I am your angel." She laughed but received no reaction from me. "I guess it's not funny, huh? Yeah, I suck at jokes. Here, take this."

"Yeah, thank you," I said, looking at the bowl of ice.

"That's yours," she said. "You can stay here if you like, but I need to go back to work. The door is open for you anytime," she said with a smile.

I got up, holding the bowl of ice. "I have to go and find Human. Thank you for this."

Haven gave me a confused look, and the air was clothed with silence. "Don't I look human to you, young lady? Well, if the name of this person you're looking for is Human, sounds unique by the way, you can start looking for her at the birth registry office just in case her name was considered as a legal name. If you need anything, I'm just right here." She smiled while I stayed silent, processing her words.

"What's your name, young lady?" Haven asked.

"Call me Micca," I answered, opening the door.

I walked out the door with the bowl in my hands. Without knowing where to go, I continued to walk on the sidewalk like a lost prey in the world of predators. It was the first time that I saw sunset with the mesmerizing bright lights around me. The noise on the streets . . . Well, they were deafening that I had to cover my ears, letting go of the bowl in the process. The ice cubes scattered everywhere that some were already stepped on by countless people passing by. Everything was too strange to take. I knelt down and picked up the ice cubes to put them back in the bowl, but someone picked them up hurriedly—a young boy dressed in dirty clothes.