Wings of Salvation

“Did you know? We call the young ones around here ‘fairies.’ They seem to quite like that title.”

“...I’m eighteen.”

Gospel tilts his head down to look at me. He smiles. “Still a young one, then,” he muses. 

I make a face at him. 

“It’s a little something that’s popular amongst everyone.” He stacks my paperwork on his desk and stands up, making a motion to follow him. We exit his office and make our way down the marble halls. The roof caved over us in delicate swirls of a crystalized color, glimmering in a purple, blue, pink, or white at every angle. I found myself mesmerized by the colors and patterns glittering across the ceiling, craning my neck to capture this vision in every corner of my sight. 

I hear Gospel give a low chuckle beside me. “Don’t go breaking your neck, girl. The ceiling’s not going anywhere.”

I tear my eyes away from the roof and instead redirect my attention to the view beyond the window glass on my left. A wide courtyard fills the area, largely occupied with grass and small wildflowers, a concrete path leading to other vicinities seen in the distance. The scenery invoked a kind, comforting feeling, yet it didn’t seem to shake the restlessness buried deep within the hesitancy in my steps. 

Movement in the sky catches my attention, and I realize that it wasn’t the nonexistent clouds or birds responsible. A ripple echoes across the hue of blue, wavering throughout the infinite length. I frown slightly at the sight, and open my mouth to ask about the curious atmosphere-

“We’re here.” 

Gospel stops upon a grand door, brazen in glistering gold, much like the rest of this building’s interior, and I promptly shut my mouth, inquiry already forgotten. This was it. This is where they were going to officially declare me-

The door creaks and a gust of wind meets my face, startling my hair. I shield my eyes against the force for a moment, then peek into the room that lies beyond. A lady sat behind a large, burgundy desk in front of us, and contrary to the doors, the room was made up of wooden flooring and walls. As we walked in, I noticed large shelves surrounding the room that covered nearly every inch of the walls, all filled with bottles of different shapes and designs, though relatively the same size. Each bottle contained some kind of sparkling, seemingly airy substance in a variety of colors, and upon deeper inspection, I caught sight of a small tag on each bottle, though whatever was written on it was too small for me to make out. 

“Sir Gospel. How are you?” The lady also gives me a small smile of acknowledgement. 

“Good day, Judith. I have a fairy here in need of a pair of wings. Would you mind helping her out?” 

“Not at all.” The lady stands up and turns to me, pushing up her glasses at the bridge of her nose. “What’s your name, darling?”

I give her my name. “I’m not a fairy, by the way,” I add. “I’m eighteen.” 

Judith blinks at me and turns to Gospel, who shrugs in response. She looks back at me and breaks out a soft chuckle. “Wait here, darling.” 

Judith walks over to a shelf on the left and pushes down a stone statue of an angel. A noise of what sounds like air pressure releasing is heard and the shelf pops open. Before I could gasp in surprise, Judith opened the shelf door and my eyes widened at the hidden space beyond. The opening led to a much larger space, the entire chamber covered in a familiar glimmering gold, containing dozens more shelves. I tilt my head to the side to figure out just how big the room was, though the shelves that stood within seemed to go on endlessly, way beyond the farthest my eyes can see. 

“I’ll be right back.” Judith settles another smile on her face as she steps inside and closes the disguised door in front of her. The shelf creaks open nearly two seconds later, and she steps out this time with a small bottle in hand. My eyes lock onto it in curiosity. Judith readjusts the shelf behind her and pulls the sunken angel statue back to its original position, a kathunk heard in confirmation. She makes a satisfied noise and turns around, taking a couple steps so she stood just a few feet from me. Judith holds out the newfound bottle in front of her. 

“This,” she says, “will grant you your fairy wings.” 

Again, I remind her. “I’m not a fairy.”

Judith ignores my correction and pops open the bottle, which was originally kept shut with a cork. The bottle was curved on the sides but more slender on its ends, and reminded me of some kind of Christmas ornament. The substance inside was of a glittering, golden color, and looked to be floating about within the bottle’s empty space. I could almost hear the way it twinkled, much like what I saw in movies that involved magic. A string of twine envelops the neck of the bottle, a tag hung from the side. I narrowed my eyes at the dramatic cursive handwriting, and blink in surprise when I realized that it spelled my name. 

“This is pixie dust. It’ll grant you your wings. I’m going to pour this on your head, so close your eyes, okay? It doesn't hurt, I promise.” 

Before I could tell Judith and Gospel to cut it out with this fairy magic and pixie dust nonsense, Judith tilted the bottle over my head and I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut. What feels like a drizzle of rain settles on my skin, the sound of twinkles lightly descending past my ears in lullaby. 

“My, my, they’re gorgeous. They suit her quite well, don’t you think?” I hear Gospel say beside me. 

“Indeed they do.” 

After the feeling of soft droplets on my skin and the glistening noise in my ears stop, I peek an eye open, only fully uncovering my vision after Judith tells me it's done. I stood in silence for a moment, trying to adjust to the new feeling that I felt outstretched from my back, as if I had grown new body parts. They weren’t heavy like I thought they’d be, and when I willed myself to make them move, I could hear a soft flapping noise behind me. 

“So? How do they feel?” Judith asks me, and Gospel looks at me in anticipation.

“They’re...not as heavy as I thought.” 

Judith responds with one of her signature smiles. “They feel like they’re a weightless part of you, right?” 

I nod.

“Come,” Judith waves her hand, “take a look at them for yourself.” She walks past me and I turn around, noticing an elegant mirror sitting next to the entrance. The three of us head over. I walk into view and side step a bit, letting out a gasp.

The wings, for one, were mesmerizing. They fluttered softly behind me, enwrapped with the same, golden color I saw in the bottle, soft twinkles of silver outlining swirls throughout each wing. The wings themselves were fairly moderate in size, the tips reaching the top of my head and the bottom reaching a couple inches beyond my hips. It occurred to me then that they weren’t actually attached to my body, though it felt like they were, as the back of my dress remained intact, the wings merely settling on top of them. With every flutter it gave, a small drizzle of golden glint fell, disappearing before it could reach the ground. Yet these wings had looked familiar, and it suddenly struck me that I recognized them because they were the exact wings I had dreamed of having when I was a child. I wondered if that was intentional or just a pure coincidence, though I chose not to point that out to the figures standing beside me. 

I finally pry my eyes away from the enthralling sight and turn to Gospel, though the astonishment and awe from it was still running through my veins. 

“They’re not angel wings.” 

Gospel pauses for a second before opening his mouth and letting out a booming laugh, a hand under his chest. “Little one, who said you were an angel?” 

I raise a brow at him in confusion. “But-”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, little one- indeed, you are a person with a pure soul, and I’m sure you will become an angel one day in the far future. But alas, it is not your time yet,” he cuts in. 

“What do you mean? I’m dead. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Dead? No, little fairy, you are not dead. Merely in between life and death, you see. Haven’t you noticed? I told you when you first arrived here that this was a place where angels reside. Yet-did you see any pair of angel wings behind me? Or Judith?” 

I look between both of them. Gospel does a little turn just for good measure, and I shake my head. 

“Little fairy, you cannot see our wings because you are not an angel yet. In other words, you are not dead yet.” 

“But-I died. I died in that accident,” I press my lips together and lower my head. “I died in that...small accident.” 

“Judith, we will take our leave now. Thank you.”

“Of course. Take care, darling.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder. “Come. Let’s go outside, little one.” 

I follow Gospel outside into the open air, feeling a gentle breeze caress my cheeks. 

“So,” Gospel begins, “an accident, you say?”

I don’t respond for a couple seconds, unsure of what to say. Did he already figure it out? From those papers he was reading earlier?

“...Yes. An accident.”

“Mm. But we can recover from accidents, no?” 

“What are you talking about?” 

Gospel points at the sky. “Look up.”

I look up and stare in shock, as the sky has now morphed into something completely different. It now painted the picture of a building, the view of a building from the ground, an all too familiar scenery rippling in its place.  

“T-that’s-”

“Take a look at the very top. If you focus, you’ll be able to see.”

I focus at the very edge of the building, and make out a shadow peering overhead of the structure.

“Who is that?” I try to control the quiver in my voice.  

“Hmm. Perhaps a familiar face, little fairy?” 

He didn’t have to say any more, and I let out a strangled noise at the realization of who this mysterious figure was. 

“Mother,” I whisper.

“Go back, little fairy. Your loved one is waiting for you.”

“G-Gospel,” I switch my focus back to him, all will to control my voice gone. “I-I jumped from a tall building. There’s no way I could survive that!” I cry out, tears brimming in my eyes.

Gospel shakes his head, a soft smile on his face and a warm look in his eyes. “No, little fairy. It is not your time yet. Go. Use your wings. You should not be here now.”

The look on his face and the unspoken words glimmering in his brown orbs gave me the answer I needed. I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, letting the tears flow down my face before meeting his face again, sniffling. 

“T-thank you. Thank you. I-” the incomprehensible words die in my throat as I realized that I had no idea what to say. But there was a profuse feeling now, an aching feeling to see my mother and to be within her warm embrace again. 

Gospel’s smile told me I didn’t need to say anything more. “Live a good life, little one. You have so much ahead of you. Rest assured that you have my best blessings.” 

And with that, with an overwhelming will to touch the painted sky before me, my wings fluttered rapidly and I felt my feet dangle in the air, flying towards the ground in the sky, towards the building, towards my mother, towards my life. I glance down for a second to see a small trail of golden sparks behind me and Gospel in the distance, glancing at me with a content beam on his face. 

***

“They’re still talking about it. Gosh, some of these people are horrible...how could they say things like ‘it’s impossible, she shouldn’t be alive-’”

I smile at my mother’s distressed face. “It’s okay. They’re right to wonder. After all, it is an amazing story, how I survived.”

My mother looks at me with a puzzled look on her face. “What are you talking about?”

My gaze meets her gentle, curious eyes. “An angel saved me.”