By Susan Lyttek
“There’s another one, boss.”
I peered at my monitor screen. Sure enough, the telltale shooting star effect had almost gotten past me. We angels are not incapable of error, unfortunately. Gripping the controls with renewed enthusiasm, I cornered and contained the time bubble. When I heard the satisfying click of the “Save” button, I sighed. “Almost missed that one.”
Wiley, my cherubim sidekick, grimaced with his human face, while his lion side looked downright irritated. “Job’s getting harder these days. Even on Maximum Slow, we’re getting hard pressed to catch them all.”
I nodded. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have all your eyes working with me.”
He chuckled out of his eagle head making it sounded more like a squawk. “Lose more than allowed? Have to live-chase the stragglers like in the old days?”
I glanced around our control room with its precision screens. Each screen had a catcher and an assistant. It was much more civilized than riding assistants across the heavens with a net. We had a better success rate with the technology. “No thank you. Not only was that exhausting, it gave humans too many chances to see us at work. We’re still dealing with all the legends.”
“Boss!”
I refocused and saw a big one barreling across my section of the heavens. This one wasn’t just a wasted minute or two. It could be hours! Maybe a full day. What were those humans thinking?
This bubble moved like a living thing with a mind of its own. I extended the controllers like hands, trying to pin it behind the Milky Way. Almost acting sentient, it avoided me on the first pass. “Wiley! Need your help with the third hand.”
He jumped to my side and pushed the button that responded to his lion’s paw. I couldn’t use it even if I wanted to. “It’s a sneaky one.”
“You’re telling me.” I kept maneuvering, trying to grab and corner. I normally wouldn’t work so hard for one parcel, but it was big enough that we’d be able to switch from the capture side to the donor. And that was always my favorite part.
“Push it towards Andromeda,” he said. “I’ll come at it from behind.”
If I had sweat glands, I’d been dripping from the exertion. Every time I pushed the time bubble one way, it soared across the galaxy, taunting me. Its size and brightness had to be visible, even to mortals, and I wondered who might report a shooting star.
Just when I was sure that we’d miss it altogether and it would escape into the ether, Wiley used his emergency fourth arm and batted it towards me.
Click.
I heard the satisfying sound of a capture. Glancing at the tally on the side of the screen, I rejoiced. Yes! We had enough.
Reining in his virtual arms, Wiley turned on our donor screen.
“Wisdom, Lord?” I asked.
Immediately, a name leapt out at me. A baby dying and parents praying. This captured time was just what the little one needed. Highlighting our selection, I pressed release.
For a brief moment, Wiley and I saw the family with the doctor.
“We have no explanation,” he said to the parents. “She’s completely well. It’s as if she’s been given the gift of time.”
I high-fived one of Wiley’s human hands. “Amen.”
“Back to work, boss?”
“You know it.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This was such a cool story to visualize! Really fun idea to use the Biblical description of cherubim, and I enjoyed the glimpse of the purpose for their work at the end.
I wonder what operating system their computers use? (haha)
Clever and creative. Made me smile. :)
I loved the ending! <3