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Roger lived in the house they had bought just before their marriage, some thirty odd years ago. They had bought a new house, in a new development, because that way there was nothing unexpected. No secrets in closets could surprise him here, since all of the closets had only held his own belongings. In the intervening years their furniture became a little outdated, but it still served its purpose well enough. The neighborhood changed some, became more crowded and the local kids all moved away, starting families of their own, but inside his house, Roger knew he was ruler of the same realm he had first created so long ago.
When Miriam insisted they buy a dishwasher he held his tongue, thinking it would make her happy, although he was sure the dishwasher wasn’t as good as washing by hand as his mother had. When the old refrigerator finally groaned its last he replaced it, but only because he had too. The new color television had taken some getting used to, but Roger did have to admit, the picture was sharper, cleaner, even if it was new-fangled. He put his foot down when she tried to sell his old car, and couldn’t look at her for a week when she permed her hair. When Miriam took cooking lessons and tried to feed him something unfamiliar he was sick for days. She should have known better! So it really was for the best when she left, piling her new clothes and music and self into a car only a few years behind the current model. He watched her drive away with regret almost like relief.
He signed the papers from the lawyers without reading them, watching the ink flow from his pen the same way it had since he was 18 and received it as a graduation gift. Change hurt too much to think about so he let the world rush by as best he could.
In a surprisingly short time, Roger had settled into his new, alone life. Everyday he rose, had the same cereal for breakfast and left for his job in the city. He worked in one of the big office buildings downtown where he had held the same job since he joined the firm. For the first few years, his boss told him he could go far if he only applied himself. After a few more years the boss stopped urging him to move along and Roger grew accustomed to seeing younger men promoted ahead of him. It didn’t matter; his salary was fine and he was comfortable right where he was.
After a full day at the office, Roger would drive home, stopping off at the grocery store to pick up a frozen meal. As he drove through the winding suburban streets he’d look over the rooftops to see the aerial on top of his house waving at him. Most of his neighbors had long ago gotten cable, but he liked being able to fix any reception problems himself. He didn’t need all those channels anyway; they were only full of psychics and other frauds. He’d park in the driveway, right over the familiar oil stain from the leak in his car, go inside and relax in front of his television, watching whatever the networks offered him that evening. Television filled his mind up, so he needn’t hear how quiet things were now. In his secret heart, Roger was surprised by how much he missed Miriam, but he carefully didn’t pay attention to himself when he felt lonely or sad. Externally, he congratulated himself on how well he had adapted and swore he would never have to make these kinds of changes again.
So life went on. He rebuilt carefully and created as much monotony and safety as any one man could desire.
One evening, after dinner (Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes) the television picture (a game show) dissolved into static. Roger banged the TV a few times then swore. The damned aerial must have been knocked loose by the wind, although the night had seemed calm when he came home. He pulled on his jacket, dragged the ladder from the garage and climbed to the roof. At first glance there seemed to be old rags blown into the delicate wire antenna. At second glance, Roger realized the rags were an angel. The wings, the radiance, the otherworldly beauty- it could be nothing else. He stood on the roof for what seemed to be a very long time. He looked at the rooftops of his neighbor’s homes and saw the lights of the city surrounding him. He saw the cloudy night above him and felt, for the first time in a long while, how very vulnerable one man alone can be. With a sigh, Roger began to untangle the angel’s wings, feather by feather, and then carefully carried it into the house. It scarcely weighed as much as a child.
The angel settled into the couch without once opening its eyes. Even battered and bruised, its loveliness was painful to look at. Its body seemed very strong but without the clearly defined muscles common to men. It had no nipples or genitals. It smelled faintly of summer mornings and woodland breezes. Roger turned away, his eyes full of tears. He filled a glass with water and left it within easy reach. He did not turn around as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
In the morning, his first thought was that it must have been a dream. If it had been a dream, however, then the house would not smell of his childhood, like green grass and his mother’s pancakes. It if had been a dream, he would not be in his clothing instead of his pajamas. If it had been a dream... Roger rose and went downstairs as quickly as a cautious man can.
The angel was still there, now awake and looking at him. It smiled a little and the room seemed full of light. It was clearly too weak to rise. Roger said, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” It relaxed and leaned back, its wings rustling.
Roger hurried around the house, getting himself ready for work. He carefully ignored his guest, unsure of what the etiquette would be. As he walked out, he turned back to it. Its eyes met his and he couldn’t tell what color they were. “I have to go to work now. I’ll be back later.”
That day seemed to pass as if in a mist. Roger found himself thinking over and over Angels can’t be real! Yet there’s one in my living room. Who could I tell about such a thing? He thought to call Miriam, but was afraid she would laugh, or worse, come over and steal it away from him to use on her show. He told no one.
When he stopped off at the store, Roger bought his usual frozen dinner, and then stopped still in the middle of the market. What do angels eat? What aisle might nectar and starlight be in? He walked through the aisles, throwing candy and angel food cake and honey into his cart. By the deli counter he saw a jello salad, similar to the one Miriam used to make with marshmallows, called ‘ambrosia.’ He bought three pounds of it then rushed to the check out and home.
He set all of his purchases on a TV tray in front of the couch where he usually sat while he ate. The angel looked at the offerings and then spoke. Its voice was like a thousand bells, like the rush of wind in trees, like the sigh of a lover’s breath. “Thank you, but I need none of that. Please, may I have more water?” It struggled to sit up, and drank deeply, glass gleaming between its fingers. When it was done, it calmly looked at him saying nothing else.
Roger looked everywhere but at the angel. He looked around the room he had known for the last thirty years. He expected to be dismayed by the dust and neglect with a visitor such as this, but instead found himself noticing a new gleam to things. The rug seemed not quite as worn. The stain where he had spilled the red wine years ago when he and Miriam were young was gone. The tangle of wires behind the television was sorted- red wires, black, green, all lying neatly side by side.
“Did you do this?”
The angel looked down and a slight pink touched its cheeks.
“No, I did not. But things often arrange themselves to please us. My kind. I thought you might find some order comforting.”
Roger felt puzzled, at once pleased that the angel had noticed him at all, while also distressed that someone had disarrayed his familiar chaos.
“Well, thank you. But you really don’t have to do anything like that. I mean, you’re hurt and should just rest. Get better.”
The room fell silent again.
“You have done me a great service, you know. Many are not so generous to my kind. Most disbelieve and refuse to see, others hurt what they cannot understand. Many would have simply left me there to turn into sand and wind and rags caught by wire. When I am well, I hope you will let me perform a service in thanks to you.”
Roger was startled, then replied, “Thank you, but, I don’t need anything to change. I have my house, my car, my job.” Silence, thick between them. Roger found his eyes wandering away from the angel and toward the television. “Would you mind if I watch the news? I like to see what happened out there while I was at work.”
The angel shifted slightly and room opened on the sofa. Roger’s spot, soft and shaped like him, welcoming. His dinner heated in the microwave-did it take less time than usual? They turned the television on and watched the news. The picture was crystal clear.
As the television told its usual stories of crime and fear and death, Roger became aware of the angel beside him. It seemed very pale and cringed with each mention of a new atrocity. Roger was so accustomed to the painful stories that he had forgotten how terrible the news could be. “I’m sorry. I’ll turn it off.” The angel was visibly relieved.
Within a few minutes Roger went upstairs, calling “Goodnight” behind him. In his bedroom, he realized he hadn’t gone to bed this early in years. He sat in the darkened room, heard his shoes clunk to the floor and wept for the first time since Miriam left. He could hear nothing from downstairs and fell asleep clothed, again.
When he woke Roger felt the first twinge of resentment. What right had this celestial visitor to invade? It had fallen into his life without invitation. Angels were supposed to stay up there, or bring fleeting visions, not sit in the living room and fill the house with the scent of memory. Even as he stewed, Roger knew this train of thought was getting him nowhere – he wouldn’t ask the angel to leave. He got up and began his day. The razor in the bathroom seemed keener than usual. The hot water didn’t run out. He finished washing and left for work without glancing into the living room to see if the angel was still there.
After work and the market he sat in his car in the driveway before going into the house. All around him he heard the sounds of the neighborhood, muted through the windows of the car. Children laughing, their parents calling them in for supper. The rumble of cars passing by. The silence of early evening in the suburbs.
The angel was standing in the living room, flexing its wings. Roger watched it, thinking he was unnoticed. The living room was pristine. Through the archway he could see the kitchen gleaming. Miriam had only cleaned like that when Roger’s mother was coming to visit. The angel turned to him, and smiled welcoming him home.
Roger set down his briefcase, and took off his coat. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, much better, thank you. I have almost returned to myself.” Again, silence.
“Man, may I ask you a question?”
Silence. “Yes.”
“How do humans continue from day to day without radiance? When angels are in our rightful place we are bathed with the light of the-One-who-creates-and-commands-us. We live to do the One’s bidding, and find all of our work to be joyful for our devotion. While I am young for my kind, many of the humans I have seen do not seem to possess any light in their souls. The-One-who-dreams-and-finds-us-in-Its-memory made humans with the intent of light, but so many of you seemed to misplace it. What happened?”
The angel looked at Roger. Its colorless eyes didn’t blink. Roger looked back and in an instant knew what it was to fly above the sky and to be full of laughter not needing to utter a sound. He understood what it was to have the world arrange itself for him, and not be full of clutter, dust, memories. He knew what it was to be born fresh each day with no regrets. He looked away.
“I, I don’t know. Humans are full of dreams and desires. We are not content creatures, as you are. Some of us keep striving for light, enlightenment, whatever. Some of us try to be content with what we have.” And some of us find it far safer to not have to think about these things. To not be disturbed, changed. I hate having this creature here.
The angel looked away. “I will be well enough to leave in the morning. Please, consider what service or gift I might give you in gratitude. You have saved my life, Man.”
Roger heated his dinner in the microwave and tried to watch television with the angel. It seemed puzzled by sitcoms and distressed by advertisements. The only programs it had any patience with were nature programs on public television. It cried out with joy at the marvels of creation, explaining, “Angels mostly concern ourselves with the One-who-laughs-light-into-stars and with humans. The-One-who-has-breathed-into-all does not trouble Itself with small creatures, finding more interest and amusement in watching you, and us, and dreaming of other things beyond our comprehension.”
Roger thought, Its boss sounds worse than mine. Always there, but never useful. He went to bed not too much later. The sheets were crisp and clean, his bed neatly made, not the comfortable mess he’d left it. Roger dreamt of great expanses of sky and the falling feeling of flight. He dreamt of his youth and his dreams of Africa. He dreamt of the things he had forgotten he loved. He woke with a headache and sour stomach.
The angel was waiting for him when he came downstairs. Its wings were wide and bright, the feathers whiter than snow or the glare of morning. “I am well and will return to my realm today. Thank you for your kindness and home. Is there anything I might do to repay you? My kind has powers over time and material. Ask, and if it is permitted, it shall be yours.” The angel’s colorless eyes were wide and without guile. Roger thought. He could have Miriam back. But it would take work and changes to keep her, to not have her leave all over again. He could have his youthful dreams back, but he was too old and tired now to know what to do with them. He could have money, or power, but those things would only bring confusion and turbulence with them. He looked around his home, saw the furniture, no longer shabby, and heard the furnace quietly heat itself up. He felt a great grief well up inside of him, as he saw how little he had used his life, and then he felt a great rage at this creature who had forced him to see all of these things. He had been happier before he had known. If this angel had not fallen into his life Roger wouldn’t now feel so inadequate, so old. And then he knew what it was he wanted, a way to insure this chaos couldn’t catch his life again.
He opened his eyes, and looked at the angel, glorious in front of him. The angel became more luminous, and leaned forward slightly. Its wings created the slightest of breezes that barely disturbed the drapes. The scent of fresh papaya and new rain grew larger. “Yes?”
“There is one thing you can give me, to repay me for what I have done for you.
“Take down the aerial. I want cable TV.”
(c)2010 Laura S. Packer
