Angel Wings

Mark and Ashley were excited about the swimming pool ad in the Sunday paper. The summer was unbearably hot, and a new pool was way out of their budget. It was listed as four foot deep, fifteen foot diameter, and $200. It was perfect. It was cheap. They just had to get there before anybody else, so they grabbed the kids, jumped into their old 79 Chevy pickup, and hit the road.

The single cab was barely big enough for four people, but little Jack and Jen were snug in between mom and dad. The air conditioning didn’t work well, so the windows were down, but just thinking about a new pool made it bearable.

“Where are we going mom?” Jack insisted. “It’s hot in here.”

“Well, your dad and I have a surprise!” She smiled and looked over at Mark.

Not wanting to give away the secret, he opted for a dad joke to change the subject. “Do you know what my truck’s favorite meal is?”

“Come on dad. You tell this joke every time we get in the truck.” Jack smirked.

“Don’t give it away Jack.” Mark insisted. “Jen, do you know?”

“I don’t know daddy.” Jen questioned. “What’s its favorite meal?”

“Break-fast!” He tapped the pedal three times. “Get it?”

Theo and Azrael were two unseen angels that had hitched a ride in the bed of the pickup. Azriel had dark hair, blue armor, and was the more strategic of the two. Theo was more brawn than brains, but still brilliant by human standards. His white hair and wings were the perfect accent to his golden armor.

“Dad jokes never get old.” Theo elbowed his friend in the chest. “Do they?”

“Well, yeah! They kind of do.” Puzzled. “Can you believe this guy? Anyway, the mission is at hand. The dark one is going to blind a driver at the intersection a mile down the road, which will lead to an accident. We are to protect this family.”

“You got it my friend.” Theo’s heart raced. “You take the family. I’ll take the dark ones.”

The truck barreled down the highway at sixty miles an hour, too fast for humans and way too slow for angels. With earthly eyes it looked like just another bright sunny day, but in the spirit realm it looked like a black mass covered the car in the intersection. A dozen demons circled the car, waiting for their opportunity.

Theo was off. If there were angel speed-limits he would have broken them. He hit the mass head on, close-lining two imps with each arm. They exploded in a black sulfury mist. He tucked his head and hit the ground rolling up into a back stance with his white-hot blade drawn. There were a dozen more. He thought he recognized one of them.

“Dar’on! What do you want with this family?” Theo Commanded.?

“I want them dead.” The demon snarled. “We want them dead.”

“Well you can’t have them.” Theo lunged into a forward slide piercing two more imps as he closed the distance to Dar’on. “So back off.”

The demon leader nodded and all of the imps jumped on Theo pinning him to the ground.

“Now what you going to do angel?”

Theo wrestled against them, tossing to each side, but was unable to free himself. He played along. “Let me go!”

Mark and the family were almost at the intersection. Several imps tried to leave, but they couldn’t. Theo’s massive spiritual arms were around them all. “What has been bound in heaven, I now bind on earth.”

The angel held with all his might, but could not hold them all. One dark imp slipped past rushing to cover the head of the driver. Off she went striking the old pickup truck in the side.

Mark looked up, but couldn’t begin to stop before the collision. There was barely enough time to say, “Jesus help us.”

The two vehicles hit causing the truck to turn sideways in the road. The momentum of the car transferred to the old Chevy lifting the back side into the air and starting it to roll like a barrel down the highway, into the ditch, through the fence, and eventually to the empty field.?

For humans this was a flash. A moment seared into their minds. For Azriel it was slow-motion. His spirit body entered easily through the back glass. He extended his arms around Mark, Ashley, Jen and Jack, and pressed his wings hard against the inside of the cab. He became a hedge around them. The truck rolled to a stop up-side-down, the cab crushed.

“You guys OK?” Mark opened his eyes first and screamed. “Ashley? Jen? Jack? You all OK?”

One by one they all spoke. Jen’s shock came out as cries, but not of pain. They were cries of fear, having no clue what just happened. The four climbed out through the windows of the vehicle and stared at the mangled piece of metal in front of them.

Ashley put her hands to her face, “Oh thank you God!”

He will give His angels orders concerning you, To protect you in all your ways. On their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone. – Psalm 91:11-12

This was based on a true story. My wife and I lived through this with our kids many years ago. I still wonder how in the world nobody got hurt in this mess?