Passion of an Angel

by Suren Hakobyan

Nothing, you’re just a little part of Father’s masterpiece and never,” He pointed at the man breathing rapidly, “Ever try to compare yourself with such perfect creature as me.

  The man stared at him uncomprehendingly, snarled by the white angel’s furious eyes. He opened his mouth to say something. Words wouldn’t come out, and he was forced to shut it again.

  The angel calmed himself down and regained a rhythmic pace in his breath. With wide eyes he looked down at the man. He hoped to get an explanation from him. The silence remained; even the forest dared not to break it.

  The angel balled his hand into a fist, tore his eyes away from the man. With an airy jump, he crossed the wide river. The ground splashed as his feet crashed into it as if like a heavy object had fallen from a high rock. The angel straightened up. Without peeking back, he set off in a run. His shoulder hooked a tree. It bent down from the angel’s tremendous strength, but as soon as he let it go, the tree bounced up instantly and returned to its rightful place. The man had been right, nothing could be changed.

  The angel continued running aimlessly like the wind. He crossed the border and leaped out of God’s creation. The life remained behind, he swooped back down to Earth. He was met by an endless desert, the reign of sand and storms where God’s hand hadn’t reached yet. Sunlight pierced through the dusty air, encircling the big planet.

  The angel tore through the surface, through the unyielding ground of Earth. His tortured voice spread over the desert quickly after being swallowed by the hole he had made in the planet. He rushed deeper and deeper until absolute darkness greeted him. Far away from everything and from other angels, he finally found himself alone with his thoughts. He needed time to consider the changes within him. There, in the heart of the darkness, the angel came to the realization that he was a living thing, he could learn to feel too.

  Days passed by. Finally he had to get out of the darkness and bid farewell to Earth. There, just hanging in the middle of the space was God’s creation. He darted up to the life. Closer he moved, and he realized how much he had missed it, from its smell to its faint hum.

  How long had he been gone? To him, the time meant nothing. Darkness is darkness, nothing changes in it, so neither time. Every plant, every animal in the forest had been immortal and unchangeable until that day.

  Ever so slowly the angel roamed the forest. His eyes flicked from one thing to another, his unsure eyes noticed difference; something had grown, something was missing. Voices were different, some foreign, some unfamiliar. It was as if the forest was moving, living and even breathing. Confused, the angel stood in the middle of it and gazed around trying to figure out what had happened.

  In search of the answer, he reached the waterfall where the man had been once sitting alone and staring into the pools and ripples of the river bed. To his surprise the man wasn’t there. That very same stone had been abandoned, stood alone, naked on its raw backdrop. The angel searched high and low for the man but he had disappeared without a trace.

  Suddenly, something fell from the top of the waterfall into the river below. Surely it had to be the man. He waited patiently. Instead of the man he saw unfamiliar person, never had seen before. On the opposite bank the new creature came out of the water, its wet skin glowing and glistening in the bright summer’s day. The angel held his breath, eyes fixed on that beauty. From the distance, it looked just like the man, but the shoulders were narrower and the waist wider, long blond hair reaching its curved thighs. A captivating charm encircled that creation—even without seeing its face.

  The angel longed to reach it but his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground. The glade, the first sunray that he had been watching from the top of the high rock could never compare to the raw beauty of the new creature, simply perfect in every sense.

  The familiar man came out of the forest and approached the new creature. His face happy and full of life, his eyes shone, and the man snuck up to the beauty with blond hair and hugged it. How much had the angel missed all this? He watched them talking and laughing together, examined the new creature’s motions, trying to see its face, but the long hair hid it protectively.

  “Are you back?” He heard a familiar voice. As he turned around, the angel with pale blue eyes popped into his view. If there had been changes in the forest due to the appearance of the new blond-haired creature, nothing stirred in the blue-eyed angel’s expression.

  “I never left,” He answered flatly. Peering back over his shoulder, he saw yet another angel standing just two steps behind. Much taller and more imposing. Its eyes were jet black and his broad chest was carpeted in hair. “What is Azazel doing here?” He asked the blue-eyed angel annoyed.

  “Father’s appointed him the keeper of the garden,” The blue-eyed replied mildly.

  “Why does the garden need such a keeper?” He asked his voice full of surprise.

  “You see, Brother, Father gave the man free will. Life is going on by itself. Somebody has to keep an eye on it. And Azazel,” he pointed towards the colossal angel, “is willing to that job.”

  “He could’ve sent me, he knew how much I’m interested in this creation,” The angel snarled casting his eyes downwards to the ground.

  “You’ve got a lot of work in other worlds, Brother. This isn’t for you,” The other one said accusingly.

  “What is that over there?” He ignored the blue-eyed angel and indicated opposite the river.

  “It is a human.”

  “Are both of them humans?”

  “The Creator saw the man was alone and gave him the woman as a present,” explained the speaker.

  “Woman,” The angel repeated admiringly in a hushed voice.

  “Yes, something was missing. That woman you see over there fills that void. Now look around, do you see what Father has magically created from inanimate stones and still darkness?”

  “You are speaking as if you can see the beauty of his creation,” The angel sneered, “What can you feel?”

  “And you, Brother? Are you able to feel?”

  He refused to answer and remained silent. He turned to the waterfall in hope of catching another glimpse of those alluring humans. They had already gone. Again the stone was abandoned and empty of human life. But that woman, she… she had definitely made changes.

  “Don’t look for them. You’d better leave them alone and return to Father’s will.”

  “You just don’t understand what I feel. You’d better shut up and leave me now,” He balled his hands into fists and arched his eyebrows in a warning manner.

  “Feel?” The blue-eyed angel sounded surprised but not offended, “Are you a human to feel?”

  “Leave me,” He roared angrily, “You’ll never understand what I am talking about.”

  Silence fell upon them and the blue eyes glared at him piercing holes into his back. “Who will be in your place up there?” He broke the silence with low and calm voice. “Who will Father give His love as much as he gives you?”

  “Nobody,” The angel put in confidently and smugly. “Leave me alone and take Azazel with you. I need some more time here.”

  “You…”

  “Go away!” He ordered sharply. With that he slumped away.

  When nothing remains unchangeable, then every creature leaves traces behind. The angel found the human’s scent and sniffed around eagerly for them. With every step, he moved faster and faster. His eyes ached to see the woman once again. Nothing could distract his attention from finding her. Nothing could be more of a miracle to see the woman again, even if it were only a glimpse. Everything else seemed the same; nothing was different apart from her, that mysterious person. He was eager to know everything, to discover who she was and what she was like.

  A sweet laugh echoed through the trees. He stopped immediately straining to hear where the sound was coming from. Finally, it must be the woman, he mused to himself. He crept ahead slowly, carefully lurking behind a bush. There, in an opening she sat with that man. He was caressing her shoulder ge
ntly. As he told her a story, they gaily laughed. His black eyes drawn to her beauty, now he could see the woman’s round face, glacial blue and full of happiness eyes. Her nose small and her blond hair hung freely on her naked shoulders. On seeing her plump lips, something moved inside of the angel, a desire arose – a desire to touch them, to taste her white skin and caress her firm breasts. He closed his hands, nails digging deep into his palms to kill the desire.

  Sunset. But the light coming from the woman didn’t extinguish, on the contrary it became more beautiful and compelling. Unknown power coming from the woman attracted the angel, but he didn’t dare to get out of his hiding place. He remained behind the bush when even the humans were asleep.

  The new feeling was burning his chest from within.

  Dawn. The new day started. The humans woke and began to enjoy the life given by the Creator. When the man left the woman, the angel finally determined to come out.

  He stood up. The woman jumped up on her feet, her breath rapid, her eyes wide and scared as he approached her slowly. The angel looked right into her blue eyes, lucid like the morning’s cloudless sky. How could this beauty appear in this world, how it was possible to imagine such miracle?

  “Who are you?” The woman squeaked with a tremble in her voice. The angel was so absorbed by her, that he didn’t answer.

  A weak breeze brought dancing leaves. They hovered