The weather wasn’t as warm as it used to be. School had started as the summer was near its end. Nothing about it had changed from before. I walked to class, got to know the professor and then walked right out. It was only the first day of course. So there wasn’t much to do.

I wasn’t as prepared for classes like I promised myself. I forgot my own notebooks so I couldn’t take notes. At least there wasn’t much to learn during the first day.

The weather was warm enough to wear light clothes. I walked home wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts. I could feel a cold breeze blowing through my exposed legs. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll start wearing pants.

“Help.”

A voice was heard. It was very faint and calm. I was beside the church when I heard it. I continued walking until it got louder. It was clear that it was coming from the park.

“Help.”

It sounded like a bored voice that just gave up. They continued to speak up for the small chance that someone would come to help them.

“Help.”

There was an older woman stuck in the ladder of the playground.

I stood there shocked.

“What the hell.”

These words slipped out of my mouth.

I was still quite far away but the woman noticed me. She started squirming inside the ladder while trying to grab my attention.

“Oh hey there. Over here!”

The woman smiled as she yelled out to me. She was excited to see another human being that finally discovered her.

“You think you can help me out here?”

I got closer to the woman when I noticed the place she was stuck in. The ladder was attached to this playhouse. Each part of the playhouse had different colors. It had a staircase on the left and a slide on the right. There were two ladders on the front and back of the playhouse respectively. The one on the back was a regular ladder while the one in front of me was a metal bar that was twisted into a spiral. And inside that spiral was a person.

I was still in shock that a woman got stuck in the ladder of the playground. The first words escaped my mouth as loud as possible.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“Nope, I’m serious here. I am definitely stuck.”

The stranger still had a joyful smile while saying that. Maybe she was looking forward to leaving. Or maybe she was just another weirdo.

“I mean how you got stuck there in the first place.”

“Oh yeah. I just happened to pass by and noticed this playground. I got a bit excited I admit.”

She laughed softly.

Excited over a playground? There was a grown woman who got excited about a playground. What the hell was her problem?

I was almost tempted to just walk away. This wasn’t my problem after all.

“Wait wait!”

I had unconsciously turned away and didn’t even realized it. I turned my head and put an effort into a smile.

“Ah sorry about that.”

“Just help me out here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”

I began to think about how to help this woman out of the ladder.

I tried pulling her out but it involved getting really physical with her. After trying for ten minutes, there was no progress. I wanted to give up. And I did easily.

I took a deep breath and took a step back after my attempt.

“I think I’m going to have to call the fire department. You look really stuck there.”

“No no, don’t call anyone. Just pull me out here.”

“You look completely stuck.”

“Please, just help me out here.”

“If you don’t want me to call, then I can’t help you out of there.”

“Please help.”

She had a desperate look on her face. Her eyes were already filled with tears and her nose was dripping.

“Look, if you pull me out, I’ll help you.”

“With what?”

“You see, I’m special. Trust me on this. I can do great things for you.”

“Like what.”

“Just promise you’ll be gentle.”

“Not interested in the elderly.”

“What?! I clearly look like I’m twenty!”

She looked more like in her late twenties. But I was just teasing her anyways.

“I can keep trying but it won’t do any good.”

“Come on. I’m special.”

She whimpered.

“I’m an angel.”

I consciously turned around and started walking away.

“What a crazy lunatic.”

I whispered to myself. I made it sure that it was loud enough for her to hear me. I tried to walk as fast as I could before she could stop me. There were words I was going to expect to hear.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

I ignored her.

“Come back!”

I was ready to step on the sidewalk until I heard her again.

“Wait, wait! I’ve seen you before. You’re David right?!”

I sighed.

“I knew it!”

She raised her arms as far as she could from her limited space.

“I’m just here to visit my sisters. You do know them right? Please help me out here.”

At this point, she was crying out loud. She was whimpering when I walked back to her.

“You came back.”

She smiled while she sniffled. It was an ugly sight with her wet face and running nose.

Misfortune seemed to follow me everywhere.

It took two hours but I was able to pull her out.

“There we go.”

I took a deep breath. It was a long effort.

When she was completely free, she wiped her face completely. I then noticed her attire. She had really long hair that reached her waist. She wore a white blouse with a short white skirt. The woman had boots that almost reached her knees. Now that I noticed it, she seemed really tanned around her arms, legs, and face. She was more tanned around her arms than her own shoulders. She clearly used to be a much paler complexion. I wonder where she’s been to have this kind of a tan.

The woman appeared to be okay after wiping her face. She made a quick recovery and stood straight. She stretched her arm out and pointed a finger at me.

“David!”

“Uh, hello.”

I said confused.

“Escort me to my sisters. At once!”

I stood there silently. I swear I could hear a cricket. It was that time of the night already.

“No.”

I walked away.

Only to have the woman follow me.

“What? Do you not know who I am?!”

“No, and I don’t care.”

“I am an angel. You already met my sisters. So you do believe me.”

She stared at my face, scanning for a reaction. I stood there with an indifferent look.

“I am the angel Gabriel. The messenger of God Himself. You should listen to what I have to say.”

“Nope.”

“B-but come on!”

I sighed.

“Only if you say please.”

“No way!”

“Then you’re on your own again.”

“W-wait a sec.”

She stood in front of me but turned around. She slumped a bit with her head down. She took a deep breath as she straightened her back.

“P-pl-please?”

She blushed. There was still something dripping from her nose. When she noticed it, she turned around and cleaned up her face again.

“Fine. Follow me then.”

The angel followed right behind me. She was still wiping her dripping nose and her eyes were slightly red.

She slumped as she walked with me. I offered her to take her time to clean up after herself but she immediately wanted to go.

“I want to go now.”

“Okay okay.”

I tried to calm her down. All she did was sniff her nose and looked at me angrily.

“So Gabriel, was it?”

“Call me Jibril.”

She said proudly.

“Gerbil? That little rat thing?”

“I said Jibril!”

“Jibril? Why that weird name?”

“I got it over the summer. It's a pretty cool name isn’t it? It was what they called me.”

She said confidently. She finally fixed her posture and caught up next to me.

I wonder where she has been. What weird place called her that name. Probably out in the middle east. Does sound like it.

“So, uh, Gerbil.”

“Jibril.”

“Whatever. What are you doing here.”

“I’m here to see my sisters.”

“So you do know that Lucy and Raphie are currently living here.”

“Yep.”

“So it’s none of my business.”

“Yep.”

Good.

We finished our walk when we arrived at my building. I hope to avoid any familiar faces among my neighbors, especially Colin. He would end up teasing me for meeting a completely new girl in the past two months.

I almost got a headache from that idea.

I knocked on the door across the hall from my own apartment.

“This is it.”

I pointed at the door and walked to my own apartment.

“This is where I leave.”

“Wait.”

I turned around and looked at Jibril.

“Thank you, David.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Just don’t die again. You meanie.”

Jibril stuck her tongue out and ran towards the door of Raphie’s apartment.

“Wh-what?!”

The door opened in front of Jibril. Out came a confused short girl. Her long hair was no match for Jibril’s as it only reached her shoulders. Her white dress was similar but less revealing than Jibril’s. The short girl looked up at the taller woman with her mouth agape.

“Lucy!”

“Ji-Jibril?!”

After escorting Jibril to Raphie’s place, Lucy had answered the door. I was ready to walk away towards my place until I was dragged by the collar of my shirt into the apartment.

“Hey, wait!”

“Come, let’s celebrate!”

Jibril was excited. She screamed without caring about the neighbors. I could hear her shout echo through the hallways. The fact that it wasn’t my business was a complete lie.

“Welcome back,” Raphie said with a gentle smile.

“H-hey,” Lucy said nervously. She seems to be recovering from being surprised.

I sat down at the table with Jibril next to me with Lucy and Raphie sitting across from me. There were only glasses of water set out.

“Sorry, we don’t have much food right now.”

Raphie was ready to get up.

“Don’t worry about it!”

Jibril shouted as she gestured Raphie to stay seated.

“I tried to bring Michelle with me, but she was busy doing angel stuff.”

Oh god, there’s a fourth one… I tried to ignore that statement but it ended up giving me a headache. Maybe I should just accept that fact since there angels are in front of me. No matter how bothersome they could be.

“How was your summer in Saudi Arabia?” Lucy asked.

“It was great!”

“You got a tan.”

“Yep!”

Jibril extended her arms showing off her arms. She appeared to be very light brown. She even showed off what remained of her pale skin on her shoulder under the sleeve of her blouse. There was a white line that left evidence that she never tanned without her shoulders exposed.

“It was fun. I might visit there again.”

“You should take me with you.”

“Now Lucy… Remember the last time I tried to take you.”

I bet Lucy stayed in bed last minute and changed her mind.

“You’re right.”

Lucy chuckled.

“So what brings you here Jibril?” Raphie asked.

“I came here with a message from the big guy.”

“What?”

Lucy said with a confused face. There was fear in her widened eyes.

“It doesn’t have any concerns with you. I was sent here to look after a special individual.”

Jibril pointed towards me.

“Wh-what. Why me?”

“Well, you were resurrected from the dead without permission.”

“I was?”

I asked while looking at Raphie. It would’ve been better to hear about this beforehand.

“Oops.”

Raphie said while sticking a tongue out.

“It’s my fault if he’s looking to punish someone.”

Lucy spoke up.

“No one’s going to be punished.”

Jibril waved her arms trying to reassure us. She then took out a tiny scroll from her blouse pocket.

“Because David is a special case, I’m here to keep watch over David.”

“Why don’t we keep watch for you?” Raphie asked.

“Well, you’re busy with your studies. He doesn’t want to disturb you spending time as a human.”

“What about me?” Lucy asked.

We all stared at her. There was a brief pause. Everyone was silent until I started laughing out loud. Lucy’s face went red and there were some tears in the corner of her eyes.

“Shut up!”

I didn’t stop for another minute.

“Oh, ha ha, sorry about that.”

Raphie glared at me while Jibril couldn’t contain a smile. She faked a cough to cover a laugh and then continued.

“With that in mind, I will now become your observer from now on.”

Jibril puffed her chest out showing off how proud she was.

“And how will you do that?” I asked.

“I’ll just live here.”

I looked towards Raphie. She had a nervous look on her face.

“Wouldn’t it be cramped with the three of you here?” I asked.

“I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Raphie said confidently.

If they can figure out how they can live together while having enough space, then that would be great. As long as it does not involve me at all. I don’t want any angels living with me ever again.

Plus with Jibril staying over, Lucy has company whenever Raphie goes out.

But then again, Jibril was supposed to be my observer. So that was their excuse to bother me.

Damn it.

“Three is a bit much.”

Jibril brought up.

No. No!

Don’t give this a second thought. Please.

“I have enough futons for the two of you. Sleeping space is no problem.”

“That’s good.”

Yes, that’s very good. If I’m going to have angels bother me, at least give me the night to myself.

“Oh and one more thing David.”

“What was that?”

“It’s time you knew about your death.”