CHAPTER ONE
C l a r k e
From The Grim Reaper:
Someone is bleeding out in here. If you don't come on time, I will drag this man into the fiery pit.
I hate it when I get this kind of SMS text. Oh, God, I hate humans. Why must they die at five in the morning when I'm hungover? Punyeta. Sometimes, I wish there was an etiquette for dying.
You replied to The Grim Reaper:
You have your own discretion. If you think that person deserves it, take the guy with you. You have my permission.
I was going to fall back into a deep slumber when my phone beeped. "Talaga naman." Goodness, it's him again. "Oo na, oo na. Kainis. Babangon na, oo."
From The Grim Reaper:
Now, I know why they kicked your lazy ass out of heaven and suffer. Understood.
Like an ounce of dust, I disappeared into thin air. I jumped into a familiar building, where Nirvana has been relocated. I like this more than the old one. Man, I nearly stumbled when I bumped into one of the angels who was holding a cup of coffee. Smell's good. I have to visit Turkey often. "Oh, sorry, babe. I didn't see you there."
"If you weren't so good-looking, Clarke, I'll send an e-mail to Heaven, telling them that you are abusing your powers." She poked my side, before winking at me. "But if you're the one jumping in here without permission, I don't mind. Look." I turn around to see some angels smiling freely at me. "You are always welcome to barge in, darling." By the way, they stare, they obviously want a piece of this angelic ass.
"I want to be flirty and all with you, all of you, actually, but I have a job to finish." I nodded before walking past her. My eyes, then, automatically searched for Imogen. "Ah, there she is."
I walked over to her, she was busy listening to a call from a poor human who wants his son to finish his studies without failing a single subject. I laughed at the frustration I saw on her face. "Can they wish for something interesting? Like falling in love with an alien or something? Or being able to see what they were in their past lives." I yawned loudly, causing her to turn her head back. "Clarke, my favorite winged one." And she is indeed my favorite customer service representative who suffered the same fate as I did; we were sent back to the earth. "To what do we owe the pleasure?" Mataas naman ang pasahod, hindi nga lang siya pera, kundi ang tsansa na mabuhay muli sa mundo. Every good deed counts nga raw. "You're here, and that means the grim reaper wants you to decide on something and you didn't get the memo on this one. Again."
"You look horrible, girl. Too many calls?"
"Alam mo na. I get the boring, easy ones." She closed the current window on her computer screen and opened a new tab. I was reading her side notes when she closed the last one. "Hey, you can't read that." They attach these notes to a certain person's file. Pagkatapos nun, babasahin ito ng nakatataas. After a certain soul's trial in the outskirts of hell where the six rulers reside, the Divine Court will give its verdict.
"Arte mo."
"Clarke, hindi 'to tambayan. Kung wala kang magawa, matulog ka. Aba'y kailangan din natin ng pahinga."
"Nonsense. Put that prayer on hold." Humans ask a lot from the good guy up there. Moe and her team get a lot of calls if there's a human crisis, o kung sakali mang makaalala sila. Once they're happy and have what they wanted, they won't be back until the next dilemma they'll have. They take him for granted and that is one of the reasons why I hate them. Or maybe because I was like that before and I hate myself for that. Imogen said it herself; we were like them until our life flashed in front of our faces and died. She always tells me that we're lucky enough to walk the Human Realm, considering we shouldn't be here anymore. Unlike others who were left back in paradise, this is like our second chance. Well, sort of. That's what they told us at the orientation. "How are you?"
