Angel

Spring was slowly blossoming behind the stone walls of the church. The smell of lilacs, children's laughter, and hubbub could be heard from the street - the city was alive. And you, as always, spent the day in the semi-dark church, sitting by the window, fingering your rosary and reading the lines of Scripture that you had long ago learned by heart.

You didn't like this place, even though you had served here for half your life. Even in your youth, you were forced to go to church - then it seemed like a punishment. Over the years, the disgust did not go away, only dulled. The cassock felt like chains. The choice was made - and it became not a road, but a wall.

A sudden roar from the bell tower broke the silence. The temple shook, sand fell. You jumped up, grabbed an old knife and rushed up the spiral staircase.

An angel lay on the platform among the rubble. There was an arrow in his chest, his wings were cut and broken. He was covered in blood, shaking, breathing heavily. But light emanated from him - soft as the morning sun.

You thought you were going crazy. But when you took a step, he shuddered and whispered:

• Don't come closer... if you're human... they might come back...

The voice trembled, rang like a bell. He was afraid. He was alive.

But you couldn't leave. Something forgotten in you responded - compassion, love that was once stifled.

“Be quiet,” you said. “You won’t die. Not here.”

You picked him up. He was light as a child. Cold as snow, his feathers matted with blood. Carefully, step by step, you carried him down. He whispered faintly:

• You... are a strange person... why weren't you... scared?

You didn't answer. You didn't know yourself.

In the room behind the altar, you laid him on an old sofa, took off his cassock, and began to treat his wounds. He was patiently silent, although it was painful. The feathers broke in his hands. Some were torn out by the roots.

Tears flowed down his cheeks, transparent and sparkling like crystals.

And suddenly he whispered:

— I thought people had forgotten... how to be kind.

Then he closed his eyes. And silence enveloped the room again.

you are his last salvation