guardian angel
11/16/22 - a personal favorite world and characters of mine that i've made while in this class! our prompt was to write about a fantastical being trying to fit in among a new world or environment, and boy did i have something up my sleeve. i want to write more with them tbh. there is a second part or i guess a second writing in this world with these chaarcters that will be linked below :-)
The hot steam of the food stands hung low in the air. Murky, warm, sticking onto my skin. I had my eyes trained onto my human. He was happily eating some street food, sitting at the tall barstools of the makeshift stands and shoveling the stringy objects down his throat like he was starving.
I was assigned to him yesterday. I spent all of that day looking for him, until my divine senses led me to this small part of the city.
I was never one to mess with trivial affairs like this. There were around 8 billion humans living on planet Earth, and the lifespan of one is nothing but a mere fraction of my entire existence. I did not care for these creatures, but I suppose I had a lesson to learn, as my usual routine was put to a halt and I was given a human to protect.
My brown fleshy eyes never blinked, and my unarmored chest never rose and fell like the others. I could feel the piercing eyes of a mortal stare burning into the back of my head. I turned to face him, the owner of the food stand I was sitting by jolted a bit as I did.
“Ah, sir, your food is getting cold—” He began. “Do you—do you know how to use chopsticks?”
I gave him a steady gaze. I had been told that human beings like eye contact, it is a signal that lets them know you’re listening. I gave him the best eye contact I could, getting down to even the little black pupils in his stare.
“Yes,” I said confidently. Most humans must know how these utensils work, if it is all everyone is using around these parts. I continued holding his gaze, and he stared at me quietly for another beat.
“Okay,” he finally answered. “But if you need any help, I’m here…” He turned back to his kitchen. However when I returned to watching out for my human, my senses could not find him.
That blasted stand owner had distracted me from my task. He had disappeared, leaving nothing but a slip of green paper and an empty bowl in his wake.
I immediately stood, leaving behind my bowl of human food, and took off in a hurry. He must be around here somewhere, he couldn’t have gone far. I closed my eyelids and attempted to reach deep for my divine senses—
Suddenly, a mass appeared before me, and I was sent stumbling backwards and onto the floor. A high pitched voice gasped. My eyelids flew open, and another human was standing in front of me, dark brown liquid splashed all over their dress. They were holding a now empty glass of sustenance. In my chase, I must’ve bumped into them.
People around me began to stare. The now dripping wet human gave me a look with their eyebrows scrunched in tight and their lips pulled downwards towards their chin. I did not understand what it meant. I felt the same brown liquid pool onto my cloth armor, and my facial area heat up and flush.
“I must go,” I said, standing myself up and taking off once more.
“How rude!” The splattered human exclaimed. “At least apologize!”
The city was a blur of noise, human connection, colors, light, and dangerous obstacles. It scared me. Not much moves my stony heart, but this environment truly terrifies me. I felt my repulsive human heart beat like a pulsing sun in my chest cavity, and eventually I found myself lost. My target was nowhere to be found, and the lights glowed so bright around me I could barely think. How could someone possibly stand to live in this hell?
I covered my ears with my hands and squeezed my eyes shut until all I could hear was the organ pounding through my body.
I felt a small hand tap on my shoulder.
“Are you okay?” They asked quietly. I opened my eyes to face them. I nodded.
They reached out and handed me two small rubber devices. “I use these whenever I get overwhelmed,” they whispered. “Put them in your ears. Do you need help getting home?”
I was speechless as I cautiously took the rubber nubs and pressed one into my ear. Suddenly all the blaring noise was muted. I gazed down at this shorter human and nodded.
“...This helps,” I say. I looked down at my wrist, where familiar writing in my language was written. “...Do you happen to know the way to this address?” I read out the coordinates of my human target. They listened carefully, and nodded.
“I can call you a taxi and they’ll take you right there,” they said, pulling out their brick of light and powering it on. “Here, let’s get off the sidewalk, there’s people coming from all directions.” They motioned for me to follow and gently led me out of the horrible light.
I had been told of the selfishness of human beings, and how they ‘re so caught up in their own lives they could barely think of others. I could’ve never anticipated kindness from one of these beasts.