Opening my eyes I saw nothing but white all around me – like huge glowing cotton balls making hills and mountains in the distance.  As I stood up I noticed there was a man dressed in a blurry white robe, standing right in front of me. He was smiling and extending his hands out to me.

“Welcome, Eve! It is so wonderful to finally meet you face to face,” he smiled very wide and clasped my hands in his. The warmth of his touch was more comforting than a hug. He seemed to be glowing with kindness. I felt confused, but oddly relaxed.

I asked, “How do you know –”

“I have been helping watch over you since you were born,” he said with a knowing smile.

“By the way, you can call me Gabe.  Up here, everyone else does,” the man gave a deep throated chuckled. “How are you feeling?”  He asked. His voice made me think of melting chocolate – comforting, soothing. Like a genuinely concerned friend I hadn’t seen in years.

“My memory is a little hazy.  The last thing I remember is lying in a hospital bed, looking at… it’s really hazy,” I said. 

My vision started to clear and I saw what the man in front of me really looked like. He was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen in movies or magazines. Besides his warm personality that seemed to literally radiate from his skin with good-nature, he had perfect features, hair, teeth, skin, and…

 “Oh, good God!  Are those wings?!”

I would’ve jumped in surprise, but I was glued to my spot, too enamored with the splendor of his luxurious white feathers that gave the appearance of a white aura surrounding his frame.

“I’m sorry,” I quickly added, embarrassed at my reaction. I tried looking away, but I just couldn’t.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” I tried explaining, “…but thinking and talking seem to be coming all at once,” I blurted.

“It is perfectly alright, Eve,” Gabe chuckled. “It happens to everyone in the beginning.”