Being Human

Melina

Chapter 5

Melina

      Son I must warn you about love….it’s the most complicated feeling of human experiences. Many angels of mine have fallen in love before, but not all of them lived on to be happy.

      I twisted and turned in my sleep, the lines playing over and over in my head. Why had Father warned me of love right away? There could’ve been other things that he’d warn him about, such as how to buy fresh meat, how to plant the proper flowers for the season, or oxidation numbers. But not love. Why had it been the first thing that Father had to remind me of? Is it because that was what I was most curious about?

   I know you are eager to learn how it actually feels to love, and to learn from it. But learning from it is not easy; sometimes, you lose more than what you bargain for. But do not confound my warnings as dissuasions, son.  I only want you to be careful. But make no mistake, whatever happens, to love is never to regret.

     I couldn’t stand it anymore. I rolled out of bed, and clambered out the door. The light in the hallway was dim; across the hall I could hear Emile snoring. Melina probably slept somewhere downstairs. I tiptoed downstairs into the kitchen, hoping to find ingredients for a hot chocolate. But then again, how did you make hot chocolate? I opened some of the cupboards, looking for something familiar to me. How had those mortals I had seen over the years done it?

    “Looking for something?”

     Melina stood at the door, smiling. She held a steaming mug in her hands, which she promptly raised to her lips as I replied, “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t be here in such an hour…”

     “I agree. You might rouse Emile awake, and it doesn’t do well for him to be awake. Ooh, listen,” she cocked her ear, listening. “He’s going to fall off the bed anytime now.”

     Sure enough, a few seconds later, something heavy rolled on the floor, followed by a lot of yelling and outbursts of pain. “Should we go up and check on him?” I said, worried.

     “Nah, he’ll be fine. Anyway, you were looking for hot chocolate?” Melina said as she opened a cupboard.

      I paused, mystified. “How did you know?”

      Melina smiled. “That’s one of my gifts, Louis. I could tell human emotions, no matter how much they try to hide them. I knew you were going to wake up sooner or later to have some. It does help, doesn’t it? Drinking something warm when you can’t sleep?”

      “Whoa, you said ‘gifts’. You mean you’re an-“

      “Angel? Yes. I’m an angel too. Oh no,” Melina said, before Louis could ask. “I’m not here to stay very long. Father sent me to teach you boys a bit of cooking and basically to fend for yourselves for the next six months. Emile’s the one that will stay with you; after all this is not his first time to be here…”

       “What?”

       “Oh, don’t mind me, dear. Don’t mind anything I said,” Melina said, waving her hand.

       “But you said-“

       “I said nothing, Louis.”

       I bit my tongue to keep myself quiet. Melina seemed nice enough, and she definitely looked very young, but there was something in her manner of speaking that indicated old wisdom, wisdom coming from ages of experience and thought. “Melina, how old are you?”