MERCHANT ADVENTURER

Not A Guardian Angel

"Casper," an angelic voice called out my name.  This time, it didn't sound as faint as the first time.

Huh? Am I hallucinating?

I shed tears.  Had my head been beaten so badly that I was hallucinating things now?  Frustration and anger filled my indignant heart.  I was unreconciled to this life.  I had always lived piously, abiding by the Golden Rules.  This one moment, unknown to me at the time, changed my entire outlook on life.

"Casper," the angelic voice softly called out again.  Although, in my imagination, it seemed there was a trace of impatience.

I ignored it.

"Ahem! Casper!" the angelic voice cleared her throat and then raised her tone.

"Yes," I answered out of habit.  As a servant, it was a natural response.  Pain enveloped me.  I wished I was dead.

"Oh, my poor child," the angelic voice said, as though she had seen my suffering.  "The gods have seen your plight and sympathize with you.  They have sent me to assist you."

Then the angel wrapped me in a warm light, causing the pain to quickly fade away.

Assist me?  My thoughts were running with several ideas and topics.

"Are you a guardian angel?" I asked, no longer in pain.

"Err, not quite.  You can say I'm a fortune angel." The angel seemed embarrassed as she explained this to me.

"I'm confused," I told her. "Also, I don't think we've even had proper introductions."

"Right, where are my manners," the fortune angel answered with a lovely smile.  "I'm Midas."

"I thought Midas was a greedy king from fairytales," I informed her.

Midas released an awkward laugh.  "No, no.  Midas the king was named after me, Midas the Fortune Angel of the Ages."

"I see," I answered pensively, although I felt this angel was a real nutcase.  To be honest, if someone, no something, showed up out of nowhere and said they were there to help you, there had to be a catch.  There are no free meals in this world.

Midas explained, "I was sent by orders from above to assist you through life.  You're a decent human being, one capable of entering the Pearly Gates."

"Is that why you're helping me?  Because you want me to go to Heaven?"

I searched her eyes as I stared at her.  She edged nervously, her wings flapping nonstop.

Midas furrowed her brows.  Then she fiddled with her pointed index fingers.  "You see Casper, there are many more numbers down there.  If an insurrection were to happen, we of the moral faction would be overrun.  We need more recruits."

It seemed there was a reason for everything.  

"Why not lower the standard for entering Heaven?" I suggested.

"Ah, that's impossible."

"Why not?" I asked, my interest peaked.