#tkangelsoffice

Christmas time brings about a lot of warm memories for most people. But for many others, the holiday’s aren’t so cozy, merry and bright.

Hal, who was on earth at the time, walked home as he thought about this. Despite the cold weather he was dressed rather lightly, the cold didn’t seem to bother him. He made it to his building and walked inside. Once he got into his unit he removed his coat and hung it on the coat rack. Before he could remove his hat he heard a ringing noise. Instinctively he went to pick up his phone but quickly realized that wasn’t where the sound came from. Removing his hat revealed the true source of the ringing, his halo. He removed the golden ring from atop his head and fiddled with it until he was able to see a light emitting from within it. The light dimmed and revealed a familiar cheery face.

“Hal! There's my favorite angel born human!” Holli greeted him. He tried to push his tiny self through the ring only to have Hal prevent him from going any further beyond his waist.

“Of course I'm here, I live here. What do you want?” His tone wasn’t rude but it did not match Holli’s enthusiasm.

Holli reminded Hal that he agreed to attend the next party he hosted, which happened to be tomorrow.

“Is this some sort of Christmas party?” Hal said, acknowledging that tomorrow would be Christmas eve.

“You guessed it. It’s always been one of my favorite human holidays. The snow, the cheer, and of course the greatest gift of all.” Holli pulled out a tiny photo album from his pocket and flipped a few pages before holding it up to show Hal a picture of him and Jesus posing together. Hal’s eyes go wide.

“You actually met him?”

Holli tucked the mini album back in his pocket and nodded.

“Shall I mark you down as yes?” Holli asked.

Hal pondered the invitation but seemed hesitant.

“I don’t think I'll be able to make it. I have some work here that I have to take care of.”

Holli questioned his response, he was under the assumption that Christmas eve and Christmas day were days people could spend time with family and have fun without having to worry about work related responsibilities.

“Yeah, that would be nice. But that’s not how things are for the people here.” Hal went on to inform Holli about the Christmas he was familiar with after living amongst humans for so long. He’d witnessed so many people struggle during this time and how some people dreaded the day for many reasons.

Holli’s cheery demeanor dimmed a bit as he heard Hal say all this.

“It’s not like the problems humans face magically disappear on these days. I just find it a bit unfair to enjoy this time when so many others got it so rough.” Hal shrugged.

Holli seemed to be at a loss for words.

“I - I guess haven’t really considered all that before.” He finally responded.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. Now, if you don’t mind, I'd like to get on with my usual night time routine.”

Holli made his exit through the same little portal in Hal’s halo that he came in from. Hal tossed his halo over his shoulder with a quick flick of his wrist, perfectly landing it on the coat rack

—

The next day, Hal got ready to leave his apartment, sometime in the afternoon. He seemed to be in a rush as he went for the stairs. Something stopped him before he took the first step, he'd forgotten his halo. He was considering leaving without it but in the end he decided to go back for it. Thankfully It was still hanging on the coat rack. He grabbed it and put it around his wrist, it automatically shrunk down to fit around it like a bracelet.

Having rode the bus over, Hal arrived at his destination. A church. He made sure to thank the bus driver before getting off. An older woman greeted him once he walked into the entrance area.

“Good morning, Hal." She offered to take his coat and hat as they exchanged some small talk.

“Well we're glad you could make it again. Feel free to head to the kitchen, they're looking quite lost without you there.” They shared a chuckle.

Hal made his way to the kitchen, grabbed an apron and tied it around his waist as he was instantly greeted by the others there.

“What did you have in mind, chef?” A young man asked him.

“I’ll keep it simple for you all, think you can manage to make a simple beef stew?” Hal said, teasing the group a bit. Some friendly banter was exchanged but they eventually agreed with the man's suggestion. Before touching anything in the kitchen Hal went to wash his hands. While in the restroom his halo begins to ring once again.

He groaned “Ugh, not now.” He removed the halo from his wrist and ‘answered’ it.

“There you are!” It was Holli once again. “Where are you? We thought you’d be here.”

“I’m... Wait, are you in my apartment? And who’s we?” Hal tried to look past Holli.

Holli moved out of the way so Hal could see the other messengers from the office within his halo.

“I didn’t want you to be sulking alone while we partied, so I figured I'd bring the party to you! I didn’t expect you to be somewhere else.”

Before Hal could reply someone from the church knocked on the restroom door. “Do you mind grabbing some paper towels while you’re in there? We made a little mess.”

“Yes, ok! I’ll be right out.” Hal responded.

“Who’s that?” Holli asked.

“Seems like Hal has plans with other friends." One of the young messengers, Harmony, said.

"Human friends?” Hope chimed in from the background sounding interested.

Hal easily caved when asked about this, not feeling it necessary to hide. He told Holli and the rest of the angels he didn’t need them to throw any sort of party for him and that he preferred it if they’d just go back to heaven. He hung up his halo then grabbed a couple of rolls of paper towel off the shelf before heading back to the kitchen.

Holli seemed a bit disappointed after Hal hung up on him. He really hoped Hal would keep his word about attending a party of his. Hailey was quick to agree that they should go back to heaven.

"This place is no party venue, that's for sure." She said looking as if she were hesitant to touch anything in the apartment.

Harold put an arm around Holli’s shoulder.

“Don’t let it get you down bro. We’ll still have a fun time. Let’s just go back to heaven, yeah?”

Holli wasn’t too sure about leaving just yet. He was still bothered by the idea of Hal sulking all alone. But something caught his eye. A paper on the coffee table.

“Hold that thought.” Holli said, as he floated over to the table. He pulled out his reading glasses...well glass, in order to examine the paper. “Christmas soup kitchen, 10am-4pm, Volunteers welcome.” He read.

“Aha!” the little messenger exclaimed. “Change of plans everyone!” Holli announced holding up the flyer.

—

Back at the church Hal and a handful of other volunteers were busy preparing meals for whomever ended up taking advantage of the soup kitchen.

“Good work guys! They’re in for a treat.” Hal said. He looked quite pleased.

“It does smell quite heavenly in here.” A voice said from behind him.

Hal turned around and saw Holli, in the form of a human, standing there.

“Holli?!” Hal jumped.

“And friends!” Holli cheered. He stepped to the side to show that the others, all in their own human forms, were there too.

The woman who had greeted Hal earlier came up to him. “Friend’s of yours I assume?”

“Overbearing colleagues to say the least.” He murmured.

Holli wasted no time introducing himself and the others to the rest of the volunteer group. It seemed like each of the angels really hit it off with one of each of the humans.

There wasn’t much left to be done in the kitchen so Holli and the others were sent out to help usher in the visitors as well as serve them. Things went smoothly. Hal tried to focus on getting the people their meals rather than the fact Holli had ignored his request to be left alone. However, He couldn't deny their help was not only appreciated by the other volunteers but the visitors as well.

The whole event went about quite well and the smile plastered on Hal's face made it clear that he was quite jolly about its success.

“Your friends have a knack for this sort of thing it seems.” said the lady. Her and Hal both leaned against the wall and looked over the small crowd. Holli was sitting with a group talking about lord knows what but everyone listening seemed entertained and engaged. Hannah and Harold were grouped with a younger audience, Harold could be seen petting a dog and Hannah was bouncing a little kid on her knee. Hailey was back in the kitchen helping tidy up the mess and the twins, well they were just happy to be able to visit Earth again . Hal nodded, he felt a sense of pride in them all.

“Helping humans comes naturally to them, that's for sure,” he said.

The woman pointed out that his use of the word “human” was a bit odd, but Hal brushed it off saying it was a regional thing.

Holli noticed Hal getting ready to leave so he went up to him and asked where he was off to now. Hal raised an eyebrow feeling a bit smothered. He told Holli he had more work to do that day.

“If you have more stuff like this to do I, we all would love to join. This was very enjoyable!” Holli offered enthusiastically. It was clear Hal was going to turn down the offer, but he caught a glimpse of Harold and Hannah behind Holli. They were talking to the older woman and all three of them looked quite joyful. He cleared his throat and finished wrapping his scarf around his neck.

“I guess if you guys have nothing better to do, you can all come along.”

—

The group all board the bus to make their way to their next destination. Holli suggested they sing some Christmas tunes but Hailey was against this, not wanting to disrupt the other riders and Hal agreed. A little disappointed but understanding, Holli sat back and hummed some of his favorites quietly.

They arrive at their next destination, a quaint little building with a banner reading “toy drive” They all look at Hal, as none of them had toys on hand to donate. However, Hal came prepared. Once inside, Hal pulled out his suitcase, opened it up and began to unpack a bunch of toys. The people who watched him unpack were surprised by just how much he managed to fit within the average sized briefcase.

“Who are you trying to impress here?” Hailey said, looking over Hal’s shoulder. As if to answer her question, a trio of kids walked up to the table that Hal had set all the toys on. They were very excited, The woman who walked in with them had to remind them to pick only one each. Hal looked over at Hailey motioning to the kids. Hailey nodded in approval.

Hope and Harmony were digging through the boxes and examining the toys inside. Their interest was interrupted when a foam projectile hit Hope in the back of the head. The two turned to where the piece of foam came from and they saw the three little kids holding brightly colored toy guns. Hope and Harmony smiled at each other mischievously.

"Hey! Come on guys, come back!" Hannah blurted when she noticed the twins and the other kids running about. They were laughing too loud to hear her.

"Hope! Harmony! Here, now!" Hailey called. This got Hope and Harmony to instantly meet back up with the group.

Hannah told the two to put the toys they had been playing with back but they begged her to let them keep them. She was about to give in, weakened by their puppy dog eyes but then Harold reminded them all they couldn't bring earthly items to heaven. So with a hint of sadness they returned them and waved their newfound friends goodbye.

—

They got back on the bus and Holli once again continued to hum. This time Hannah joined in which of course got Harold to jump on the bandwagon as well. Hailey tapped her finger to the rhythm.Their next stop was a hospital. They interacted with the patients and did what they did best, offering reassurance and comfort to those who needed it. One woman asked for them to sing one of her favorite Christmas songs, of course they fulfilled her request. Hal still seemed hesitant to sing but with an encouraging bump from Hannah he joined in. As they walked down the hall towards the exit, Holli peeped into a room with a man laying on his bed. He seemed rather peaceful. He broke off from the group and went into the man’s room. It was very quiet, too quiet. Holli knelt by the man’s bed and took his hand into his. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Eventually the man began to slowly shuffle in his bed. He looked over at Holli.

“Who are you?” The man asked, his voice barely there. Holli smiled softly.

“We’ll meet again later. You’ve got a family to get back to.” Holli patted the man’s hand and went back to the hall to catch up with the others. Hal waved Holli over to the bus.

“There you are! We were gonna leave ya!”

They no longer felt the need to keep quiet as they rode the bus, they sang out loud and the few other people on the bus sang along. Hal couldn’t help but join in as well. Hannah even brought out her ukulele. Hope and Harmony added their own juvenile twists to the songs.

“Hey you know what we should do? We should go caroling!” Harold suggested excitedly.

Everyone seemed onboard, even Hal. He did not verbally express this, he knew it would be futile to disagree and his disagreement would be dishonest. They all got off the bus once near a quaint looking community and began their caroling as the night grew darker. It was good fun for all and they even scored some hot cocoa. Afterward they decided to walk back to Hal's building since it was nearby. As they walked they continued to sing festive tunes. They arrived just in time as the snow was starting to get really heavy, forcing the group to seek refuge in the building’s dingy little lobby.

“Guess we should be making our way back to heaven now.” Holli said, looking around at the bunch.

“You don’t have to leave just yet.” Hal said, kinda quietly. He felt it necessary to at least offer them a drink, maybe even a meal before they left. So they all went upstairs where Hal prepped a simple yet hearty platter, Hannah offered her assistance. When they finished Harold and the twins helped set the table. It was a rather small table, perfect size for the apartment, so they all sat rather close to one another.

“I think this party turned out better than what I had planned.” Holli said as they prepared to eat. Hal was going to deny that what they were doing was a party, but he didn’t want to waste his breath.

“What’s got you smiling?” Harmony asked.

“Hm? Ah well, not to toot my own horn but I cooked the ham perfectly.” The true reason why he was smiling felt a bit too corny to admit.

Holli looked at him, a knowing smirk on his face.

“I'm glad things turned out this way." Harold beamed. "I was beginning to think you didn’t like helping humans.” He tied his napkin around his neck only to have Hannah remove it and put it on his lap. Hal only shrugged, not really knowing how to respond at the moment.

Holli noticed everyone looked about ready to eat, but before anyone could dig in he expressed his gratitude for the day, his friends and the food before them all.

“Amen.” They said in unison before finally getting into the meal.

Sure it was cold outside, and of course there were still problems out in the world but, at that very moment they were all together, sharing a good meal, and feeling quite warm. Not only on the outside, but on the inside as well thanks to the work they had done that day.

The wind was soft and the air was fresh. Subtle harmonious sounds could be heard in the distance. This all made for a pleasant night as was the norm up in heaven. A small group of messengers gathered at a campsite for their annual office camping trip. Hailey worked on starting the fire as Bruce set up the tents. Hope and Harmony ran around the campgrounds using sticks as swords and such. Once the fire got going they all gathered around it ready to bond over some sweet treats. Holli brought the marshmallows, Hannah and Harold brought the chocolate and Hal brought the saltine crackers. He was told to bring graham crackers but he got confused at the store. Holli convinced the others that the s’mores would be just as good despite the mix up.

They ate their weird little s’mores and talked about work, both occurrences at the office and on earth helping the humans.

“Are we boring you two?” Holli noticed Hope and Harmony fiddling with the ground rather than paying attention.

“Hm? Honestly…kind of.” Hope admits, Harmony nodding in agreement.

Hal shared the intern’s lack of interest. He insisted someone had something more interesting to share other than recaps of their week.

“Bruce, you’ve certainly got something interesting to share.” Holli said in a knowing tone.

Bruce pondered for a moment.

“Well, There was the time I went skydiving on earth and landed perfectly in a volcano.”

Everyone’s metaphorical ears perked up. It took Bruce a second to realize they were waiting to hear more.

“Maybe I shouldn't have opened with that. The rest of the story is rather boring.” Bruce finished.

Holli then volunteered to tell a story of his own. Apparently his idea of an interesting story was sharing how he ran into an old friend while grocery shopping, in excruciating detail. Despite the story being quite predictable, It managed to hold the attention of Harold. Bruce and Hannah were captivated as well, but that was due to Holli’s speaking mannerisms being able to make any mundane story into a fun one. His story came to a close. Hailey was happy that it was over, silently sighing. Hal was more obvious with his relief giving a sarcastic slow clap. This quickly ceased when he spotted Bruce glaring at him.

Having heard enough boring tales, Hailey proposed sharing a tale of her own. This caught everyone off guard. Her idea of fun seemed to be keeping things orderly and scolding those who dared to make any sort of mess around her, so just how interesting could her story be?

She told the tale of an ancient creature called the leviathan. A fearsome beast who made a habit out of snatching angels off the mortal plane and dragging them to hell. This being possible thanks to its ability to use any deep body of water as a portal between both planes. Haliey emphasized the monster only targets messengers.

“Lucky you.” Holli said, nudging the principality beside him. Bruce woke up and agreed to what he didn’t even hear.

Hailey finished up the story saying. “And this isn’t some folktale but rather a cautionary tale. The leviathan is as real as the threat it poses to you all here. Hint’s why angels are advised not to stay on Earth for too long.” She crossed her arms, her eye locked on Hal.

“Really?!” Harmony asked excitedly. “How do you know about the leviathan? Did you see it with your own eye?” The twins asked in unison.

Hailey didn’t seem to approve of their excitement.

“I wouldn't be here telling the tale if I had. Let’s hope no one here ever has to see it for themselves.”

The group split up shortly after the story sharing session, each going back to their own tents. Everyone seemed to settle in just fine, all except Holli. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Hailey had shared. He thought there were enough threats on the mortal plane from angels to face, now there was a giant monster to deal with? Part of him doubted the truth in what Hailey said, chalking it up to her wanting to spice up what was nothing more than a tall tale. This gave him a bit of closure. The relief was short-lived however. There was a noise outside his tent. He contemplated checking what caused the sound, ultimately concluding there was no reason to panic, he was in heaven after all. But hearing more of the mysterious noises did tickle his naturally curious instincts. He slips out of his tent grabbing his halo for light.

He spotted a familiar silhouette still sitting beside the now extinguished campfire.

“Hal?”

Hal turns around, not being able to respond because he had a mouth full of saltine s’mores.

Holli chuckled. He was glad at least someone enjoyed the unconventional s’mores. Hal took a second to reply, wanting to finish his current mouthful.

“Didn’t expect you to still be up. Aren’t you the early to sleep early to rise type?” he asked while rolling his eye.

“Usually.” Holli said, fiddling with his halo. Hal seemed to notice this being a tell of some sort.

“You can’t sleep can you? Haliey’s story got you spooked?” Hal said in a teasing tone.

Holli tried to reject the claim, but ultimately couldn't deny the truth in the statement. When Holli asked Hal if he also couldn’t sleep for the same reason. Hal scoffed.

“I’m just not the sleeping outside type.” He tossed another s’more in his mouth. He knew Holli would insist on keeping him company so he didn’t waste his breath telling him he’d rather be alone. Neither said a word for the first handful of minutes. Naturally, Holli ended up breaking the ice. Hal being happy he did, the silence was getting awkward but he had nothing to say.

“Do you believe the leviathan is real? I mean, if it were, I feel like we would’ve heard about it. You know, given that being on Earth is a big part of our job and all. You know?”

Hal pondered this, eventually he agreed with Holli’s suspicion.

“I don’t think it’s real. I just think it’s another way to shame those who do enjoy going to earth for a little fun.”

Holli nodded. Even though he didn’t find Earth to be worth the potential risks, he wasn’t against Hal’s frequent visits. It did, however, cause him to worry about his coworker’s safety. The two talked a bit more about Earth, specifically about the aspects Hal liked about. Hal didn’t go into much detail but the simple conversation eased Holli’s restlessness. He was feeling ready to hit the hay so he said goodbye to Hal before making his way to his tent. Both messengers jumped when caught off guard by an unfamiliar noise, a sloshing kind of noise.

“Did you hear that?” Hal asked

“I thought it was you.” Holli replied.

Hal was clearly confused by what Holli meant by that. But there was no time to clarify, the sloshing noise grew louder and louder. Hal jumped from his spot and went beside Holli. They weren’t close to any body of water, the nearest lake was a bit of a walk away. Yet the strange wet noise sounded close. The two slowly began to walk backwards to their tents. Both of them had their hands ready to grab their halos just in case they would have to use them to defend themselves.

“You don’t think it's the- the-” Holli hesitated to say the name, feeling as if saying the word would confirm his suspicion.

“The leviathan, in heaven? Fat chance.” Hal said, trying to come across as confident. “I don’t even think its-”

Before Hal could finish his sentence a creature jumped out from the bushes. Its skin was wet, its size was large and eyes were glowing. It was hard to make out the exact details given the only light sources illuminating the scene were the glow jellies dancing about, the angels’ halos and the light from the “moon”. Hal and Holli were in no mood to get a better look at the creature and instead ran towards the camp. Holli instinctively runs to Bruce's tent shouting his name banging on the fabric door. Bruce emerges, his usual stiff demeanor replaced by obvious panic. He asked Holli what was wrong, only to have Hal butt in and say “Look for yourself!”

Bruce and all the others who’d left their tents by now saw the creature slowly waddling towards them. Bruce’s glasses narrowed as he examined the creature. It definitely wasn’t something he could recognize instantly. This could’ve given him all the reason to start panicking but he knew whatever it was wasn’t a threat.

“Has anyone seen the interns?” Bruce asked. They all looked around and didn't see the little angel nor his pet. It then became abundantly clear just what was going on. Hailey bravely walked up to the beast.

“The jigs up, kids” Hailey said as she removed the blanket revealing the two young messengers underneath. They were sat atop a sky whale calf, this being how they managed to give the impression of being a large monster.

“Aw, we didn’t even get to make the noises.” they groaned.

Hailey started to rebuke the young angels for their prank calling in disruptive and childish. She was interrupted by the sound of laughter, Holli’s laughter. When Hailey asked him what was so funny Holli replied

“I was afraid of those three? Look at them, a harmless bunch.” He laughed again, mainly at his reaction to the scare. He looked over at Hal. “And so were you!” This made Holli laugh even more.

Hal glared at Holli wanting to say a couple of words one should not say in front of their supervisor. Hannah and Harold began to snicker as well. The humor of the two being spooked by the tiny interns and a benign creature settling in. Bruce let out a little snort of amusement. Hal’s embarrassment about the situation was outnumbered by all the laughs going around. Even Hailey looked to be holding in her own chuckles. It didn’t take long for Hal to laugh at the whole ordeal himself. He didn’t laugh as hard as Holli but he got a good titter out of it.

“I should’ve assumed it was the two of you.” He said, pulling the brim of Harmony’s hat down to cover his face then ruffling the top of Hope’s head.

Harmony snickered as he adjusted his cap. “But you didn’t.”

“You should’ve seen your face.” Hope laughed.

The two mimic the startled expressions they had seen Hal and Holli make as they were running away.

“Alright, Alright.” Hal rolled his eye.

Everyone got out the last of their giggles. Harold and Hannah gave the whale calf a few pats before sending it on its way. Hailey reminded them all that the leviathan is a much scarier threat compared to what they had just witnessed. She ended it with saying as long as they're all aware, now the telltale signs and follow the protocols there’d be nothing to worry about. With that out of the way, they all went back to their tents. Enjoying the fated peaceful night that only their heavenly surroundings could provide.