daniel thomas andrew daly

“Gabriel and Aquariel”
by
Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly
http://noahidebooks.angelfire.com

Chapter One

Four weeks after the wedding of eternity, Gabriel was sitting by the
Terravon. Nearby was Aquariel, throwing bread at the swans who were
swimming around. She looked over at him, smiled and waved, and turned
back to the swans. They were close at the moment – very close. The
wedding between Michael and Elenniel had touched them, changing them.
They were deeper now – deeper in their friendship – closer as brother
and sister. And he found something, something in the deep of night,
which spoke to his heart. Something of love and commitment, one that
would endure, not just temporarily, but eternally. One that, through
the hard times, and through the good times, would always march on,
never forgetting the beauty of love and the beauty of the God which
had birthed it. Aquariel had spoken in similar ways, and they had
laughed together at the irony of thinking such similar thoughts.

Daniel was close by, sitting with Ariel. At the moment they were an
item, but nobody expected it to last forever, not even Daniel from
what he had said personally to Gabriel. But for the moment he would
enjoy his twin.

Aquariel finished feeding the swans and came and sat next to him on
the bench. She put her hand in his and leaned on his shoulder.
‘You’re sweet,’ she whispered to him.
‘I know,’ he responded with a subtle grin, whereupon Aquariel punched
him lightly on the shoulder and said ‘You vain thing,’ and Gabriel
laughed.

It was a pleasant afternoon for the small group of 6 angels, very
pleasant indeed. Cosadriel and Oshanel came and sat down next to
Gabriel and Aquariel, Cosadriel a little wet from the swim he had just
taken.
‘He was trying to be a hero,’ said Oshanel. He found this tree trunk
crossing over much of the Terravon down stream and tried to jump from
the end of it to the other side. He fell in, naturally.’
‘Accidents happen,’ said Gabriel.
‘Hey it’s only water,’ responded Cosadriel. ‘Besides, I nearly made
the distance, and it was a fair few cubits.’
‘Still training for that long jump, are you?’ asked Aquariel.
‘Glory for Iceland,’ responded Cosadriel. ‘Besides, I know that
bloody Cherubim has his limits. I’ll beat him eventually.’
‘Daranok is naturally talented,’ said Gabriel. ‘He is an athlete by
nature. Perhaps no matter how hard you work he will always come back
at you and edge you out.’
‘Maybe,’ said Cosadriel, but had not really conceded that.
‘I always thought Azrael was your biggest worry,’ said Aquariel.
‘Oh, believe me he still is,’ responded Oshanel. ‘But Saddy is
competitive and tries to beat everyone if he can. It is just his ego,
sis. Just his ego.’
‘It is not my bloody ego, ok. I am just competitive by nature. It is
how he made me, ok.’
‘Probably,’ responded Gabriel. ‘But ego can be a big motivator in
many ways. We often try to live up to outrageous claims we have made,
no matter how foolish they might later be.’
‘Very wise,’ said Oshanel. ‘I think Saddy does perhaps suffer from
that.’
‘Perhaps,’ responded Cosadriel.
‘Well, are we finished here,’ Oshanel asked Gabriel.
‘I guess,’ he responded. ‘I’ll let Daniel and Ariel know.’

The six of them, finished for the afternoon, made there way into the
large car and they started off for Terraphon. Reflecting upon the
afternoon Gabriel sighed to himself. It was a pleasant enough day in
Eternity, a happy little diversion from everyday life. But the
affairs of Terraphon beckoned tomorrow and council was coming up very
shortly, a time of great hectic responsibility. ‘On with another
day,’ he thought to himself.


Chapter Two

Aquariel looked at the picture of Michael and Gabriel. It was an old
picture now, thousands of years in fact. He noticed how they had not
really changed in appearance but Gabriel seemed, in some ways, less
worried in this picture. Perhaps it was a time of less
responsibility, lesser worries, lesser concerns. A happier time of
youth. Suddenly she wanted to be with him, to comfort him. To let
him know everything was alright, that all was good. That all was at
peace. She ran to his office, opened the door, and saw him sitting at
his desk, a frown on his face. Coming around he looked up and she put
her arms around his shoulder, comforting him.
‘Is all well Gabriel,’ she asked.
He sighed, put down his pen, and responded, ‘Oh, you know. Work.
Frustrating as ever, and often a pain in the neck. But that is life,
isn’t it. The responsibilities that God has given us to do.’
‘But we don’t need to work all the time, brother. You have many
delegates you can pass your responsibilities on to if you wish. Why
don’t we go away for a while, just you and me. Somewhere up north,
somewhere we can relax. Escape from things. Enjoy life.’
He looked at her, seriously considering her offer, when a little voice
in his mind whispered to him, ‘It will be ok. Go on, spoil yourself.’
‘You’re on Aqua. I’ll just finish up with this and we can go pack.’
She took his pen from his hand, saying, ‘Enough is enough Gabriel. We
go now. You have had enough, I can tell. Time for a break.’
‘If you insist.’
Gabriel looked at his desk as Aquariel pulled him along, a little
worried, but then realized he had competent help. They were not
stupid, after all, and could handle things for now. Time for a break
– time for a holiday – time to let go of things for a while and simply
be himself. Simply be Gabriel the Seraphim.

* * * * *

The cabin was all a log cabin really should be, Gabriel thought to
himself, just grateful there was in fact running water and toilet
facilities. After having looked it over, he had sat on the bed and
watched as Aquariel swept the floor, giving it that feminine touch.
After they had unpacked Aquariel asked him to go outside and chop some
wood. Picking up the axe he realized to himself that it had been a
hell of a long time since he had in fact chopped any wood and was a
little worried he might hurt himself. But after he had split three or
four of the logs, he was starting to get the hang of it. Aquariel
came outside and watched him for a while, before making her way out
into the forest, yelling she was going to collect mushrooms and
whatever else she could find. He chopped wood for about an hour,
building up perhaps more than they would need, but realizing they were
there for a month and might need a lot. As he walked to the cabin he
noticed out the back some other chopped wood and coming around to look
at it properly he noticed there were literally tonnes of it – over a
years supply easily. He smiled to himself, thought on the irony, but
just put the wood on the pile anyway. Aquariel suddenly appeared,
came over to him and also looked at the wood. ‘You haven’t done that
much, have you?’ she asked incredulously.
Gabriel thought quickly, ‘Oh. Oh, uh, yeh. Bloody hell it was hard
work,’ he responded, wiping his brow.
She eyed him suspiciously, but didn’t comment any further.

They ate the mushrooms with wine and the bacon which was in the esky
of food they had brought with them. ‘I will go into town tomorrow and
do a proper food shop,’ said Aquariel. ‘Perhaps you could finally
start that new novel you have been putting off for the last 10,000
years.’
Gabriel considered that and nodded. There was a computer in the flat
and it was as good as time as ever to write a book. He had a few
ideas for the original title, ‘The Final Encounter,’ but hadn’t
completely finished the plot in his mind. But he could work on it now
and see what came forth.’

They slept well that night, the worries of Terraphon disappearing in
the Alpine winter air, and Gabriel was at peace. A gentle happy
peace.


Chapter Three

‘Interesting.’ She put the manuscript onto her knees, and smiled at
him. But interesting was all she said.
‘Well do you like it? It took me all day that chapter practically.’
‘Yes, it is good. You write well, naturally really. I am just
concerned that it doesn’t seem much of a plot. It starts slowly and
doesn’t really allude to anything major coming. I mean, what is it
all about?’
‘Oh, there is a plot alright. And starting slow is how this book is
meant to be. But is the writing any good? The language I mean?’
‘About the same as most fiction books I have read. There aren’t any
grammatical problems and the dialogue is realistic. I mean you could
probably publish the finished book if it was all like this and get a
decent readership, but you will need some interesting ideas.’
‘Then don’t worry about it. The end of chapter two should give you
the hint.’

* * * * *

The following day, having just finished the second chapter, Aquariel
had a slightly different look on her face than yesterdays, but not yet
any great sign of enjoyment. ‘What is that supposed to mean, at the
end of the chapter. I don’t understand that. You don’t think that.’
‘No, I don’t, not at all. But the character does, ok. You’ll see.’
‘Ok. But, yeh, it was more of the same, but looks interesting now.
I’ll read the next chapter.’

* * * * *

Aquariel was starting to think her brother might just have a book
which would catch people’s attention. Really catch their attention.
It was the third chapter, now, and suddenly the book had really come
alive with a plot twist she really had not seen coming. And now she
was hooked. She wouldn’t call him brilliant, not yet. But now
understanding the first two chapters, she started to see why it had
gone slow. He was a smart thinker, her brother. A very smart
thinker.


Chapter Four

“Too good. Really, Gab. Too good. Perhaps the best I have ever
read, and I have read too many.”
“I guess it was worth the effort, then.”
“You see, a holiday has done you the world. Refreshed you.
Rejuvenated you, and I think you really did need it.”
“Do you think I should release it on the web, now? Just put it up on
my website?”
“Don’t you want the royalties? It will make good money, you know.”
“Oh, I will have it published in paperback as well. But I will give
it for free first on the web and see what readership it gets. It
might even sell more in the end because of it.”
“Not a bad idea,’ responded Aquariel.

The last few days of that month were a pleasant time of rest and
recreation for Gabriel and Aquariel and Gabriel kissed his sister
telling her he loved her as they arrived home in Terraphon. It had
really been a soul restoring vacation and he was in a very good mood
because of it.


Chapter Five

“Number one. Not bad, Gab. Not bad.”
Gabriel smiled at Aquariel. The news reader had just made the
announcement of that weeks best selling novels and Gabriel had come in
at number one with ‘The Final Encounter’. He had only released a few
books previously, and well before such charts had become a reality,
but gaining a number one had really made him pleased. He leaned over,
kissed his sister, and said ‘I couldn’t have done it without you,
Aquariel. I couldn’t have done it without you.’
‘I know,’ she responded, and Gabriel laughed.

THE END

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