John had listened quietly, still unable to quite comprehend who Mike was.
“Still don’t get it, eh boy?” asked Mike. “Well, the truth is I have been, shall we say, assigned to your family, kind of a bodyguard.” Mike smiled and looked at John with soft, compassionate eyes. “My boss told me to take good care of you and keep you safe, until the time is right.”
“What time, who’s your boss?” asked John, completely confused.
“Still don’t understand, do you John? Like I said, things aren’t always as they seem.” Mike stood up and raised his arms toward the sky. As John watched in amazement, Mike began to change before him. The dirty clothes became white robes, the old hat became long golden hair, and the grizzled face became strong and stern. Mike began to radiate an intense light, almost as bright as the sun, and John threw his hands over his eyes to shield them.
“I am Michael,” said the tall being, “and I have been watching over you all your life.” The revelation was so intense that John was simply overcome. The events of the preceding days came tumbling in on John like a brick wall collapsing around him and he fainted. The last thing he remembered was the old man in the hat, smiling at him through the brightest light he had ever seen…
Excerpt from “Second Chance Angel”