Challenge Submission Snow Angels

[Chernabog]

"As much as I understand the reasoning for why it happened and why it has stayed that way, I still don't find it to be very fair." Came the angel's huff, crossing their arms as they stared up towards the top of a decorated tree.

"Well…" A voice came from next to them as another angel stood at their side, staring up at the tree topper as well. "I suppose it would be nice to be included." They said, blinking thoughtfully. "But you know what happened the last time we mingled with humans. Humans much prefer the angels that look like themselves. We scared them the last time so many of us had to gather and visit Earth."

"Yes, I remember…" Came the sigh. The angel in the more sour of moods was a Seraphim; a higher class of angel and beings of many wings, many eyes, and their shape and form could differ from minute to minute. "We did tell them to not be afraid, though…" They muttered. Currently they had taken upon a human form, as restrictive as it was, and their focus was also on the tree topper before them, a 'standard' looking angel that seemed to be the most common of renditions: A human with a single pair of wings.

"We did. But it seemed to only make things worse." Came the reply. This angel was a an Ophanim, or Throne: another strange example of the angelic hierarchy that had taken a temporary human form.

"They all need more wings. I'd even be happy with that. Maybe a full six, it can remain simple for aesthetic needs." The Seraphim commented, tapping their fingers on their arms.

The Throne side-eyed the angel to their left. "Still not very inclusive for those of us who don't have wings."

This caused the first angel to give a sympathetic look towards their friend as they started to walk away from the tree, and passing by many people playing in the snow around them. "I'm sorry, I also think you should be able to have your own visage upon a tree. Even though the Pagan traditions of using trees and other plantlife in Yuletide celebrations have been…" They paused, considering their next words. "...adopted… and called Christmas trees, I have seen humans use imagery of golden rings in their decorations. Even in one of more… interesting… carols that humans like to sing, one mentions five golden rings. Repeatedly. It wouldn't be so hard to make the image of a Throne from that. Perhaps if we make our own, more varied renditions of angels to decorate, humans will catch on."

The Ophanim frowned slightly. "I'm not so certain about that. But it's a nice idea." The angel's frown then turned into a small smile. "That is a good point, however. Why would someone need five golden rings as one gift? Surely not the kind made for jewelry. Maybe they could be made to look like me."

"See? It's a good idea." The powerful angel said also with a smile as they walked together.

It was just as they passed a child playing in the snow that she leapt up and ran squealing towards her mother. "Mommy, look! I made a snow angel!"

This caused the Seraphim to blink and pause, looking over at the disturbance in the snow, only to see the small shape that the child had made. Slowly… they narrowed their eyes.

"What is it?" The other angel asked, peering over their shoulder.

But instead of answering, the Seraphim was stomping into the snowbank where there was a space of barely disrupted snow. Turning to face their divine friend, they allowed themselves to flop down onto their back into the icy white.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" The Throne asked in a flabbergasted whisper.

"I'm also making a snow angel." Came the simple response as the angel started to move their arms up and down, though not as significantly of an arching motion as what was usually done or was left in the snow around them.

The Seraphim continued, but only after lifting their arms up and out of the snow to raise their hands higher, almost directly above their head. It was not the smooth, swiping movement required to make a usual set of snow angel wings, and instead strange, small and stiff movements. They lifted their arms again and repeated this motion closer to their hips, and finally did a similar motion with their legs.

The Ophanim glanced around to see if anyone was watching the strange creation being made in the snow, blinking in both curiosity and concern for if their friend had possibly been on Earth too long, having started to go a bit mad.

But soon enough the more powerful of the two stood carefully as to not destroy their own creation, patting and brushing the snow from their bundled form. They turned, and placed their hands on their hips. "There. It's crude, but it's something."

The Throne tilted their head as they looked at the vastly different snow angel compared to the others around it. "It is… something." A smile crossed their features. "But a more familiar something. Make the spot where your head was a giant eye, or maybe one right in the middle, and it would be nearly perfect. I like it." They nodded in approval.

"Good." The Seraphim said, finishing getting most of the snow off of their human form. "Now let's go to one of those crafting stores for supplies make our own tree toppers."

"On what trees?" The other angel asked, blinking again towards their friend.

"I'm going to swap them with some of the ones we've seen out in public. We'll see if anyone notices."

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This Yuletide Season, don't forget about biblically accurate angels. They deserve love, too.



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