ANGELS
© 2000
Cyrus writhed in pain on the floor. It felt as if he were burning up inside. The commanding officer, who was standing
opposite, burst out laughing and his colleagues joined in merrily. They were drinking Champagne, because it was a special day. Cigars
were passed around and the room was soon enveloped in blue smoke. Cyrus crawled out of the room. His body was boiling. In the corridor
he saw other angels who stared at him with frightened eyes and clutched their bodies in pain. Sarah's sad eyes looked to him; "Why
has it become so difficult? They no longer see or hear us. Oh, I'm almost tired of helping them." "We have a powerful enemy," replied
Cyrus, exhausted. "He has sent his strongest weapon. He is dazzling mankind, blinding them with the pretence of good deeds, while
he has only their destruction in mind." A shrill cry rang out through the camp. Cyrus and Sarah looked at each other and set off in
the direction from which the cry came.
On their path people who were clotheless, despite the cold met them. They were being driven
in two columns into an enormous barracks bearing the inscription "baths" by soldiers in black uniforms. Behind the barracks was the
furnace-room. Black clouds billowed out of the huge chimneys, out of which grey ash rained down. Gabriel was kneeling behind the furnace-room
in front of a pit. "His power is so great that his influence has spread over an entire nation. We must do something," he said, after
the others had seen what lay in the pit. "What can we do?" asked Sarah. They listened for a while to the commands, which were being
bellowed through the camp.
The soldiers struck the frightened people with wooden batons. A small girl ran out from the group.
She had spied her mother at the front of the line. One of the soldiers drew his gun from its holster and shot the child impassively.
Gabriel shut his eyes. When he opened them again he saw Sarah bending over the corpse. She took the little girl's soul tenderly in
her arms. "I shall take her to Him," she said. Gabriel nodded. "Come Cyrus, we shall put an end to this."
They went into
a large building. It was a printing-shop. Gabriel raised his arms and with great passion intoned a prayer. A cool wind suddenly blew
through the hall. Then the immense machines stopped printing. The workers were frozen in their tracks. Silence! Not a sound was to
be heard. "Come," said Gabriel, "we will not be able to stop time for long."
He went to the first machine, took out the original
and put it back in the other way up. He did the same with all the other machines. As soon as he had finished with the last plate,
the machines started up again. Cyrus looked at him questioningly. "What have you changed?" "I have turned the sign around. Now the
holy sign will change the evil around." He smiled. Cyrus looked at the machines. The flags now bore a mirror-image of the swastika.
The armbands, the newspapers, the propaganda flyers, everything would lose its power now that the holy sign had been reversed. Cyrus
looked at Gabriel in admiration. "Will it be quick?" "Yes," said Gabriel. "Will they then be able to feel and hear us again?" "I don't
know."