Hi.

My name is Nathan, and I am not an angel.

I don't consider myself to be either good, nor bad - but I try to do what I can to make this world a better place. I help those who need help, when I can. Oh. And I have wings. Yep. Large, brown, wings. I didn't always have wings. Now I do. They... don't always do what I want, but they've protected me many times before. I'm not sure how they work, or why I have them... but I do have them. I also have this gift - I can heal people, and relieve pain. But, it comes with a price. And I can't heal everyone... Not if they're terminally ill. Like mom. She tries to be strong - tries to take care of me. But with... with her cancer, she's very weak. She tries to tell me it's alright though. That life will go on, even when she's gone. But she's my mom. And I don't want her to go...

Nan tells me that she's going to a better place. A better life. I want to believe that. So so bad. But, we've never been a very religious family. And I'm not sure Nan is talking about any Christian places either. She's very... peculiar. Wise and stubborn as a rock, though. And honest. She always says what you need to hear, and doesn't take 'buts' for shit. She says she respects nature's cycle, and that mom's death is part of some grand design. But she mourns too. She hides it, of course. But I've seen her roll into mom's room with her wheelchair, looking at her, and comforting her. I know she's worried about me too. That I'll take mom's death too hard. And maybe I will, but I'll survive it. She wishes that my father was still around. I never knew him. He left before I was born, but Nan says that he was a good man. Hard to believe though...

I grew up in Manhattan - with my mother. Nan lived next door. We were never rich, and our flat is cramped and old. But we make due. I used to swim in the local swim team, but ever since the wings appeared... They don't let me swim alone, so I had to quit. So now I'm mostly scaling tha buildings around our block. I used to be afraid of heights, but now I know that if I fall, my wings would save me. I'm grateful, but sometimes it gets in the way. I'm lucky to not have any friends. Imagine having to explain something like that to anybody... Nan knows, somehow. It's like she can see things happening before they do, it's amazing. I guess experience is a valuable asset. Anyway. Life's not been easy, especially not lately. But that's okay. We all have our down times, and we call all pull ourself up from them if we fight hard enough. So accept your current situation, and learn how to move on. I have to.

But then... I'm only human.

 I'm not an angel.

My name is Nathan Aidan Samuels.

This is my story.