The Island of Heavenly Daze Read Free

your help, but I don’t expect we’ll have an opportunity to test the waters,” Gavriel said, swinging one leg over the polished marble balustrade. He straddled the railing for a moment, then swung the other leg over. Perched on the wide rail, he looked down the row of his companions. “Calendar year?” he asked.
    â€œSeventeen hundred ninety-eight years after the birth of our Lord.” The answer came from Caleb, a quiet, unassuming angel who usually served in the halls of heaven. Gavriel suspected this might be that angel’s first earthly mission.
    â€œLet’s prepare ourselves, then.” Gavriel straightened as his wings slowly folded, then vanished into the fluid texture of his skin. He drew a deep breath, filling his preternatural lungs with a last bit of delicious celestial air, then felt bands of tightness in his chest as his body shifted and shrank to mortal proportions. Within an instant, he had taken on the appearance of human flesh and blood.
    He glanced down. The spotless white robe he had worn had altered into garb more appropriate for the time and place. He now wore narrow trousers and leather boots. A heavy frock coat with a flared skirt hung from his shoulders to his knees. A high collar, accented with ruffles, lay against the strange protuberance humans called the Adam’s apple, while tight sleeves ran the length of his arm and ended above a pair of close-fitting leather gloves.
    He looked again at his companions. Each of them had undergone a similar transformation, their shining robes replaced by fragile fabrics that felt shoddy against Gavriel’s responsive skin. He grinned when he saw that each of the others wore high-crowned felt hats, as out of place in heaven as a bucket under a bull, then he reached up and felt a curled brim beneath his own fingertips.
    â€œFashion,” he muttered, holding tight to the annoying hat with one hand as he leaned over the vastness of the heavens. “Why are humans such slaves to it?”
    â€œAre we ready?” Caleb asked, a tremor of anticipation in his voice.
    Gavriel glanced down the row. Of the group, he was the most experienced in earthly matters, so they naturally looked to him for leadership.
    â€œWe are.” Gavriel closed his eyes for a moment, seeking the Lord’s blessing, then gave Caleb a smile. “The journey will be swift. Do not be distracted by anything that comes against you. Keep your mind upon the task and your heart inclined toward the Lord’s will.”
    As one, the angelic company leaned out into empty space, and in the next instant they were soaring through the third heaven. Gavriel’s ears filled with the rushing sounds of mingled prayers and praise as they traversed the celestial winds, his field of vision darkening as they left the glorious city of God behind.
    Without warning, a current rippled through the angel’s flesh as they passed from the supernatural realm into the physical, where the God-ordained laws of nature and gravity and science kept the universe spinning in perfect order. Fixing their eyes upon their destination, the angels zipped through the second heaven, leaving only a vapor trail, but still the dastardly prince of the power of the air and his screaming minions gave chase. Gavriel glanced over his shoulder just long enough to see the archangel Michael mount a sure defense, then he returned his gaze to the shores of a tiny island called Heavenly Daze.

Chapter One
    R ev. Winslow Waldo Wickam crossed one leg over the other and folded his hands, allowing one foot to swing in a stately side-to-side pattern as Micah Smith led the congregation in a rousing chorus of “Bringing In the Sheaves.” The beauty of Micah’s liquid tenor overcame the whistling wind outside, and for a moment Winslow was nearly able to forget that his worship leader was really the handyman/ gardener at the local bed-and-breakfast.
    He closed his eyes, losing himself in the