Walking on Air Read Online Free PDF

had grown in his throat, and he struggled to speak past it. “I . . . didn’t live a very good life. I wanted to. Trust me on that, but most times, when I tried for something better, I got a kick in the teeth. If that happens enough, you quit trying, you know? That’s how it goes for some of us down there. If we don’t have bad luck, we don’t have any luck at all.”
    The angels conferred for a moment, then turned in tandem to regard Gabe with thoughtful eyes. The golden-haired Gabriel assumed the role of pronouncing sentence. “It is clear to us, after reviewing your life history, that you actually were among those rare individuals who truly weren’t given many opportunities to redeem themselves. Abandoned after your mother’s death, unacknowledged by your father, forced to live in poverty on the rough streets of Kansas City as a boy, you never had much of a chance to be anything but what you became, a worthless individual who lived his entire life without leaving a good mark on the world or improving it in any way.”
    Gabe opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t think of one damned thing to say in his own defense, so he just closed it again, braced his shoulders, and prepared to face his punishment. Worthless? As much as it rankled to admit it, maybe they were right about that.
    “In rare instances,” Michael said, “we angels have the authority to offer people one more chance. Would you be interested in going back down there for a specified period of time to give life another try?”
    Gabe could scarcely believe his ears. Given his recent encounter with hellfire, he figured only a fool would say no. “What would I have to do?”
    Gabriel replied, “You will be given an opportunity to save a lost soul. If you succeed in your mission, if you manage to drastically alter that lost soul’s life, then you will have earned salvation. It won’t be easy. You may have to sacrifice a great deal, and self-sacrifice has never been one of your strong points. Are you willing?”
    Willing? After standing there with his feet on fire? Of course he’d be willing. “Yes,” he said firmly.
    The golden-haired angel swung a hand to part the clouds again. He gestured for Gabe to peer down through the hole. “There you see Tyke Baden, a lonely, embittered old man who has lived most of his adult life in Random.”
    Gabe bent at the waist to have a peek and got the eerie feeling that he had fallen into the old man’s sitting area. He could smell the stench of an unwashed body, rotten garbage, and newly cooked food, a blend that turned his stomach. The room was a maze of trash piles—stacks of newspapers, periodicals, and all manner of other stuff that only someone out of his mind would keep.
    “Tyke was once happily married with several children,” Michael said. “He lived and worked hard for the welfare of his family for many years. Then, when his children were nearly grown, disease struck his household and only Tyke survived. After grieving, he grew angry at God and everyone else in town who hadn’t died from the contagion. Sadly, his only solace was found in a whiskey bottle. He is now alone, lost, wishing for just one person to care about him, but when kindly townspeople attempt to enter his home, he yells, uses foul language, and frightens them away.”
    “Foul language don’t make my ears burn.” Gabe winced. He’d done it again, allowing nerves to push him back through the years to a time when he hadn’t known how to speak proper English. “If all he needs is someone to care, I could clean him up and make him feel better.”
    “But could you love him?” Gabriel asked. “Truly love him? That is what Tyke needs in order to find salvation, to love and be loved again.”
    Gabe’s nostrils burned from the stench, but he figured a little elbow grease would set the house right. “How long do I get to learn to love him?”
    “A month.”
    “A month? Isn’t that a pretty tall order?” Gabe gestured