The man moved his head around, taking in his surroundings. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the grounds of the City Community Church on Ann Street.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m one of the ministers of the Church.” He put his hand out for the man to grab which the man took hold of. The Reverend pulled him up and helped the man regain his balance. “People around here know me as Reverend Peter.”

The man was taller than the Reverend, only by a few inches. His clothing had bits of grass and twigs from where he’d been lying; they both started brushing these things away.

“I’m not crazy. I was pretty scared last night . . . I remember now. I sometimes sleep rough, but something awfully strange happened last night.”

“Would you like to come inside and refresh yourself—I make a nice cup of tea. Or coffee, if you prefer. Probably have some leftover cakes or cookies from the last meeting held here.”

The man nodded.

The Reverend led him inside the church. They walked past all the pews.

“It’s been a long time since I've been inside a church except for funerals and weddings.”

“That’s okay.”

They continued into an area with a large kitchen bench.

“This is where we serve supper and have fellowship after our services. What would you like?

“Black tea is fine. Thank you.”

“Sit down on the couch over there. I’ll join you in a sec.” He pointed to a blue two-seater couch. The man sat down.

The Reverend looked over at the man while he made the drinks. The man was staring at the many things scattered around on the coffee table near the couch. The Reverend organised everything onto a serving tray, which he carried over to the table. The man picked up a brochure with the headline, ‘Where is God?’ in large letters across the page. He saw the man shake his head, maybe in agreement with the question. The Reverend placed the cups and cookies on the table and sat down beside him.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

The man lifted the cup to his mouth and slowly blew some cooling air into the cup. “A bit.” He placed the cup back on the table. “This place has a nice feel about it.”

“That’s nice to hear.” The Reverend decided to re-introduce himself. He wasn’t sure if the man recalled his previous introduction. “My name is Peter. Most people around here call me the Rev.” He put out his hand.

“And I’m Chris. Thank you for doing this.”

“My pleasure. Can I ask, do you normally sleep rough?”

“I sometimes sleep in shelters but most times I sleep rough. I feel safer out on the streets, and in a funny sort of way found freedom on the streets, but all that depends on where I’m sleeping.”

Odd. “How come you find it safer on the streets?”

“I know you probably think that’s strange—most people do. The shelters are not overly peaceful, lots of coughing and spluttering, and germs freak me out. And you know, there are predators out there. Some people follow us when we leave shelters, particularly if we’re by ourselves, and they can do some nasty things. I’ve been followed before but was lucky enough to escape. Sleeping rough, I’ve been urinated on, bashed, spat on. But I found a good secure place. No one else knows about it, and I’ve been able to keep it secret for a while now but after last night, I don’t know.”

“Are you able to tell me what happened?”

Chris rubbed both his knees. “Last night was strange. I sensed the presence of someone, something, not close, but I felt I was being watched. Then I heard a loud humming noise and found myself lying on a floor in a large room. Then I heard the noise again and I was back where I started. I consider myself of a sound mind and wasn’t sure about was going on, but then it got worse.”

“You weren’t dreaming?”

“Let me tell you the rest. I thought, yes, it was only a dream. But then I started seeing things. It started with a crackling sound in my head, you know like when you try and tune the car radio.” He paused and picked up his cup.

“Here comes the crazy part . . . a being floated down in front of me.” Chris stood up and walked around the coffee table.

The Rev watched Chris walking around. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard of people seeing things that no one else can see. He would hear him out and then see if he could help him.

“What sort of being?”

“An angel.”

“How did you know it was an angel? Did it have wings or something?”

“No wings. But I just knew. And he told me.”

“He told you?”

“I grabbed hold of a branch that was close by because I was frightened. I closed my eyes and opened them again. And there was nothing there—I was relieved. But I did the same again, closed my eyes hard, like this—” He closed his eyes, pushing his nose up to his eyes. “And then I opened them, and I nearly fell over because the being’s face was inches from mine. And then the being asked, ‘Can you see me?’”

He watched as Chris sat down again on the couch and wrapped his hands around the cup. “What did you say?”

“‘Yes’, was all I could say. I thought I was going crazy. I closed and opened my eyes again. The being was gone. I was about to open and close my eyes again but decided to say a little prayer—not that I knew what I was doing. I just told God to get rid of whatever it was. I opened my eyes again. And then the being was there and spoke again.”

“What did it say?”

“It said something like, ‘Don’t be alarmed, I’m your guardian angel. For some reason you can see me.’ And then something else floated down beside him and it wasn’t nice. Then I heard a noise like a slashing sound and saw a head or something like that bounce past me. That’s when I got up and ran. I was in a bit of a state, so I wasn’t sure where I ended up.”

The Rev wasn’t sure where to go from here. “Have you seen anything since you have been here?”

“I saw the one who said he was my guardian angel. Outside, where you found me. But he moved away. I think he sensed I was scared. I seem to be able to switch between seeing the things when I open and close my eyes—it’s like changing television stations.”

“Did you want to try and see what happens in here if you do the open-and-close routine?” The Rev didn’t expect anything to happen, but watched as Chris closed his eyes hard.

Chris took a while to open his eyes. The Rev could understand why he would be hesitant. Chris opened his eyes.

“Wow,” Chris said, shaking his head.

<°)))><

When Chris opened his eyes, there were two angelic beings. He recognised his guardian angel, but the other was a being of such strength and beauty that Chris felt that he needed to be on his knees.

His guardian angel must have read his mind. “Don’t bow down to us. Stay seated. Do not fear us; we are God’s messengers. You have been given the power to see us, so be still and let God’s peace rule in your heart. Tell Reverend Thomas that God was with him when he dropped the egg this morning.”

Chris turned to the Rev. “There are two next to you. One of them just told me to tell you they saw you drop the egg this morning.” He watched as the Rev opened his mouth and then bowed his head.

The Rev looked up again, his eyes watery. “Chris, there’s no way you could have known about that. So I would say what you’re seeing is real. You won’t understand what I’m about to tell you, but we need to test the spirits. I want you to ask the angels to acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and is from God, and that Jesus is Lord and the Messiah.”