"Relax, I'm not him," the guy says, pointing at my phone screen while also laughing at my jumpy reaction. "I'm an angel in disguise," he adds calmly.
"Huh?" I am so confused. Who is this guy? He looks just like Dave, the man Clara is going to marry. But his voice and the way he talks are completely different. Even his clothes are exactly the same as the ones in the photo. Could he be telling the truth?
"Hold my hand if you don't believe me," he says, reaching his hand out. I stand still, scared that he might be a thief who wants to rob me—or maybe a ghost. He just smiles and raises his eyebrow.
Bismillah, I whisper to myself, forcing myself to hold his hand. I gasp and let go right away. "You are not a human," I say honestly. The feeling from his hand is something I can never explain with words.
"See? You get it now," he says, nodding. "Sorry for disguising as him. You can't see me if I don't look like a human," he explains.
I cannot move. Staring at a face that is identical to Dave's makes me lose my words.
"Oh, right, this must feel weird. Let me change into another face so I don't look too much like him," he remarks. All of a sudden, his features shift, leaving me completely frozen. "How about this?" he asks.
I just stare, my mouth wide open. His face now looks a bit like Dave's, but it is much more perfect. His clothes also change into a very bright green hoodie, one of my favorite colors. He looks so gorgeous & cool now, It feels like looking at someone I have wanted to meet my whole life.
"I'll take that as a yes," he says to himself, seeing me completely frozen. He moves from behind me to sit on the bench right beside me.
"Don't angels have wings?" I interrogate him.
"They're made of light. And like I said, your human eyes just can't see them," he replies.
"Am I going to die now?" I ask naively.
"Hahaha! You wish! I'm not that kind of angel," he jokes. "Actually, I'm not here for you. I'm on a mission to bring a message to this girl," he says, showing me a sketch of someone who looks like Clara. "But then I just happened to walk by and saw the same girl on your phone. Quite a coincidence, right?"
He pauses for a moment. "Actually, I was going to just keep walking. But then I saw your aura, dude... it is so incredibly dark, darker than anyone else's around here. Maybe it's a sign... that I should stay for a bit? What is wrong? Can I help you with something?" he asks.
"Huh? My aura? Is it really that bad?" I ask, confused.
"Well, it looks like you don't really want to live in this world anymore" he replies, guessing.
"Hmm, I guess that is true," I nod slowly.
"So, all of this sadness is just because you like that guy more than this girl, huh?" he blurts out suddenly.
"Can you read my mind?" I ask, feeling a bit creeped out.
"Not really. But from the way you were smiling at your phone, it is very clear that you like the guy more than the girl," he answers casually. "So, who are they anyway?"
"They're my friends. Clara has been my best friend since we were kids, and Dave is a friend from college—he's Clara's friend too," I explain. "The truth is, I want to be able to like Clara. Out of all women, she is the only one I can even think of. But even though I look at her again and again..." My voice trails off into silence.
"It doesn't compare to how you feel about Dave?" the angel cuts in.
"And probably every other guy I see," I add softly.
"Well, that just means you're not into girls. So where's the issue?" he asks with a light smile.
I stare at him in disbelief. "But shouldn't an angel tell me that God forbids a man from liking another man?" I ask, confused.
"Oh, is that what I'm supposed to do?" he asks back with a teasing look.
Hearing his answer, I begin to doubt myself. Have I been misunderstanding everything this whole time?
"Wait, hold on, there's something even more important," I say quickly, the questions rushing out of me. "Is the religion I chose correct? Does God actually exist?" This is the chance I have been looking for my entire life—to get a real answer about God.
"I don't know, I'm just an ordinary being like you," the angel replies.
"Huh?" I feel more lost than ever. I begin to question everything I used to believe about the other world. "But you come from Heaven, don't you?"
"Yes. You do too. In fact, all creatures here came from Heaven in the beginning," he says easily.
"So Heaven actually exists?" I ask, intrigued. He raises his eyebrows as if to say yes. "What about Hell?"
"Never seen it personally, I've only heard rumors," he replies.
Hearing his answer, I find myself agreeing. So I am right all along; there's no way God can be that cruel, I think. But I still am not sure if he is truly an angel. "Then who gave you that message, if it wasn't God?" I ask.
"From my bosses. Angels just like me. We are just here to keep the world balanced so everything doesn't fall apart," he explains.
"So you really can't tell me for sure if God is real?" I ask one last time.
"Sorry," he replies, shaking his head.
I chuckle at myself. "To be honest, for a second, I hoped you would tell me God doesn't exist. Then I could just love whoever I want without feeling guilty anymore," I confess.
"Well, I could have answered like that. But then again, I could be a demon in disguise too, right? Can you really tell if I'm actually an angel or not?"
I fall silent and sigh. "You're right."
I realize the reality that I might never know the absolute truth of this world. Even if someone claims to be God and performs every miracle possible, I will never know for sure if they are tricking me or not. I feel like I have read something like this in the Qur'an, though I can't remember which verse. Why am I just realizing this right now? What should I do next, then?
"Well, if you have any more questions, just ask so you won't stay curious," he concludes. "Just know that I might answer honestly, or I might not."
Updated 05/21/2026
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