The Angel on Wiedner Hauptstraße

by Daniel Sur
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On a hot summer day, an Angel hurtled down from the blue sky on Wiedner Hauptstraße. There was a bang, and he was on the ground. The Angel was so amazed, so grateful, he looked up. He was slightly upset when he scrambled to his feet and looked around. The Angel’s first, foolish thought was that the avenue looked deserted. The few passersby who have stuck around looked like unsteady statues, unable to move or speak. He closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. „Oh, not again,” he groaned. The Angel felt more miserable than usual. Although, he thought, it has been the same as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. „Days like that made you worse somehow, made you lax,” he murmured and two large tears seeped from beneath his eyelids. Do they really hate him? He’s old enough to be their gran, gran, gran, gran, grandfather, maybe even more. The Angel decided to face out anyhow and he opened his eyes, but for the moment the sunlight was blinding him. Then he saw the sun that appeared to be shining through a sky made of glass silk. The warmth of the sun caressed his face. He was not, however, alone. Then, the Angel felt the blood flow from his nose, hot and wet, over his face. „Shit!” muttered grudgingly when he wiped his nose with his arm. „The same story, what can I do?” he asked himself angrily. There was no answer to this question. He could not decide what he should do next. And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. The Angel could know what he had to do because he had become most accomplished in the last period. Focusing with all his might, he wondered what to call himself. Michael? Gabriel? Rafael? Modestly, he opted for Leopold. He could always change it later. Leopold decided to start with a tour through Vienna. Ignoring the amazed looks of few people, he ran to the street refuge and got in the tramway.