“If they could see you they’d have called out,” I said to myself as I half walked, half floated down the street. “They’d have tried to stop you leaving. No one can see you, Jessica. No one knows that you’re wandering about in this limbo land. You’re all alone. Cry. Go on, cry. Feel sorry for yourself, and let those tears form puddles on the pavement.”

It was no good. Try as I might, my eyes were still as dry as the Sahara desert. At the T-junction at the bottom of the road I had no idea which way to turn. Where was I going? What was I going to do next? My mind was in a complete whirl, so when someone called my name I just about jumped out of my stupid invisible body.

“Jessica Rowley! This really isn’t good enough. I should have known you were trouble.”

He was perched on top of the post box, sitting like one of those fairy ornaments which Gran has in her garden, except he wasn’t wearing a friendly fairy face. Darren the Angel of Death looked cross, very cross indeed.

“Don’t do that,” I gasped, clutching my hands to my throat. “People can die of shock, you know.”

He smirked.

“Of course I do. Unfortunately, it’s quite a long way down the Expiry List and I haven’t been allowed to try it out yet. The other more experienced angels get all the fun.”

“The others?” I queried. “You mean there’s more than one angel of death?”

“Oh yes,” he said, stretching out his long legs and hopping down on to the pavement next to me. “There are hordes of us. We’re all at different levels.”

He bit his lip as if he’d said something he regretted.

“And what level are you?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Are you even qualified?”

He placed the back of his hand against his forehead and staggered backwards.

“What an insinuation!” he gasped. “I’ll have you know I’m very highly thought of. My family have been doing this for generations. Now, back to the business in hand.”

My legs began to wobble and I clutched the post box for support.

“Y-you haven’t come to take me away, have you? I’ve only had a few hours. We’ve got an agreement.”

“Precisely,” he replied, waggling a finger in front of my face. “Rules, Jessica Rowley! You’re not obeying the rules. That’s why I’m here. I clearly stated that you could visit your friends. I specifically told you not to go home. Did I say you could have a cuddle with the undeniably gorgeous guinea pig? No! In fact, I said that you were to steer well clear of anything which might tug at your heartstrings.”

I started to speak but he held up a hand.

“There are reasons for these rules, Jessica Rowley, and the main one is to make my angelic life and your human death easier for both of us. If you continue to go off-message then it’s not going to work and I shall have to start getting tough.”

He paused.

“We don’t want that, do we? If you don’t obey the rules you might get some silly idea that your demise could be avoided. And believe me, that’s not going to happen.”

He laughed. It was a mean, grating laugh, and a flock of pigeons scattered from the tree above me.

“I know that,” I whispered. “I only came home to change my clothes. I’m sorry. You said yourself that the hospital gown wasn’t a good look.”

He looked me up and down.

“Nice jeans, but hasn’t anyone ever told you about colour co-ordination? You look like a rather gaudy Christmas tree.”

“I wanted to wear something cheerful,” I snapped. “I wanted to feel more like myself for the next few days. Besides,” I carried on, staring at his shirt, “you’re not so subdued yourself.”

He leaned back, an expression of mock horror on his face.

“Dear me, we are touchy, aren’t we? The thing is, Jessica Rowley, I don’t want to be forced into dragging you back kicking and screaming because you haven’t followed my instructions and you’ve gone and re-attached yourself, like a limpet, to the rock of life.”

“I won’t,” I replied. “You’ve made it quite clear that there’s no hope.”

“I’m glad we understand each other.”

“So you won’t take me away just yet?”

He tilted his head and pursed his lips. The silver tips of his wings glinted in the sunlight. I curled my fingers and felt my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

“I could be making a huge mistake here,” he said, placing his index finger against his chin. “The most sensible thing would be to take you back with me now and hide you in some cloud-filled cupboard until Judgement Day. I really don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

“No!” I almost shouted, and he looked startled. “No,” I said more softly. “You’re not making a mistake. I promise. I won’t let you down.”

“And you won’t go back there again?” He flicked his golden hair towards the top of the road, towards home. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

There was a lump in my throat and the slightest prickling behind my eyes.

“All right,” he said, checking his watch. “Now, if we’ve got this sorted out I must be off.”

He leaped back up onto the post box and stretched out his wings. I shivered in their shadow.

“Darren,” I asked as he stood on tiptoe, “how did you know I was here? Have you been following me since I left the hospital?”

“Goodness me,” he protested. “I’m not a babysitter. I haven’t got time to watch over you all the time.”

I frowned.

“Then how…”

He threw his hands in the air.

“So many questions. Do you always ask this many questions? Your teachers must have found you an absolute nightmare. If you must know, it’s a tingling in the wings, a hissing of the halo, that lets me know when something isn’t right. You have to be good, Jessica Rowley, or I’ll be back, and next time I may not be so nice. Remember the rules. It’s your friends you’re meant to be seeing.”

I nodded, and a gust of air blasted into me as he took off, soaring upwards into the distance. I landed on my back and lay looking up as, with a final flourish of his hand, he drew the word ‘friends’ in loops of light across the sky.

“Point taken,” I murmured, picking myself up. “Come on, Jessica. That’s what you’re here for, so let’s get going.”