Gabriel in The Monastery

Gabriel wandered through the central aisle, past the rows of pews, with a soft, almost tiptoeing stride. Beams of light filtered through the stained glass windows and showed specks of dust dancing and dropping to the jolts of the air.

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He hauled open the leather binding and flicked through a few pages, skimming pages that were once so familiar to him.

“You’re not supposed to touch that,” a gentle but powerful voice said far behind him. He turned around and a frocked, emaciated old man stood at the entranceway of the door. The priest and Gabriel stood still for a moment, looking from his high perch as if Gabriel was giving the priest a sermon. Gabriel closed the door and backed off.

“Sorry, just reminiscing. I used to be able to recite this off by heart.”

The priest approached the pulpit but Gabriel remained. The priest took an age to climb up the stage, but waved Gabriel off the second he tried to help.