•The Cathedral of Angels*

My lonesome body is small enough to make this room seem spacious. All around me is white walls, a little bit faded due to the age of this building. Beneath me is a wooden floor layered in a thin coat of grime, making my clean socks dirty at the sole. The air inside is a little chill, it causes little goosebumps to form their way up my arms and my lips to dry.

I stand in a tiny apartment that is now to be my home. It's no bigger than a large living room in a normal sized house, but that is perfect for me, my body isn't that big, and there aren't many belongings that I have with me. Not having much to decorate my home with, my place lays bare until further notice.

Walking into my apartment, you would be immediately greeted with my living room that is connected to my kitchen. Both areas being small, with my kitchen being the smallest out of the two. In my front room, there's a window on the eastern wall. It welcomes whoever opens my door, and those who dare to peek inside from the streets down below. My kitchen has only a wall dividing it from the living room, the wall blocking the door from its view, and that wall opens up to show the sink behind it, along with the counter connected to the sink. Closely behind the sink is the stove and refrigerator, both only being inches away from each other due to a tiny counter space. It's tiny, but big enough for me.

If you look straight forward through the open section above the sink, you'll see a very short hallway that leads straight to a bathroom if you don't turn left into the small bedroom. Inside the bathroom is the basic utilities, a tub, sink, and toilet, even a tiny closet. The bathtub is adjacent from the door, and the toilet is seated closely next to it along the south wall. The bathroom sink is right next to the toilet, leaving nothing but inches of space in between them. The sink has a tiny little counter with a cabinet below it, hiding the water pipes. Above the sink is a small mirror. Directly across from the sink is the closet, I will use that closet to store towels and such.

My bedroom is the second largest room, the living room being the largest, then the kitchen, and lastly, the bathroom. My room has a closet and a window, nothing else. It leaves me with much room for decorations. My old room that I had shared with my younger sister was larger then this space. Those times were good, when I didn't have to worry about work or being an individual.

I had got a scholarship to a prestigious school that is about 8 hours away from my hometown. Not wanting to waste the free funding, my mom had decided it would be okay for me to live by myself as I pursue what I like to do in life, art. The scholarship allows boarding, so I moved into the apartment they owned, being blessed to where I would not have to pay for living fees, only dinner, and any extra things that I may want outside of living. The school provides any supplies I made need, the only thing it requires of me is to show up and participate in class, to sharpen whatever skill I have. For now, that is all I want to do.

I miss my family, it's not easy for me to be on my own, I have always grown up close to my siblings, I feel as if I am nothing without them. I never really thought of myself as an individual, not even as a person, but now that I am on my own for a while, I realize how lonely I truly am, and that in fact, I exist by myself. In my stay here, I hope to make a friend, I want them to help nullify this space in my head.

Sighing, I start to unpack my belongings, I put them all in their respective places. Making a pallet on my floor, I lay there, tired from the train ride. I can not even bother to check my phone for any notifications I might have, I just close my eyes, resting. I allow myself to drift off to a floating state that I know to be sleep. It comes in swiftly, it cradles my mind gently. Taking me into its embrace, it guides me to my dream, there I can lose full consciousness completely, but in this case, I don't. I am aware of everything as if I am not sleeping. Before I see it, I feel it, a gaze burning into my skin. It's a beautifully horrifying creature littered with eyes and wings. I want to let out a terrified scream, but my mouth refuses to budge.

"Do not be afraid."

The life form speaks to me without any lips insight, it speaks as if it's talking directly into my mind. But it's words does not reach me, for I am truly scared beyond my wits. I want to wake up so badly, but I find my self paralyzed.

"The Cathedral…" It begins to speak to me again, but I force myself to open my eyes, no longer wishing to even see it.

I lay in my sweat, panting for a breath, and searching for my phone. The times says 6 AM, there is no way I was asleep for that long, the dream seemed to only be a couples seconds, but the truth is before me, casting light onto my face. I turn my phone off and decide to get dressed for my first day of school. I make way to shower and do bathroom things. I get dressed, drink water and leave.

The time is 7 AM, I have thirty minutes before class starts. I make my way across the street towards the school I'm supposed to be in. The building is big, the outside seems welcoming and bright. The grass is neatly cut, any bushes it has is trimmed and there are flowers growing around the entrance, making a pathway for the students. Now is the time to enter and belong with the rest of the crowd. Hoping for the best, I blend in with the people.

The choice of attending this place was right. My time here was amazing, I found myself not wishing to leave, finding the need to stay. It was fun, everyone was kind to me, questions were asked about myself, and I gladly answered to the best of my ability. Although I had all this attention on me, I was unable to find anyone to befriend, but I know that will take time. So with that being said, I exit the school, I walk down the pathway of flowers to the sidewalk leading to the adjacent building, the apartment complex for students. I live on the second floor, so I enter and take the elevator straight up. There's a hall heading both left and right. There's room numbers all down the hall, to the right is mine, I am the tenth door down. Using my keys, I unlock my place and put away all my supplies I have gathered from my classes.

This time is 4 PM, it is still bright out side with the sun shining brightly as if it is winding up to become night. Having nothing to do in my empty home, I leave to go wander the streets, maybe find a park to sit at.

I live on Ars Street, apartment number 20, the second floor. I remind myself, chanting that over and over again in my head, I even take time to type it down in my notes app on my phone, just to have in case I forget. On my person, I have a rucksack (mini backpack), inside of it is my wallet that contains my school ID and drivers license, it also has some cash and a bunch of change. There are also a couple lose coupons that probably can't be used in this town, but tucked deep within my wallet is a old picture of my two younger siblings and myself, I always carry it in there. I have my phone inside, my sketchbook, some bandaids, and stray pencils, there's also a couple of pads stored in a pocket just in case.

Because of the chilled weather, I wear a baggy sweatsuit with a dirty, beaten pair of white converses. My converses are stained with dirty paint water, old yellowing bleach stains from my struggling attempts to clean the dirty off, and even a couple drops of blood from a cut long ago. One shoe even has a tare on the curve of my foot, I sealed it shut with superglue. My hair is no better, messily in a ponytail that is finding it's way free, having loose strands hang randomly.

I chuckle knowing I could probably be mistaken for homeless at first glance, but that is just the way I dress. I cross the street many times before I stop, being stuck in my tracks. I gasp quietly seeing a long, sharp tip peak above a buildings that shield it from my view. Knowing that since it remind of a castle, it must be a church. Wanting to see more of it, I set my path towards it. I keep straight until I see the massive building more clearly. The size is so beautiful, it stands alone unchallenged by anything around it. It is so wide, I can not see the sides of it, giving me the illusion that the church stretches on forever. I know now that this is too gigantic to be a normal church, it has to be one of those fancy Cathedrals I see online.

I read the street name, Saint Street. I feel compelled to cross the road and enter the street. Once I do, I am swaddled by some kind of warmth, it holds me like I am a baby. It feels nice, making all the chills from my journey here disappear, melting the cold on my skin and replacing it with warm caresses. This feeling makes me miss church, the one I use to go to before I moved. That church was tiny and never grand, but the people there made me feel the warmth I feel now on Saint Street. In me is a strong desire to walk down the sidewalk until I am faced with the massive entryway of the grand Cathedral. There's a couple of low steps the stretch out wide, and on them aren't any blemishes, it is completely kept. With one foot following the other, I make way up the steps until I am face to face by a large wooden door.

The wood are the door is dark, but carved expertly with beautiful crosses and designs. The stone around it is smooth and built with different intricate details, it's so mesmerizing that I reach my hand out to touch it. It is cool beneath my fingers, a big contrast to the warm air blanketing me. All around the Cathedral is circumstantial art sculpted into the frame.

I hear beautiful voices drift from underneath the door onto the street, they sing all together into a hymn giving praise to God. The sound is like hearing a thousand soft bells ring altogether in a perfectly timed out rhythm. The naked voices are accompanied by a deep bellow of wind like instrument, most likely a pipe organ. For every high note, there's is a low note played along side it, matching it all evenly. Hearing it makes me want to break out in a song of praise of my own, a little hum finds it way to my lips.

"Would you like to come inside?"

My heart nearly leaps out of my mouth, cutting my humming short. I feel my body race with adrenaline from being startled, I had not realized at all that there was another person here.

"Ah, I did not mean to startle you," a smooth voice reassures me as I turn slowly to see the face it belongs to. A beautiful young woman who doesn't look to be that much older than me.

"Oh, sorry," I am quick to apologize, finding myself in the way of the entrance.

The mysterious woman smiles at me, closing her eyes slightly as she does so.

"There is no need to apologize, you are not in my way, I am the one sorry for disturbing you."

Feeling guilty, I tell her that she did not disturb me at all, that I was just admiring the church.

"Ah, I see, would you like for me to give you a little tour?"

Seeing no harm in the action, I agree, following the stranger inside. The door closes swiftly behind us, trapping us into the large space that smells of incense. The woman turns to me, her eyes smiling down on me as tells me the name of this wonderful place,

"This is The Cathedral of Angels."