It was a dark January night. It had just sleeted and there was a light breeze in the air. Josh had just opened his garage door to take the trash out. He stepped outside and shuddered as the wind picked up. He zipped up his hoodie and pulled the plastic canister up to the driveway.

“S***.” He muttered under his breath. He’d forgotten to bring the trash bag out. As he approached the door it flew open and the bag flew out at him. He ducked and it hit the floor. It exploded and threw all of the trash out against the garage wall. The vision of his mother’s face appeared through a cloud of cigarette smoke. He could smell liquor on her breath as she spoke.

“Try not to be such a failure!” her voice scratched as she coughed her way back inside. He was lucky she didn’t take a swing at him.

“Oh that’s nice!” he remarked sarcastically. “Just throw it all over the floor!” he stood there for a minute waiting for a bottle to be flung out the door, but he had no such luck. He hesitated before bending over to pick up the debris. A long winded sigh came from between his teeth as he sorted through banana peels and coffee grounds. “I don’t need this crap.” He shivered as a breeze went up his jacket. He collected the trash in the bag and shut the trash can lid with a bang.

He looked out into the sky as he exhaled and his breath became visible. There were no stars in the sky that night which seemed to deepen Josh’s helpless mood. A thick fog began to raise from the ground as the moon peered out from behind a cloud. Josh began to roll the can down the driveway and stopped half way down to hold his arms together. Once he warmed himself up he set back out on his journey towards the edge of the street. There was an eerie silence as the moon happened to grow fuller. His eyebrows raised as his path was suddenly lit. The driveway seemed to glow with the pure white energy of the sun. As he walked he grew more suspicious of the increasing light. He put the can at the stop and peered up into the sky to see what was now turning night into day.

Before he could raise his head there was a screech that broke the silence of the night. He looked toward the corner of his neighborhood to see a pair of headlights turning around the bend. He began to back up but didn’t move quickly. He was fascinated with the sound of an engine reving at the end of his street.

“Who would be out this late?” He wondered aloud to himself. Just then a white car became visible through the fog. The sky became illuminated as it drove closer and closer to him. Josh could see the end of a gun barrel sticking out of the car. Quickly he tried to run but the sound of gunshots pinned him down to the ground. He immediately covered his head with his hands but he knew they wouldn’t stop a bullet. The sound of the car grew dim but the light in the sky grew into a bright shade of white. He tried to get up but couldn’t use his arms. He then tried his legs which flipped him on his back. A searing pain shot up his spine as he realized he had been shot.

He tried to cry out but the attempt just made his body shake violently. Blood seeped down his left arm and stained his hoodie. Red liquid began to flow out of his mouth. He began to see people falling from the pure white sky. He noticed their wings as they grew closer. Time began to slow. “You have been saved.” The winged people rejoiced. His eyes began to close and he felt his body rise up into the cold night air.

His mother heard the shots and ran out into the falling rain to hold her son’s dead body.