Dirty Work (2/365)

 Four cards means four soul, the angel pondered. He flipped the cards from back to front, counting them again for the fourth time now, as he ruled out the name one by one. Three souls lined out behind him, all accounted for. The truck driver's body was crushed behind the steering wheel while his substitute flew out of the truck, glass all over his bloody face. The other car was just as unlucky. The driver managed to swerve away, but not far enough to avoid contact. It spunned out of the road and the unfortunate mother died when a tree branch pierced through the window into her head.

 There was a fourth victim, but he couldn't find it. The angel left the three souls alone. They were not going anywhere once he saw and called their name. It was dark out there on the countryside, but not for long. The path was busy even in the dark of night. Soon traffics were hold up and lights started to pour in. Not that it mattered for him. Souls inside a living human do not glow bright, but once it separates from the body, the spirits reveals it colors.

 The angel wandered through the area. The truck was the wrong way up, but nothing was pinched under it. A spirit wouldn't have strayed far away from the body anyway. It didn't take the angel long to reach the incident. After all the cards had the right time of death, down to the minute. He went to car, bent out of shape by the three. The grieving family was wailing at their tragedy, but they paid the angel no mind. After all they couldn't see him.

 Then he saw a glimmer, a pulsating glow a stone throw away behind a bush. The angel floated toward the light. There he was, a young man born as Aranda Santoso, lying half dead on the side of the street, torn limbs, broken ribs, half of his blood smeared the tarmac marking where he dragged himself away from the accident. He was hardly breathing, his ribs left a gaping hole in his lung. His heart was beating still, only to go nowhere but out of open wounds and torn veins.

 Anytime now, the angel muttered. Soon enough Aranda Santoso breathed his last and his soul started to float away from his body. The angel readied himself to receive the soul, but then it disappeared back into the body, and the man's heart was beating again.