The Giant in the Kitchen

I woke up in a panic, drenched in sweat.

I’d had the same dream six nights in a row: an odd-shaped creature with something slimy in its hand. It took me a full minute for my heart to stop racing. I glanced at my alarm clock.

8:12 AM.

Oh, come on! It was Saturday, my one day to sleep in! I wrinkled my forehead in frustration. I was never going to fall back asleep now. “Guess I’ll get something to eat,” I mumbled, crawling out of bed and sliding into my War Eagles hoodie. Suddenly, I froze. There was that feeling again, just like yesterday in the school hallway. Like someone was in the room with me. I gulped nervously and debated whether I should run away or karate kick the intruder in the face.

Obviously, I chose the karate kick.

I thrust my foot out behind me as hard as I could and screamed “Hi-yah!” knocking all my homework books off my desk chair. They landed on a Lego castle set I had made, resulting in a plastic rainbow explosion. Aw, boogers! That took me like four hours to build! I smacked my hands to my face. Well, at least there was no intruder in my room. But I still felt jittery. These dreams were happening more and more often. And every time I woke up, I felt certain something was in the room with me. Not the creepy creature from my dreams, but something more powerful, more dangerous. The thought made me shiver, but for some reason it didn’t scare me. It was almost like it was a good kind of dangerous (if that was even a thing).

I sighed. Only sugar could make my day better now. I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed one of the two identical boxes of Fruitee-Os on the counter. Mom had a weird habit of always buying two of everything. It was quiet in the house. Dad was already at work, Mom was probably out for her morning jog, and Grayzon had been blowing up alien invaders most of the night so he wouldn’t be conscious until the early afternoon.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

As I felt the sugar begin to hit my system, I lazily scanned my surroundings. On the counter by the stove sat my science project, with my “second place” ribbon attached to it. I had worked hard on that volcano. I would have gotten first place for sure if Karissa hadn’t done such an awesome job on her huge model bridge made out of popsicle sticks. She was super smart. I wish I had the courage to tell her that. I took another bite and let my eyes drift from the volcano to other things in the room. The stack of cards from the game I played with Mom last night. My Unicorn Party cup that I just couldn’t get rid of. The picture on the fridge of our foster child Kellia. The giant orange armored guy standing beside the fridge. Wait, what?

“Don’t freak out,” said the giant.

I immediately freaked out. Fruitee-Os erupted from my mouth as I fell off my chair and banged my head. I lay on the cold kitchen floor, gasping for breath. The massive giant stepped toward me, its huge hand reaching for me. I closed my eyes in terror and held my breath as its grip tightened around my arm…

And suddenly, I was being placed gently back in my chair. I dared to open my eyes and saw the giant just standing there, looking at me. It was massive, at least nine feet tall. Its head, which almost touched the kitchen ceiling, was covered in a shining golden helmet which matched the rest of the armor on its muscled body. It kind of looked like a man. A huge, orange man dressed in armor. With enormous feathered wings. What was happening to me? Was this a dream?

“I know what you’re thinking,” the armored man said softly. “No. This is not a dream.”

“You’re…you’re real?” I stammered.

“Extremely. If I was all in your mind, your mouthful of cereal would have passed right through me instead of painting my armor.”

I glanced at his stomach, where the contents of my mouth were now sliding down his armor. “Oh. Right. Sorry about that.”

“Actually, this happens more often than you’d think. I really ought to wait until people swallow before I explode into existence.”

I took a deep breath. Okay, if this was really happening, I was going to be brave. After all, didn’t the giant tell me not to be afraid? He was smiling, and it didn’t look like he wanted to eat me or steal my kidneys or take over the planet, so that was good. “Who…” I cleared my throat. “Who are you?”

“My name is Jophiel.”

Jophiel smiled, which made my heart beat faster for some reason. I looked at his armor, the huge sword strapped to his back, and his massive feathered wings that filled half the kitchen. No way. Could he be…

“Are you an angel?!?!” I blurted out.

Jophiel’s face split into a gigantic grin, revealing perfectly white teeth. His narrow eyes sparkled with…what was that? Delight? Wonder? Mischief? “Yes, I’m an angel,” he said. I tried to say something profound, but no words came out. Jophiel crossed his arms and leaned against the fridge. “Take your time. It’s a lot to process. I’m betting you have lots of questions.”

A loud laugh burst from my mouth before I could stop myself. I blushed. “You could say that again.”

“Good. That’s one of the things I love about you, Zoe.”

“You know my name?”

“Of course I do, silly. I’ve known you your whole life.”

My mind felt like it was exploding. This was too much. How was this possible? Jophiel took a few steps and leaned down until he was almost face to face with me. I found myself involuntarily sliding back in my seat. His armor and skin almost seemed to be made of pure energy, and I wondered if I’d get a shock if I touched him. He breathed out softly, and I tried to recognize the smell of his breath. It was like…fresh cut grass and gummy bears and a rainy day in the mountains, all rolled into one. Jophiel raised his hand, stuck out his pointer finger, and gently touched my nose.

“Boop.”

I decided in that moment that I liked Jophiel. A lot.

The armored angel stood up straight and, in one smooth motion, pulled the massive sword from his back and held it straight out in front of him. “Let me try this again. I am Jophiel, angel of the heavenly realms, protector of the earthly realm, and loyal servant of The Commander of Angel Armies.” Joph lowered his sword slightly, glanced down at me, and winked. “But you can call me Joph.”

My eyes were as big as dinner plates. “I have so many questions.”

Joph chuckled. “Oh, I know. You ask more questions than any human I know. Patience, Little Warrior.”

“But…if this is real, then…why are you here?”

“I need your help.”

I snorted. “You need my help?”

“Uh huh.”

“To do what, fluff your feathers? How could a little kid like me help you?”

“I need your help to accomplish my mission.”

“What’s your mission?” I asked.

“I’ll get to that. But first things first.” Joph looked down at the Fruitee-Os stuck to his armor. “Do you have a napkin?”

 •••

After Joph cleaned himself up, I convinced him to join me in the backyard. I didn’t want Grayzon coming in and seeing me talk to a giant heavenly being. Wait, would Grayzon even see him? This was all very confusing. We stood in the middle of the yard, and Joph raised his hand and tossed my baseball casually into the air.

“Hey, wasn’t that in my room?” I asked. “When did you grab that?”

“Right now,” Joph said, catching the ball in his hand. “I’m very fast, like the wind.”

I crossed my arms and smirked. “Prove it.”

“You know that pink cowboy hat you won at the fair last year?” said Joph.

“Yeah. It’s in my closet. Why?”

Joph’s image flickered, almost like a video going out of focus for a second. He smiled and pointed to my head. I looked up and realized something was shading the morning sun from my eyes. I reached up and felt my cowboy hat. “Whoa! That was awesome!” I exclaimed. “Now this time, bring me something from Aaliyah’s bedroom!”

Joph crossed his arms. “Excuse me, little miss, but you must have me confused with the Genie of the Lamp. I’m not here to grant you wishes or do tricks for you.”

I blushed. “Sorry.”

“I forgive you,” Joph said and tossed me the baseball. We tossed it back and forth for a minute in silence, until I started giggling.

“What?” said Joph.

“I’m playing catch with an angel,” I said, tossing the ball a little harder. “This is nice.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Joph replied. He caught my fastball with ease, and gently lobbed it back to me. “But Zoe, we really need to talk about what I mentioned earlier.”

“Your mission.”

“Well, yes and no. My mission has to do with your mission.”

“I have a mission?” I asked.

“Everyone has a mission. Not just for your whole life, but even for right now. You were born at this time, in this place, around these people for a reason.”

“Uh…are you sure?” I tossed the ball back. “I’m just a kid. What could I do?”

Joph was so shocked by my words that he missed the ball entirely. “Just a kid? Do you know what The Commander thinks about kids?”

My eyebrows crunched together. “The Commander? Do you mean God?”

“Yeah.” Joph sighed dreamily. “He’s the best.”

“God has missions for kids?”

“Oh yeah. Important ones.”

“But…why me? What makes me so special that I get a face-to-face meeting with an angel?”

“You asked The Commander for help.” Joph put his hands on his hips and posed like a superhero. “So here I am.” He picked up the ball again and tossed it at me. “So, you tell me—what do you need help with?”

I thought about what I had written in my Bruise Book last night. I can’t do this alone. Please send help. I guess I did ask for this. But then I’d have to tell Joph about my Bruise Book. I shifted back and forth on my feet and tugged at my hair. “I don’t know,” I sighed. “I guess I just wanted God to like, stop everything bad that’s happening.”

“Whoa, that’s a big request. Could you be more specific?”

“There’s a girl in my class. Talia,” I grumbled, throwing the ball as hard as I could.

“Ah,” said Joph, understanding. “Yes, I am well aware of how you feel about her.”

My heart skipped a beat. He knew? But surely he didn’t know what I had been writing…

“So, what do you want me to do?” he said.

I thought for a moment. “Do you think you could come to school on Monday and fly her up to the top of the flagpole and give her a hanging wedgie?”

Joph made a tsk sound. “That is no way for a Daughter of the King to talk. And that’s a hard no.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” I said. “But you’ve got to admit, it would be pretty funny.”

Joph shook his head and threw the ball, right as I let out a big yawn. The ball knocked my cowboy hat off my head. That was close! Joph flinched. “Ooh, sorry. You okay, sleepyhead?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” I said, picking up the ball. “I keep having this stupid nightmare, over and over.” I whipped the ball at Joph and hit him right in the face. He didn’t even blink. He just stood there like a statue, staring at me with concern.

“You’ve been having nightmares?” said Joph. “What kind of nightmares?”

I gulped. Thinking about them made me uncomfortable, like wearing pajamas made out of sandpaper. “I…well, there’s this creepy little monster who’s always whispering. And he’s got something in his hands, and he keeps holding it out toward me.” I shivered at the thought.

Joph frowned. “It’s him.”

“Him? Him who?”

Joph was lost in thought and didn’t seem to hear me. He mumbled to himself. “What is your game, you little troublemaker?”

“Hey, I’m not a troublemaker!” I yelled, offended.

Joph looked over at me, remembering I was standing in front of him. “Huh? No, no. I wasn’t talking about you. This is more serious than I thought. But it also explains a lot. Now we know what to look for…”

“What are you talking about?”

Joph walked over to my bike and picked it up. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

And I realized, in that moment, I did. “Yeah, I do, actually. I feel super safe around you.”

“I get that a lot.” Joph brought me my bike. “I am, after all, a holy being.”

“That’s cool,” I said.

“So cool,” he said. “Now look, I can’t tell you everything yet. It’s going to take some time to pull this off. But every day for the next week, I’ll come to see you. We’re going to go on a little…adventure.”

“Um, Joph, I’m not sure I want adventure. I think I like things just the way they are.”

Joph raised an eyebrow. “I know you don’t believe that. And besides, what if this is about more than just you?”

I looked at the ground and kicked at the dirt.

“Look, I have an idea,” said Joph. “You wanted help, right?”

I nodded. I just wasn’t sure the help I was about to get was what I really wanted.

“Then we need to go get something,” said Joph. “Come on, what else were you going to do today? Besides maybe fix your Lego castle. Sweet kick, by the way.”

I blushed, remembering my attempt at a karate kick in my room this morning. “You saw that? Wait—was that presence I felt in my room…you?” Joph nodded, and a thought crossed my mind. “I thought I saw my picture move. Was that you too?”

“Just trying to get your mind off of negative things. You’re getting better at noticing my presence.” He handed me my bike and pointed toward the fence gate, leading toward the street. “Sooooo…?”

“I don’t know…”

“What have you got to lose? If this is all a dream, then it will make for a fun story to tell Bennett and Aaliyah. If this is really happening, well…that will make a fun story to tell Bennett and Aaliyah, too.”

“Not that they’d ever believe I was visited by an angel.”

“You want to know why I’m here, and what angels are all about? There’s only one way to find out. Now we can stand here and talk the whole time, or we can go.” Joph turned and strolled toward the gate. “But I should probably warn you up front…if you come with me, you won’t come back the same.”

“You’re being very mysterious,” I said, gripping my handlebars tightly.

“That’s kind of my thing.” He opened the gate and looked at me. “Are we doing this, or not?”

I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead and considered my options. Go on a mysterious journey with a giant angel warrior…or sit at home and watch boring cartoons. Right then, Mom jogged into the yard through the gate Joph was holding open. She didn’t scream or fall or anything. Did that mean I was the only one who could see him?

“Hi sweetie. What are you doing?” she said, panting and stretching.

“Hi Mom. I was, uh…Would it be okay if I go for a bike ride?”

“As long as you wear your helmet. Where are you going?”

I glanced at Joph. “I’m not really sure. I guess…it will be an adventure.”

“Okay, just be safe.”

“I will,” I said, hopping on my bike and following after Joph. “What could go wrong?”

If only I had known what was coming, maybe I wouldn’t have said that.

Discussion Questions

• When you have a scary dream, what do you do? Do you know the verse about God not giving us a spirit of fear? You can find it in 2 Timothy 1:7. How do you think knowing that verse can help you to not be afraid?

• The angel, Jophiel, told Zoe that he has known Zoe her whole life. If you knew you had an angel who really knew you, even knew your name, how do you think that would change how you think about things?

• Joph tells Zoe that he’s not a genie and that he’s not here to grant her wishes or do tricks for her. Is that what you thought an angel was for? Before you started reading this book, what did you think an angel’s duties were?

• Do you believe God has a mission for you? What do you think it is?

• What are some things you want God to help you with? Write them down in your journal.