Her years at the university were idyllic, and she felt like she was being deceived almost constantly. Her studies in theology quickly shifted; she was far more interested in the intersection between religion, culture, and gender, and switched her major to cultural studies in a matter of weeks.

She spent most of her time in what felt like a dream; her friends were boisterous, loud, and *so* curious about her past. The questions were well-meaning, but relentless until she learned not to reveal that she was one of the 'blessed', preferring to keep her prayers, prayer-books, and semi-regular online workshops a secret. The duality ate at her, and she found herself longing for a companion to share her burden, and feeling guilty for feeling like the privilege of a university education and being a 'blessed' was a burden at all.

The first Christmas holiday, she went home to see her family. The stress of returning to the church, preaching, and the heartbreak upon seeing the man who was once her father broke her. Her time at college made her more open, more vulnerable - her mother saw it as weakness. What started as quiet refusal to attend a Christmas event turned into a shouting match, which ended in tears.

The next holiday season, she did not go home. She applied for financial aid and was quickly offered many bursaries as a member of the 'blessed', and she spent her time in her dorm, or with her friend (and future husband), James.

James was calm, stable, and steady. Anna loved James for his reassurance, his reliability, and his kindness. Anna knew that these weren't the right reasons, but she thought she loved him anyway. The relationship was simple; James was attracted to her for her stoicism, her aloofness, and her willingness to debate serious topics on faith and belief. A profoundly religious man himself, James found himself dazzled by this young woman who seemed so sure of her stance in the face of God, and was eager to know more. They spent most of their time in college together; James often buying Anna dinner, accompanying her to shows and events, and spending the night (though he insisted on sleeping on the floor in her bedroom).

Her graduation was a quiet one; though James and her friends from her youth programmes attended, her parents declined to do so, and she spent her graduation oddly missing her family, and left the graduation party early.

Soon after, she realised that she could apply for enough government assistance programmes for the 'blessed' to not have to work for a while. She moved into an apartment with James and was able to live a quiet, steady life as a children's illustrator.

He proposed to her about two weeks after moving in, insisting that since they already live together 'as man and wife', it only made sense to officiate the relationship. Anna couldn't find a reason to disagree, and simply said yes.

In her heart, she wasn't sure if she truly loved James (or if she loved anyone), but she admired his resilience and his commitment to her, and the wedding was a small one, with a few close friends from her teenage years, and James' brothers. James asked about her parents, but was tactfully shut down by Amari, one of the few friends that Anna kept in touch with over the years. The wedding went off without a hitch, and Anna and James found themselves enjoying each other's company more and more for a blissful few years.

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Her mother reached out to James approximately two years later.

Her marriage dissolved a year after.

She didn't realise how much poison her mother dripped into her husband's ear until he asked her ever-more probing questions about her faith, her unwillingness to go to the local church, and her relationship with her family. When he insisted she reconnect with her 'father', she withdrew immediately, and spent a few nights at a hotel before accepting that her stable, calm James was no longer a source of stability. Upon realising that, she knew her marriage had served its purpose, and consulted with a lawyer.

James didn't put up much a fight, though her mother tried to. The break-up was painless, and she moved to her own apartment soon after, thanks to her funding.

Her apartment was quiet most nights. She preferred watching TV shows and movies with the volume turned down low, so low you could barely hear what the characters said on-screen.

When she was younger, she would play "What was that?" with her dad, a mad-lib style game where they watched the same movies over and over again with the volume turned down, giving the characters new lines and trying to make the other laugh.

More often than not, her dad would have her in stitches, but sometimes, she'd startle a surprised laugh out of him; not just a pity "haha" laugh, but a genuine "that was hilarious, my kid is actually funny" laugh. Often, he'd look at her with a mixture of love and pride. He doesn't look at her that way anymore. Anna doesn't think he's really looked at her in years.

Sitting in front of the TV, she would note down the funniest ones in a now-battered notebook. She had many such notebooks, filled with lines her dad and she had come up with when she was young, and would revisit and highlight the best ones, the ones that still made her laugh.

She spent her nights writing in the little notebook, before swapping and picking up another - this book was her magnum opus. A story she's been working on for 10 years, the narrative covered dozens of notebooks neatly arranged on a bookshelf, clearly labelled.

When she had the energy during the day, she would go back to earlier notebooks, editing her work as she went. If the edits were too numerous, she would rewrite the notebook from scratch, re-label it, and stow the original in a locked cupboard, where other draft-filled, scratched out notebooks went. She didn't have the heart to get rid of them or shred them, but kept them, just in case.

She did think about submitting her work when it was complete, and has submitted a few short stories to middling acclaim. Her stories were all set in the same universe; a world where humanity can visit God, riding atop the backs of angels.

Her short stories were glimpses into this world, but her magnum opus would be the grand adventure of a young girl's journey to ultimately talk to God.

Having worked on the story for over a decade, she knew it was almost complete, but also that you couldn't rush perfection.

One morning, she found herself staring at a thin envelope shoved under her door. The envelope was light, the paper creamy, and the gold-embossed logo of the Vatican catching the light and shining back at her face. The letter within was short; an RSVP to attend a formal ceremony and a group dinner with the sitting Pope. The letter didn't say much - about the ceremony, or who would be attending, but Anna's curiosity got the better of her, and she RSVP'd yes.

A week later, she was stepping off a plane at a private airport in Vatican City, and found herself in the back seat of a private taxicab with Amari.