George Bailey was safe at home, surrounded by his family and friends. There was more than enough money already and it kept pouring in. It was Bedford Falls’ finest hour. The sound of the little bell on the Bailey’s Christmas tree carried farther than anyone in that happy place could imagine.
Clarence was alone. He was nervous and he was freezing. He sat far outside of town on a bluff in the dark. He was talking out loud, sometimes to himself and sometimes to Him. Mostly to himself. Clarence had been talking to himself for quite some time, so he was comfortable with it.
“I’ve waited so long for this and now I don’t know what to do. Why don’t they tell you how this works before you get your wings? If you’ve never had wings you don’t know how they work, do you?” he said. The answers to his questions always came to him in his head. “But this is terrifying! I don’t know why it is, but it’s terrifying. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like I’m going to die, now, is it?”
He sat on the edge of the bluff and looked off into the distance, thinking about how it had all come to pass. There was a deep, profound sense of satisfaction in the work of an angel. And now he was official. He was a full-fledged angel. It really was thrilling. There was no end to the number of good people who need help from time to time, so there would never be any shortage of work.
“Still, I can’t believe that this is what I’ll be doing from now on. There must be more. Perhaps the better you do you the higher you go. How else would Gabriel get his job?” The sense of immortality, freedom, and responsibility were an unbeatable combination. There seemed to be no limit to what he could experience in the future. It really was overwhelming. “I guess the thing to do is work on one thing at a time. After all, I really have got forever.”
Clarence lay his overcoat down on the ground. He took off his shoes and socks and stripped down to his nightshirt. He carefully folded his clothes and laid them on the coat. He was nervous but he was ready. How long had he waited for this moment? It seemed like centuries.