Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip (Full Spectrum #5, 1995) begins arrestingly with a “angel” (a time-traveller) visiting a man called Mather:
I am the angel sent to Cotton Mather. It took me some time to get his attention. He lay on the floor with his eyes closed; he prayed fervently, sometimes murmuring, sometimes shouting. Apparently the household was used to it. I heard footsteps pass his study door; a woman—his wife Abigail?—called to someone: “If your throat is no better tomorrow, we’ll have Phillip pee in a cup for you to gargle.” From the way the house smelled, Phillip didn’t bother much with cups. p. 30 (Best Science Fiction of the Year, David Hartwell)
The angel records Mather’s comments for the researcher she works for before returning to her own cyberpunk future,1 and her child. There she contemplates the dreadful past she has returned from, and agonises about the fact that she didn’t change anything for the better (although her employer reminds her that if she did she would have been left there). When she watches her kid play a VR game later on, she sees the image of a trapped angel.
This gets off to a good start but doesn’t subsequently go anywhere. A notion, not a story.
** (Average). 3,850 words.
1. Earlobe CD players are mentioned at one point.