"Mine will have claws!"

"Mine will have fangs!"

"Mine will be the greatest predator to ever grace the earth!"

"Mine will be the king of the seas!"

"Well, my creature will fly with the force of real angel wings."

"No way Lucifer, Dad won't let you!"

Gabriel watched his brothers' heated discussion. Dad had noticed the Archangels were bored and he had given them the task to each create their own species, to walk the earth forever.
Of course, his older brothers managed to turn that honor into another pissing-contest.
They had spent their time arguing about who would make the best - or more specifically, strongest – animal, ever since they received the order.

Gabriel sighed. He just wanted to make something special. Something unique. Something that said; 'Animal Extraordinaire, made by Gabriel the Archangel'.
He just didn't know how. He had thought that listening to his brothers would give him some ideas, but none of them were special. They all just wanted to outdo the others.

Gabriel took one last glance at his brothers – Michael tried to mimic 'his animal' by growling at Raphael, while Lucifer was tumbling around in the sky to show off his intimidating wings, which his creature would have too – before he flew away to find his own little corner of Heaven.

Raphael had left Michael and Lucifer alone to start working on his master plan. Raphael knew that the world consisted mostly of water and he figured that a water animal would be the most adapted and thus would be the dominant species. He had seen some of his father's creations and he wanted to make a creature as strong and vicious as a shark and as big as a blue whale.
But, as good as a plan might seem in theory, some things just don't work out in reality. Somehow creating the things separately works out fine, but putting those together was impossible. Power and viciousness were no problem, but to add the great size was difficult.
On the other hand, trying to make the animal grow would mean it would lose its ferocity. Raphael sighed and started over.

Lucifer frowned. It just didn't make sense. He was the freaking Morningstar, for Father's sake! He was the angel with the most beautiful and powerful wings in Heaven. You would think he of all people would be able to create wings as powerful as his.
But it just didn't work. Balance, strength and size had to be in perfect harmony, or else the bird won't be able to fly.
Somehow, that harmony is quite different for angels than for whatever-the-hell he was making right now. Lucifer snapped his fingers to erase the deformed wings that just seemed too big for the body and he growled in annoyance.
He glanced over at his brother.
Michael crossed his arms and stood in front of a majestic creature. Powerful muscle was covered in shining fur. Jaws strong enough to splinter bones. An impressive mane of golden hair. Lucifer sighed.
His older brother was one step ahead of him, like he always was.
Lucifer would always stand in his shadow.

Michael groaned. Everything went swimmingly. Claws, jaws, strength… It was perfect. Except for one thing.. It was the laziest creature he had ever seen.

'Hey guys!'
Michael, Raphael and Lucifer turned around to see their youngest brother walking cheerfully over to them. He cradled something small in his arms, something fluffy. Lucifer watched how Raphael came closer to Gabriel and peeked at the small creature.
'What in the Heavens is that?!' he exclaimed. Gabriel looked a little sheepish.
'Well, I didn't name it yet… And this little guy just hatched.' Just when he said that, a bigger creature came walking up to them. The older Archangels stared at the weird animal. It was covered in fur, had duck-like feet, a tail like a beaver and a beak.
'Hatched..?' mumbled Michael, 'It looks like a mammal…'
'It is a mammal.' Gabriel said, while he put the baby next to the mother. 'He just lays eggs.'
'Mammals don't lay eggs!' Raphael said. 'Well, this one does, and I love it.'
Gabriel picked his creations up. 'And I think you guys are just jealous because all your plans failed and mine turned out to be awesome. Now excuse me, I'm going to show Dad.'
The older Archangels looked at each other while their brother flew away.

When he was a little kid, Sam always loved going to the zoo.
Staring at the animals he could forget about his weird life. He remembered how he and Dean would call an orca a 'shark-whale', how they gasped when an eagle flew so close over their heads they could feel the gust of air during a bird-show and how Dean would complain about the lions. He always said they were awesome, if it wasn't for the fact they never did anything.
But Sam's favorite animal had always been a little weird, according to Dean.
Platypuses.
He was just fascinated by them, by the fact you couldn't really classify them like other animals.
They were different.
They were unique.
Almost as if God didn't really care what he made, he just put random awesome things together and hoped it turned out right.
And it did.

Gabriel smiled at that.

A/N: Hello! This was my very first attempt at fanfiction. Yay! (finally)
English is not my native language, so don't be shy to point out any mistakes. It helps me improve my English.
Please leave a little comment if you liked this, so I know how my first fanfic went.
;)