Gemma
Before I Fell
The water here was cold. It rushed through and around my fingers with eagerness, like it was flowing somewhere important and couldn’t be interrupted. The sound it made as it rolled over rocks and against the uneven bank was almost rhythmical, so beautiful that everything else around it grew quiet to leave more room for the song it was singing.
I liked it here.
It seemed that maybe I shouldn’t like it as much as I did, especially when I came from such perfection. There was certainly something to be said about perfect because it was, well, perfect. With perfect, you always knew what to expect; each day was bright and full of joy. There were never any tears; there was never any pain.
But lately, I was beginning to realize something else about perfection.
Perfection was sometimes boring.
I wiggled a little on the fallen tree I was lying on and stretched my arm out farther to plunge my entire hand into the hurrying stream. The cool silk of the water wrapped around me, tugged at me, invited me in. A small silvery fish swam near and I held my fingers out, keeping them still as it swam a little closer. It nibbled at my fingertip, testing me out as a snack, and I giggled. The fish darted away, disappearing into the shallow depths of the stream.
I pulled my hand out of the water and rested both arms against the rough bark of the log and looked up. Trees bright with green canopied the water, growing alongside it and sometimes right out of the bank, and arched up and over, creating an almost secret place. Large rocks of all shapes jutted out of the earth and were covered in blankets of soft, green moss and fallen leaves. The sun’s warm rays peaked through where they could, lighting up sections of the water, and butterflies flapped their brightly colored wings among the wild flowers that dotted the grass.
This place wasn’t perfection. It wasn’t heaven, the place I called home, but it was exciting. Everywhere I turned there was something new to see. I never knew what would be different when I came here. Earth was an ever-evolving place that never stayed the same. It was unexpected, and it was never boring.
Perhaps that’s why I was still here, delighting in everything this place had to offer instead of going back home, where I belonged. Something in the air shifted and I looked up, craning my neck and allowing my head to fall back. Soft strands of my hair brushed against my back and waist as I looked up to the ledge of the hill that created the secret place I was resting in.
I wasn’t alone.
Someone was standing above, towering over this peaceful place, and disrupting it with an uncertain presence. He melded well with the shadows the trees cast, but I was able to make out a strong set of shoulders that tapered down into a narrow waist. He had dark hair—this I could make out because it created even more shadow around him. He shifted and even though I couldn’t make out his features, I was sure our eyes locked. I felt like a million bugs were crawling over my skin and I shivered.
A low growl permeated the air, and I thought I caught a flash of something. I sprang off the log, landing on the other side of the stream, and used my wings to shoot myself up the rocky hillside to the top where the man was standing.
But he was no longer there.
The minute I moved he had, too. He took off, fleeing like he was a criminal and I was his jailor. My heart began to pound with a heavy, quick rhythm. When people acted guilty, it’s usually because they were. Yes, my assignment was complete, but I couldn’t leave this tainted soul here where it could potentially corrupt others. In fact, perhaps it was not a coincidence I’d been delaying getting back to heaven. My Lord worked in mysterious ways, and perhaps today I was given the gift of dalliance so I might catch this man and rid Earth of his vile presence.
Or maybe the large white wings protruding from my back scared him.
I think I would just go with the former. But just in case it was the wings, I quickly folded them against me and called upon the gift of veiling them from site. To my left, I heard a branch snap and I took off, running as stealthily as I could, barely making a sound. He was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to also possess the talent for running through the forest without getting caught.
Something heavy collided with my side and sent me flying to the left. I landed on my back, skidding, churning up the earth, until I finally halted just inches from a tree. I resisted, hating the way my perfect wings were forced into the ground. The person that knocked me down grew still, and my struggles became against myself. Soon, I stopped and raised my eyes, chest heaving.
This wasn’t a person. This wasn’t the man I searched for. This was a beast.
It possessed fur black as midnight, eyes the color of blood, and long thick whiskers that jutted out from either side of an impressive black snout. I glanced down briefly to one of the massive paws pinning me to the ground. It had claws that would rival the dagger strapped to the inside of my thigh. I lifted my eyes from the sight and looked back at its mean, unforgiving stare.
I watched as a long, pink tongue made its way past heavy jaws to lick its lips as if implying I were its next meal.
I reacted, my hand shooting out and snatching the tongue it taunted me with, and I twisted. The black beast howled in pain and flexed the foot that was still pinning my shoulder. I felt the rip of flesh, but I ignored it. I released the tongue to deliver a quick punch to its jaw, and then I knocked it right in the eye, causing it to stumble backward and off me.
I was on my feet, dagger in hand, in seconds. I didn’t wait for an invite. I didn’t wait for a challenge. Instead, I lunged just as it was shaking its head, no doubt trying to clear its vision. It turned, catching me with its long whip-like tail, and pulled my feet out from under me. I landed on my butt, the dagger falling out of my grip. I reached for it only to have it kicked away by the creature. With a cry, I lunged, catching it around its neck and slamming it into the dirt. The surprise that flickered through its eyes made me laugh aloud as we rolled across the forest floor, stopping only when we hit a tree. I landed on top and grabbed one of its large ears in each hand and twisted. The animal bayed, eyes flashing red, and he snapped his great jaws, trying to take a bite out of me. I slammed its head into the ground and lunged for the dagger, which was just out of my reach. Finally, I grasped it and rolled, the animal spinning with me, pounding me into the dirt and showing its teeth like it was grinning because I’d finally been caught.
It arched its back and as it moved, its chest came down toward me, and I brought my arm up, ramming the dagger between its ribs. It hunched forward and then went limp as I pushed it off to the side.