• 1.Remembrance


    We made a mistake. A faint familiar voice echoed through my head and I recalled this conversation earlier.
    We are all terribly sorry. My eyes were closed tight and the sound of rushing wind being blown past me was all I could hear.
    It wasn’t your fault. My flowing black hair was free in the wind, slapping at my face occasionally.
    You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The golden rays of the setting sun wrapped me in a blanket of warmth as it touched my skin.
    We better start from the beginning. The rushing wind slowed; I could hear the birds chirping their last song for the day and the gentle winds blowing through the leaves of each swaying tree as I neared the earth with every second I fell. The earth I had not been able to set foot on for ten years. But now was my time.
    My landing was soft and gentle just as an angel’s should be as the valleys, hills and forests welcomed me into their world. I felt the green grass beneath me and the soft soil in my hands.
    With my eyes still closed, I brought my arms under my head for a pillow and made the grass my blanket. Within a few minutes I was drifting into a long peaceful slumber.
    “You wanted to see me Oriel?,” She looked up from the paperwork on her desk and gave a small smile while gesturing to take a seat.
    “Ah, yes, Celeste,” She gave a worried look, like something was not quite right; I couldn’t put my finger on it, but when Oriel is worried, nothing good comes of it. Oriel sighed.
    “I have some bad news I’m afraid,” With a turn of her head her blonde hair came in front of her face, shadowing sorrowful blue eyes. “ It appears that we - the Higher Angel Court - have made a mistake,” Oriel bit the side of her lip as I gave her a questioning look.
    “How so?” Oriel paused a moment then sighed again.
    “It’s hard to explain… before I continue, I want you to know that we are all terribly sorry,”
    “It’s that bad?,” She looked down at her papers before continuing.
    “I’m afraid so…. You see, You were not supposed to die so early like you did. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time-,” Oriel was cut off by my stare.
    “You said my death was an accident Oriel, please don’t tell me it was something worse,” Oriel shook her head slowly.
    “You don’t remember anything about what happened?,”
    “I was five years old Oriel! And I’ve spent ten years trying to forget about what happened! Do you think I would remember? Do you think I would want to?” Oriel brushed a tear away from her cheek. I had not known that Oriel had been crying and mentally hit myself for being so cold hearted.
    “ Then we better start from the beginning,” Oriel took a deep breath as I waited patiently. “Like I was saying, you were not supposed to die that soon…. You were… murdered as a child,” The way Oriel said it so flatly made me choke up inside, but I fought the tears.
    “I’m sorry Celeste, we tried to predict this, but the future told us you would live to a long age,“ She paused, trying to hold back her tears while I was already running.
    “You tried everything you could do, but you were only small and didn’t have any strength,” I couldn’t believe that was the truth . All my life, I was tricked into thinking my death was an accident, but instead it was nothing less than the opposite.
    “The truth really does hurt,” I said between chokes.
    “There are a lot of murders in this world, but none that we have ever made a mistake on predicting,” I had my head in my hands, trying to wipe away all the tears that kept overflowing. “Everyone lives, everyone dies, it’s the cycle of life and no one can stop what is going to happen to them, even if they could predict it,” I nodded slowly.
    “I guess, but then is that it? Is that what I was sent to your desk for? So you could tell me that I was murdered?” Oriel could tell in my voice that I was delirious from crying.
    “Not exactly, you see you came her so I could offer you a second chance,” “What do you mean by that?” Oriel gave a little smile before moving on. “ There are only a few angels that ever get to do this…. Around every two-hundred years we send an angel down to earth acting as a guide, for the dead to make it to heaven,” I hung on to every word, hoping this was going where I wanted it to. “So because we have been unfair to you, we want to send you back down to earth, to help those in need,”
    “How does one get sent down to earth?,”
    “It’s like a death and rebirth process, except when you return down to earth you are not a human, you are still yourself, except only those going to die will see you,” I was speechless, for I never thought I would be able to return back to earth, return back to solid ground. “You leave tomorrow at sunset and… I’m afraid this will be the last time I will see you ever again,”
    I looked up at her and saw sadness in her expression. “But why?”
    Oriel took a deep breath.
    “See when one returns to earth, they can never return back to heaven. It’s part of the death and rebirth process I was telling you about, once reborn you cannot come back, ever again,”
    “What will I do when I’m tired of guiding souls?”
    “Once you are finished you will purify the earth, become one with it and forever balance peace throughout the world, are you ok with that?” I had little time to decide, but told myself it was a good way for me to go.
    “Yes, I will leave tomorrow,” Oriel smiled her sweet, radiant smile.
    “So it is decided! You will be arriving at a continent named Atria the next morning on earth.” I nodded cheerfully.
    “ Always remember: We are smiling on you from heaven,”
    “Yes Oriel, and I will miss you,” Not another word later, I stood up, readied my wings, expanded them and flew out of Oriel’s office.


    Everything went dark. There was little light, if any light at all. I started to inch my way forward, stumbling and tripping over things unseen in my path. I tripped and fell over something - what I presumed a rock - and landed hard on the ground. I finally thought I saw light, but when I looked up from the ground all I saw was the intensity of fire creeping ever so close to me. Until it finally encased me in a fiery cage.
    The ground began to shake and stir beneath me. The earth began to brake and crack as giant hands scooped me up off the ground, suspending me twenty feet in the air. I heard a deep laugh echo through this empty fiery place I was in and it pierced my ears.
    A sudden burning sensation ripped through my wings and as I looked back at them I noticed the horrifying realization that they were being burnt to my bones. I tried to scream, but my voice wasn’t audible, even to my own ears.
    The smell of burning flesh stung my nostrils and I could no longer take the torturous blaze. I started to faint and tried to keep my head up the best I could, but my eyes were closing. I fell to the ground and everything went dark again.

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