Chapter Two:The Sound of Stone Breaking

The storm still rages and howls, pelting us with dark rain as the sky turns a terrible inky black. Tonight would be a nice night to just fall asleep….to fall asleep for a few days….to wake when it was all over…..if you were to wake at all…..

And then it happens. Lightning strikes. But it doesn’t just strike anywhere- It’s strikes Adir, on the roof, in all of his majestic glory. There are sparks and smoke and the sound of stone breaking- a terrible sound to me. I want to scream, I want to cry out that it wasn’t fair, I wanted the bolt to rob me of my everlasting life instead, because without Adir my days would surely be sad and empty- worthless. The brightness has blinded me momentarily, I can see nothing through the smoke and sparks. I want to cry, and I imagine tears would feel the same way as the rain pouring down my face right now- so in a way, I am already crying. I am already lamenting in my terrible thoughts of never being able to see my Adir again, he was my light, seeing him…..seeing him made me happy.

But then I see movement- and my thoughts freeze. I can see him….see Adir…..standing up. He is moving! How is he moving?! Did the lightning set him free?! Oh but now he will leave! I want him to be free but I don’t want him to leave me! But….maybe….maybe it is time to let Adir go…..maybe…..maybe it’s time for him to be free…..even if it hurts….shouldn’t I want that for him? I don’t want to be greedy, the world deserves to see my Adir too! Even though I will never cross his mind….

And then the worst thing in my eternal life happens- Lightning strikes near my perch, and the earth trembles- and I am falling from my perch. And the feeling of falling….it is no less terrifying that it was that first time. I want to scream and thrash, but I am just stone. Stone rapidly approaching the hard earth to crumble into so many tiny painful pieces….

But….But he catches me. He zips in with his wings, pounded upon by rain...and he saves me. He saves me from crashing to the earth. And it feels like a veil is lifted, like a large weight is removed from my chest, and all over my body, like…..like I can move again.

I gasp and cough like a nearly drowned woman and he sets me down as I clutch at the walls of the museum that had for the longest time been my home, my body so unused to motion it can hardly hold itself up.

“You can only choose one.” He says in a flat tone, but oh even his flat tone is musical and wonderful! My Adir has saved me and now he is speaking to me! This is more than I had ever dared to dream! “You can only choose one. That is what the voice told me.” He furrows his brow, rain still pouring down in torrents and rivers. His previously white hair, as I do recall it was in heaven, beautiful glowing white locks that drifted in the wind, is now a dark feathered black, his green eyes that used to be the envy of every emerald and forest, now a bleak jade, robbed of all of their captivating color. I wish to look at myself, but I feel my eyes, and I pull my fingers back to se they are covered in the dripping ‘Mascara’ that the girls of this age scream about. My hair is a drenched coal black- I want to scream, my locks of sunshine….gone. What has happened? Why am i wearing ‘the make-ups?”. Angels don’t wear the make-ups! We are ancient as time itself, we do not use such egocentric modern inventions! Have we…..is it possible…..that we have been modernized? Oh no…..what must Adir thing of me as he sees this wreck of a modern girl clinging to the cathedral as both tears and rain stream down her face? All though none could tell I was crying through this rain, obviously. And yet- I lament. As I look upon Adir, I lament terribly. His large powerful wings….they are a sooty gray and mine...mine have vanished, I can no longer feel them at all- is it because he is an Archangel and I am not that he was able to retain his wings? How unfair! Oh I miss them, I miss them terribly…

‘Am I human now?’ I think to myself. ‘Am I to be revived only to live as a human…? I don’t want that...How will I adapt? How does one blend in with humans? How does one ACT human? How does one pretend to like the ‘rap’ music and those metal death contraptions they call ‘cars’?’

Am I beautiful now….? No. I am a broken half-fallen angel whose dark mascaras and dark hair have turned as black as the hearts of the mortals of this age. And then it hits me, almost as hard as hitting the ground, I would imagine. The reason I have changed hits me.

What angel was I in heaven? I was the angel of compassion, of kindness, of sympathy. Nature loved me, animals adored me, humans were pulled towards me by a force they never quite could explain. But this day and age- people are murdered so often, people only care for themselves, people are broken and hurt and think that being cruel and hurtful is the only thing that will make their lives bearable- and they are wrong. I have changed because there is no kindness, no sympathy, no compassion. Slowly, over time, without them ever noticing or even noticing it myself, they have killed me. Strangling the essences I once thrived off of. And yet….while I am broken and hardly able to stand….Adir stands tall and strong, his wings large and mighty. Because battle, strength, fighting spirit- they thrive and swarm. The essences Adir lives off of are bountiful. He kept his wings because he was an Archangel, but he thrives because people have become cold and violent. The same reasons I can hardly stand.

And Adir….he could only choose one of us to set free…...we are hundreds…..and he chose me. It makes my heart flutter as my feet grapple to stand.

“Why me….?” I cough, my voice hoarse and cracked. I look away as the revelation hits me that we are not clothed. Why should we expect to be? We are half-fallen angels that have just awakened, we are like children just being born into a new world. A broken and cruel world that we are certain will not welcome us.

“You were falling.” he states, as though it were simple why he would do such a thing, as though anyone would have done the same. It makes my lips tremble in a smile.

“I-It’s very cold.” I shiver as the freezing rain covers us in blankets.

“Yes.” he agrees, “We should find shelter. Do you see those lights?” he asks, I look around and am startled to realize that I do indeed see them. They are like glowing golden footprints, leading us onward to whatever path the maker set out for us. Hopefully, I pray, Hopefully the path will lead us to safety. But even if it does not, even in the cold rain, even naked and shameful, even if it leaves us walking for years and years with no end in sight- I will be happy. I will be happy because I am free. I will be happy because Adir chose me. I will be happy- Because Adir is walking alongside me the whole way. I will be happy because I am not alone, and because now that I am free-

I can change the world.