Chapter 1 - AttachmentsA Chapter by Maya StormLilah saves Abel's life at the risk of her own.Abel Morrow fell sixteen floors to what should have been his death, but as luck would have it, he landed at my feet.
Standing at
the back entrance to our high-rise condo, staring directly at me with her
emerald eyes was Abel’s younger sister Ebby. She was eleven years old and I had
known her now for close to a year. We lived across the hall from each other and
she made it a point to get to know me.
Ebby wrapped
a spa package for me at Christmas and brought me flowers on Valentines Day,
among other treats throughout the year. She would deliver my mail when the
postman would stick it in her slot instead of mine. She took the time to
decorate my envelopes with stars, hearts and ribbons.
After six months
of ignoring her, I finally gave in. We had made plans to see a movie together
after playing video games in my apartment. I made it a few steps from my car
when her brother’s fall interfered with our plans for the night, and the rest
of my life.
My name is
Lilah Abrams, Dana Reid, Carly Simmons, Heather Smith, really it does not
matter I have no name. I have no age; I was never born, as least not like you,
not from a man and a woman. I live outside of time. I have walked the Earth for
centuries and I have healing abilities.
I get paid
in large sums for this ability and it is a well kept secret by the extremely
wealthy all around the world. I don’t know how it works or why. I don’t even
know what I am really. Here are the things I do know; I grant wishes, though I
do not own a lamp most people in the Middle Eastern world would call me a
genie. To the not so smart I have been a
witch, a vampire, a succubus, or just the regular demon straight out of hell. I
am the source of all stories told to children in order to keep them in line.
What would I
be to Ebby tonight? Her parents died only a year ago and Abel quit college to take
care of her. I had to touch him; he was all she had left. I could hear her
screaming her wish as she walked slowing towards me and her brother lying on
the concrete pavement.
“SAVE HIM!” Ebby Demanded.
Her lips did
not even move. I could hear her thinking. Ebby’s voice rang in my mind, more
clearly than it would, had she been speaking out loud. How did she know? Or did
she really know what I was? Did she know what I was capable of doing? As if I were
her puppet, I knelt down by Abel’s side and placed one hand on his head and the
other over his heart. A surge ran through me to him and his entire body jolted,
but nothing happened.
Ebby was
thinking once more, not as loud as before, but I still could hear ever word. “Please, he has so much more to offer the
world. He has so much more to give.”
I could hear
her in my mind and now oddly enough I could see her thoughts in words. Ebby’s words
were floating in the air, in various shimmering colors. She was standing
directly in front of Abel and me, when the words in the air charged towards me.
I did not resist as they seep into my pores, energizing me.
I spoke
softly and slowly. “I can’t do it. He’s gone.”
“You can,
you’re an angel.” Ebby said with much confidence.
The looked up
at her eyes and saw this entirely new sight, it was one of faith, she believed
in something greater than herself. She believed that I was something more than
I thought I could be. Ebby believed that I was an Angel.
Time had now
stopped and I could see more clearly the sun was almost out of sight and the
darkness was approaching. The sky was a brilliant purple to orange gradient. I had goose pimples all along my arms and for
the first time in my life, I could remember feeling a chill. The air smelt of
dew, like just after a rainy day, but it did not rain today. There was blood all around us, but I could
not smell it. Abel was dead, but I could still feel him all around me.
I had been
around death quite often and it had a smell, a sort of sulfur scent. I had
expected that smell right now, then again I had expected Ebby to be yelling and
screaming and for people to be all around us, but nothing about the day was
right. I don’t have
the power to read minds and I can hear Ebby’s thoughts, I don’t have the power
to bring the dead back to life and here I am trying. Abel’s skin
was moist; he had worked up a sweat before falling. With my hands still on his
head and heart, I let Ebby’s belief flow through me. Abel’s eyes opened, and I
am delighted to see the same emerald shade as Ebby’s. Abel could not move, but he
was alive. I had no time to celebrate, there would only be a few minutes before
the transition would start.
Ebby was
frozen in shock as she saw her brother coming to life. Abel moved
involuntarily, his broken bones were being reset, he was beginning to reanimate.
This meant that I would have to die in his place at least for awhile. The time
started moving again and I could feel it. If anyone heard or saw the fall they
would be heading out now to see what had happened.
“Ebby. You
must listen to me carefully. Take him to my apartment.” I said, as I handed
over my keys. “I will be gone for a while. I don’t know how long. It will take
him a few days to recover.”
She stared
blankly at me, and I decided to shout.
“EBBY! THIS
IS IMPORTANT. If you can not get him up to the apartment, drag him to my car
until he is able to walk on his own.” I pointed at my Toyota
Prius just behind her.
“When it is safe…”
Ebby
interrupted me. “I don’t know what is happening. He’s- ”
Not knowing
how much time I had left in this realm, I gave her no chance to doubt herself,
I interjected harshly. “LISTEN! I have no time. Clean up his blood, use lots of
bleach on this area. Wait a day before going back into your apartment.”
“Why? Where
are you going? I can’t do this...” Ebby said with much disorientation.
I closed my
eyes and tried to calm myself so that I could get Ebby to be calm as well
“I will
disappear before your eyes.” I grabbed one of her hand and pulled her down to
my eye level. “You believe that your brother fell from your apartment balcony
and that I brought him back to life?” She nodded yes. “Then belief me when I
say that I have to die in his place.” I suddenly got winded and found it
incredibly hard to breath. “I will come back, I don’t know how long it will
take for me to recover, but I will"Aww…” My right leg was braking and I yelped.
“Lilah!
What’s wrong?” She asked desperately.
Ebby was
crying hysterically, bend down on her knees and tried to hold be up.
“This is
normal. Please get your brother out of this spot. We don’t need there to be any
questions.” I said softly as I stared directly in her eyes. “Be brave! Pull him
to my car. When I get back… I will explain everything.”
She must
have decided to trust herself, because she swallowed hard, stood up and began
to pull Abel by his shoulders to my car, he may have been too heavy for her to
manage, but I was in no shape to help. On the bloody pavement on my hands and one
knee, I feel myself fazing out of reality. This was happening a lot faster than
I expected it to. I need to get to my apartment or at least behind the large
garbage containers.
“Ebby I
can’t hear you…” I am in between realities, I don’t even know if she could see
me. I felt myself falling to the ground and I still try to get as many words
out as possible while crawling toward the back door entrance. “Stay in my apartme-”
After
touching Abel I took his last minutes of life, my bones are all breaking
slowly, my lungs will collapse, my stomach pushed all to one side, my heart
will give out, but the last of what I will feel is my brain busting out of my
skull as it breaks on the pavement. I don’t know how far I had crawled, I don’t
know if I made it even to the garbage containers.
I am now in
it, I am experiencing Abel’s fall. I know that this part is not real, but it
feels like it is my life, and I still have not learned how to disassociate with
the feelings the memories bring. I wanted to scream as I fell, but the air is
too great and it muffled what should be the sound of my last words (his last
words). I am in shock, I am panicking but it makes no difference, I will die. Here
it comes; I will see Abel’s life flash before my eyes.
A white
light at the edge of a cliff speeds up towards me and as it touches me the
light turns into a flood all around me. The light is comfortable and it holds
me and I feel at ease. I don’t know who or what I am and I don’t care. I want
to stay here in this place, in this state forever. I am finally at peace and
then a pop in my ear wakes me up. The state of peacefulness lasted only for a
short moment.
There she is
baby Ebby, I am holding her in my arms, I am nine or ten years old, my mother
is sitting on the bed, actually this is Abel’s life and Abel’s mother sitting
on the bed, sweating with her hair all tousled. Abel’s father is off to the
side talking to a nurse. I see through Abel’s eyes.
Wiping the
sweat from her forehead, Abel’s mother said to me. “That’s your sister; her
name is Ebbinetta Candianne Morrow.”
I look down
at her and smile. “Mommy she is beautiful, just like you.”
I am
speaking but Abel’s voice comes out. This was weird on so many levels. I have
the ability to see pieces of people’s lives when I heal them, but I have never
lived their lives. I have never experience their life from a first persons’
perspective. I am in a video game and wishing it was Halo. I know that it is a
memory, but it feels so real.
“Will you
take care of her Abel?” His mother said, while taking short, sharp breaths.
Staring at
his mother, Abel said. “Of course, I will take care of her for as long as I
live.” To the baby in his arms he said. “I love you Ebby.”
Abel’s
father walks over and holds onto is shoulders. “Ebby, I like that; it’s a cute
little nick name for her Abel.” He kisses Able on his head.
All the
flashes from Abel is of Ebby, his mother, his father, he had experienced great lose,
but most importantly great love. They are so close together and I can’t tell
them apart. They hug and kiss and cry together. I have touched hundreds of
lives and none as intense as this, no picture as clear. The flashes were fast
and plenty. He had lived for only twenty years and his life was filled up with
more substance than my three centuries. I had now understood what envy felt
like, I wanted to be him. I wanted his life more than anything else; I wanted
feel that kind of love.
The thing
that was special about these memories was that he knew what he had in his family
and he treasured every moment. He did not miss he parents at all; while they
were alive they did everything as a family. They lived in a commune and when he
decided to go to University they all moved to the city to be close to him. He
was happy to quit school for his little sister, she actually meant more to him
than anything else. They had lost almost everything and they were still happy.
No one is
that selfless. These memories must be forged, this is a dream. The constant joy
was almost making me ill. It was something that I wanted, but I did not see the
possibility and Abel’s life could not have been real.
The flashes
came slowly to an end, the transition was over and I was home once more under a
large tree with multiple leaves and an assortment of fruits I wake naked and in
a panic. How long have I been gone? Did Abel make it? Did anyone see me or what
I had done? I need to get back; I need to find them both. I should not be here
for too long.
The tree of
life "or so I call it" is large, and is at the center of what appears to be a
floating rock; there is nothing underneath as far as I can tell. I am too weak
to venture out so I investigate the tree itself. I know that most of the fruits
and leaves are not from earth, I have eaten most of the fruits and they grow
back within the instance of me picking them.
The leaves
have DNA codes and when I match up the correct ones I am able to create various
life forms. I make a game of it; I try to find all the codes for a Horse or Fungi,
the most complicated one so far was of an Elephant but I made it happen. When I get all the codes in the correct
sequence the life form projects above me and stay until I pull the leaves
apart. I create creatures right from my imagination and they make funny sounds
as if they are communicating with me but I am not able to understand what is
being said.
The
incredible thing about this game I invented was that I discover new humanoid
species and if I am able to put them together here, it means that they exist in
real life. If this tree is real then there must be more that I am not aware of
and I want to learn more. I want to know what I am. I have never been able to
explain this place to anyone, mostly because I had never been here this long to
fully grasp the magnificence of it all.
This
floating rock is more of an island about two thousand square feet across and the
tree is at the center point. The island does not seem to be moving and below it
is nothingness. The main source of light is from the tree itself; it changes
colors throughout a day. I thought to track the colors in order to tell the
time but I keep falling asleep and I miss count. When I walk to the edge in any
direction a pink light appears and it comes towards me and then I pass out.
When I wake
up each time the pink light hits me I am back in my casket. Mine is one of
eight under the tree. I am assuming that it’s mine only because I wake up in
it. I have been here for so long now it must be a few weeks. I am lonely so I
talk to the tree.
“Hello Mr.
Tree, how are you doing today?” I asked.
I am so
bored that I answer for the tree.
“Fine thank
you for asking Galileah.” I replied on behalf of the tree.
“You know my
name.” I said.
The tree
replied sounding much like Darth Vader. “Of course I do, I am your father.”
This went on
for a while, we shared secrets and rants and the tree took my sporadic tantrums
without complaint. I was feeling strong and I could walk again, most of my
movements had be dragging and crawling on the ground. My days would start off
with me falling out of my casket and rolling in the direction I wanted to go.
I would usually
transition back by now, but I was wondering if I had finally been trapped here.
Had I done something wrong? I showed Ebby and Abel what I was. Am I being
punished? Or maybe it’s from trying to see below, the pink charge at the edge
of the island may be making me sick. I am more interested in getting home now
more so than figuring out this place and I decide to leave the edge for a trip
in the future.
Madness is
setting in, I hear voices, I can not make out what is being said but it’s
coming from all around me. I make a plan to get better and get out. I pick the
fruits that are hanging low and that are familiar to me. I grab an apple, a
plum, a nesberry, june plum and what appears to be a ginep, I stuff it all in
the pockets of the rob I had found in my casket and pulled myself back to
it. I eat slowly and listened to a song
being sung by one of the voices in my head. Once I
finished my meal I laid down to take a nap, I thought that it may speed up the
healing process. I woke up still on the damn island, I sit up in my comfy
resting place and stared at the tree, the trunk had a slit, so I got up and tried
to wedge it open with no luck. I decide to check out the caskets, I memorize
the names written on each of them, they sparkled as if the words were alive. I
tried to pry each of them open to search for hidden treasures left behind, but
they were all empty. In mine I found at the top, a little pouch hidden behind
my pillow.
I open the
pouch to examine its content. I pull out what seemed to be a charm bracelet, but
it is large enough to wear as a necklace, it had space for maybe ten charms but
only had six charms attached. Of all the things on the rock, this was the one
that bothered me the most. The charms were all tiny glass bottles containing
blood, fire, light, water, and the others I was not able to figure out.
This
bracelet was in my casket, but why should I be surprised at all. I sleep in a
casket on a rock under a tree that changes colors and has leaves with DNA codes
and various fruits that I have never seen on earth. The level of strange was so
elevated that nothing should bother me here.
While trying
to figure out what the contents in the remaining two bottles were, I tried to
open the one that looked as if it were empty. I heard a voice from behind me.
“Don’t open
it.” The voice whispered.
Startled, I
look quickly behind me but there was no one there. I finally gave in to madness
and the voices in my head lying dormant for years have decided to turn the
volume up a few notches.
“It’s time
to go home Galileah.” The voice said.
“Who is
that?” I asked, scared out of my mind.
“The empty
bottle contains air, you can’t see it, but it is there. Don’t open it.” The
voice said, this time it is unambiguous, it is a female’s voice and directly in
front of me.
“Are you a
voice inside my head?” I asked foolishly.
Laughing frantically,
the voice responded “No, at least I hope not. You don’t seem too smart.”
I stood up
firmly clutching onto the charms. “Where are you? Why can’t I see you? Show
yourself!” I demanded.
I felt a light
gust of wind, and then I saw a smoke trail moving through the caskets and going
to the other side of the tree. I followed it but it led to the casket labeled
Sage. I tried to open it again but nothing, it’s locked. I pulled and tugged
and pulled again and fell right in the spot where I died.
I made it
behind the garbage containers after all. There is no blood; Ebby did well with
the clean up. I look around to see my car but it’s not in my parking spot. Abel
must be alright, he must be using it. The thought dawned on me that I am naked
and outside of my apartment building in broad daylight. © 2012 Maya StormAuthor's Note
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13 Reviews Added on July 6, 2012 Last Updated on August 21, 2012 Tags: tree of life, love, life, family, friends, friendship, genie, wish, wishes, dreams AuthorMaya StormMontreal , Quebec, CanadaAbout***[ I was away for a while and my 'read requests' are now in the 1000 range, I did not think it possible. I have turned it off for the moment, so if there is something that you need for me to read, .. more..Writing
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