The Talisman
It was as if she always known it would happen - as if it were her destiny. She was always reading the books, studying and devouring every scrap of knowledge she could about divine beings. Deep inside, she knew; she sensed her life was about to change forever.
It wasn't magic; it was destiny. That much she knew...
The summer after her junior year in high school, she would be visited. As Letha Godfrey slept peacefully in her bed that night in July, a golden light shone through her bedroom window, illuminating the pale covers.
She squinted, the light so bright it was blinding. "Who- what are you?" she whispered as she sat up in bed, the spaghetti strap of her ivory nightgown falling away from her bare shoulder.
She could see a figure in the light. He was tall with feathery white wings. His hair was dark and his clothing was ebony. She couldn't see his face, but his eyes - ohhhh, those eyes; they glowed so bright! They were green, the color of emeralds. She felt like she should know him.
As he stepped closer, she gasped. She DID know him!
Why, ohhh why couldn't she see his face?!
A thousand rays of light exploded from his face in all different colors and shades of the rainbow. His identity was obscured from her, but deep in her heart she did know him.
"Don't be afraid," he told her, his voice velvet as he stood at the edge of the bed. "I am here to give you a gift."
"I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you," he went on to say. She felt his caress against her cheek, his touch as soft and as smooth as a raven's feather.
She was basking in the sweet sensation when suddenly the covers were torn from her bed along with all her clothing. She was naked, and she had no knowledge of how it had happened. "Wh- what are you doing?" she gasped as he moved over her, covering her body with his.
*This can't be happening!* Letha was thinking. *I AM A VIRGIN!*
"I have loved you forever," he said as he became a part of her. His light was absorbed into her body and in that moment, they had become one being.
"I will always love you," he said as he gave her his gift.
A scream tore from her lips, but it wasn't a cry of pain, nor was it one of passion. It was something... more.
Fading in and out of consciousness, she tried to keep him with her. She held on to him with all her strength, but he was disappearing. She couldn't see him or touch him anymore.
Where had he gone?
Only one feather remained, crushed in her hand like a talisman.
It wasn't magic, but it was a miracle. Letha Godfrey, an average American teenager and a virgin had conceived a gift that night, a precious miracle. Her child's name would be Nadia.