Author's Note
Dearest Reader,
I cannot thank you enough for giving this story a chance. However, I want to clarify a few things before we start. When I began writing this story, I had just turned 18, and my life was falling apart in almost all ways imaginable. I wasn't a writer then. I hadn't written any story for nearly 10 years (I did write many stories when I was younger), didn't know how to write a novel, and didn't even consider myself creative. But I was lonely, I had no one to share my feelings with, so I did what I did best - I created imaginative friends to suffer with me.
The characters and the story result from being a lonely, scared, and miserable young woman coming of age and should be viewed as such. I am aware that the main character is notably lacking in the naivety and carelessness intrinsic to childhood. I have debated whether to change this in this second adaptation of the story (it was first written in my native language, but due to several reasons I am no longer writing fiction in it, and I am transferring my dearest Noel to this safe realm) but ultimately decided against it. Noel and his fear of the world and other people were always supposed to mirror my own experiences. His lack of naivety and carelessness mirror my childhood, where I was not allowed to feel or express these things. Changing such pivotal attributes of my main character would be equal to erasing these facts from my past to make them more digestible, and I am strictly against such behavior.
I hope this does not negatively influence your reading experience and that you can see it for what it is - a form of self-help that guarded me against the harsh reality of the world and guided me through one of the darkest times of my life. I don't expect this story to have the same meaning to you, but I would be delighted if it at least also provided some comfort to you when the real world is too much.
Warmest wishes,
The Author
P.S. Topics in this story include suicidal thoughts, suicidal behavior, and violence. Please take care of yourself while reading.
Prologue
It was a cold winter night when something other than the soft, fluffy snowflakes descended onto the earthen surface from the heavens above. It was a child, wrapped in white silk cloth. Its milky, smooth skin was barely distinguishable from the fabric it was covered by, and its small hands were trying to snatch the snowflakes out of the air as they were tumbling toward their new earthly home together. The child had no parents, and yet it was no orphan. It was a child of the sky. A guardian made to protect. His name was Noel.
Guardians, children of the sky, exist for one reason: to protect their people. There is a Guardian for everyone on this planet, but not everyone has the fortune - or misfortune - to meet their guardian in person. You'd think it was nice, being a Guardian living an eternal life with no pain. But, as many Guardians would tell you, they're not living at all. They're merely existing. Being sent down from the heavens above and living a mortal life is the only way they can escape from their ethereal nothingness.
Each guardian makes a pact with their creator that should they live an uneventful life until old age; they are rewarded with the sweet release of death, an end of their existence. It is then that they are sent down to earth in the shape of a newborn child to grow up alongside humans, to see and feel the pain they have to deal with, and to protect them better. This was also why Noel descended from the sky on this cold winter night.