Falling
By Mercy Greenleaf
[pic] Chapter I
I awoke with a cry. I sat up panting, clutching my knees for strength. A cold sweat covered my body and my limbs trembled with horror. The dream - no, night terror, had been so incredibly vivid. A man I had never known had been standing before me, and although we were surrounded with an abyss of darkness, he glowed, as if the moonlight clung to him in all places of the world. His lapis lazuli eyes shone with a love, a complete and utter.. acceptance.. that shook me to my bones. He was not handsome - no, that word was not enough to describe him. He was.. beautiful. His face was baby smooth and soft, and yet there was a hardness there, in the strait line of his cheekbones, and the unusual pointing of his ears. There was a mixture of strength and softness to him that had made me want to weep. His soft lips had whispered my name, and I had felt as if I was being called home. I saw his hands reach out slowly, beckoning to me, and my hand, reaching out to him. Our fingers had met and touched - the barest of touches, and a shiver of delight had run through my body.
And then it had all been destroyed. As he pulled me towards him, into his arms, an arrow from the darkness had pierced his back, and come through his heart, into mine. An unimaginable pain, the burning of fire and chill of ice. Hot copper blood had spilled from my lips, and I looked up into his eyes with surprise, and the pain his eyes made my wound seem like a paper cut. He seemed as if he had lost everything - every single thing in the world, as if he was dying, and losing every precious and happy moment I had ever known.
And suddenly I realized our loss. I would never kiss those sweet soft lips, or brush his windswept blond hair from his face, and to hear his soft whispers in the dark. I let out a gasp and a cry, weeping with the sorrow of it all. He clutched me in his arms and whispered frantic words in a beautiful language I had never heard. I placed my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him close, sobbing uncontrollably, pressing my forehead against his and looking into his eyes. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks and mixed with the blood on my chin. He stopped speaking for a moment, seeing the despair in my eyes, and spoke English. "Do not weep, my love. There are far greater things in this world than you and I, and perhaps we shall meet again." A single tear slipped from his right eye, and fell on my lips. I gave one last cry, and felt the darkness wrap its ice cold arms around me. And as he faded away from me, I realized that though he had touched my very soul, I did not even know his name.
My heart had calmed slowly, and my breathing had returned to normal. The dream had shaken something in me, questioned the basic beliefs I had been so positive of my entire life. Had it been a vision, a small peek into the future? Had I seen my very own death? And the man...the man...did such a creature exist? Could something so beautiful possibly love me, an imperfect woman at best? I stood shakily, and walked towards my mirror. I had a cold pit in my stomach, an increasing feeling of fear, a warning. My body was trying to tell me something would change. Something, today, would be different.
[pic] Chapter I
I awoke with a cry. I sat up panting, clutching my knees for strength. A cold sweat covered my body and my limbs trembled with horror. The dream - no, night terror, had been so incredibly vivid. A man I had never known had been standing before me, and although we were surrounded with an abyss of darkness, he glowed, as if the moonlight clung to him in all places of the world. His lapis lazuli eyes shone with a love, a complete and utter.. acceptance.. that shook me to my bones. He was not handsome - no, that word was not enough to describe him. He was.. beautiful. His face was baby smooth and soft, and yet there was a hardness there, in the strait line of his cheekbones, and the unusual pointing of his ears. There was a mixture of strength and softness to him that had made me want to weep. His soft lips had whispered my name, and I had felt as if I was being called home. I saw his hands reach out slowly, beckoning to me, and my hand, reaching out to him. Our fingers had met and touched - the barest of touches, and a shiver of delight had run through my body.
And then it had all been destroyed. As he pulled me towards him, into his arms, an arrow from the darkness had pierced his back, and come through his heart, into mine. An unimaginable pain, the burning of fire and chill of ice. Hot copper blood had spilled from my lips, and I looked up into his eyes with surprise, and the pain his eyes made my wound seem like a paper cut. He seemed as if he had lost everything - every single thing in the world, as if he was dying, and losing every precious and happy moment I had ever known.
And suddenly I realized our loss. I would never kiss those sweet soft lips, or brush his windswept blond hair from his face, and to hear his soft whispers in the dark. I let out a gasp and a cry, weeping with the sorrow of it all. He clutched me in his arms and whispered frantic words in a beautiful language I had never heard. I placed my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him close, sobbing uncontrollably, pressing my forehead against his and looking into his eyes. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks and mixed with the blood on my chin. He stopped speaking for a moment, seeing the despair in my eyes, and spoke English. "Do not weep, my love. There are far greater things in this world than you and I, and perhaps we shall meet again." A single tear slipped from his right eye, and fell on my lips. I gave one last cry, and felt the darkness wrap its ice cold arms around me. And as he faded away from me, I realized that though he had touched my very soul, I did not even know his name.
My heart had calmed slowly, and my breathing had returned to normal. The dream had shaken something in me, questioned the basic beliefs I had been so positive of my entire life. Had it been a vision, a small peek into the future? Had I seen my very own death? And the man...the man...did such a creature exist? Could something so beautiful possibly love me, an imperfect woman at best? I stood shakily, and walked towards my mirror. I had a cold pit in my stomach, an increasing feeling of fear, a warning. My body was trying to tell me something would change. Something, today, would be different.