Finding Maggie

Chapter Seventy - After the Fall

Chapter Seventy - After the Fall

There was little to be done upon the day when the four unceremoniously came hurdling to Earth. At some point during their falling, each had given up hope that they would ever survive. And so, when the sun was spotted brightly in the heavens Darcy's eyes drew to it like a moth to flame. They had lived in a state of despair for twenty-six days although throughout there was no way of telling such. The sun was like a beacon of hope for some and a sense of dread for others. Estelle's tears had dried up long ago but seeing such a large orb of glaring brightness, even from such a huge distance, brought them back without aid. Maggie saw it as well but the recognition of what it was didn't immediately come to her. She stared straight at it and somewhere in the back of her head she thought: You shouldn't look right at the sun. It will blind you.

Turning her head slightly, Maggie caught a glimpse of Earth and her heart swelled. “There!” She screamed. Her voice was raw after so many days of disuse but it felt blissful to say. “Look!” Choler tried his best to slow them down but of course it was useless. Gravity took hold the moment they were within its grasp and so the four hurdled down like dead weights while the land and their bodies seemed like magnets drawing every closer.

With an enormous, bone cracking thud, Maggie smashed into sandy ground and her body remained still while the others followed in her wake. Choler landed mere feet from her while Darcy and Estelle ended up about a quarter of a mile off. Maggie felt the gravity like a lead weight against her skin and couldn't move while her bones reknit themselves.

It was Estelle's cry of sheer terror that finally got her up and moving. Choler grumbled something under his breath and eventually picked himself up and followed her trail through the dunes of sand. “No! No!” Estelle cried out, shaking violently in Darcy's arms. “I can't breathe! Help me! I can't breathe!”

“Shh. Quiet now.” Darcy cooed while he drew her up into his lap, gently running his hands through her hair. “You're fine. This will pass.”

Maggie felt it too but knowing that she was on Earth did enough to allay her fears. What Estelle said was true, to an extent. The air felt like a thousand pounds being forced into her chest every time she took a breath. Her lungs tried to keep it out but habit brought the vengeful oxygen back in a moment after. The gravity felt harsh against her skin, pulling her down and making her feel like a lead weight within the sand. Her brain fought against the idea that perhaps she was so heavy she would simply sink into the earth and be buried by the countless grains which surrounded them. But of all that, none was more harsh than the sun itself. Her eyes felt like they were boiling out of her skull and they could open just barely enough to see her surroundings before squeezing shut in an attempt to shield out the glaring, dizzying light. Despite the glare of the sun, she felt cold, freezing even and she wrapped Corvino's cloak around herself tightly to try and gain some warmth. Even the most harshest New York winters could not have prepared her for such bone-chilling frigidness.

Estelle continued to sob in Darcy's arms, burying herself within his chest, making herself as small as she could while the fear of such new and unwelcome senses came, bringing her perilously close to the edge of insanity. “We have to keep moving.” Darcy spoke, squinting through the brightness when Maggie came to his side.

“Does it always feel like this?” She answered, pulling Estelle's cloak away just long enough to check on her daughters before gently tucking it back in around their small bodies.

“No, it will get better.” Darcy stood, dragging Estelle up with him still wrapped in his arms. “But I doubt we have much time before we are sought for. We need to go.” He repeated. Maggie nodded her agreement and without pause she patted Choler's head gently and took her first steps towards safety.