Back On Earth -(DRAFT)

First contact

**Nora's pov**

"You can touch them. They're actually part of me". I offered, moving what remained of my wings. I hissed a little through the pain, as the fall had destroyed most of them. A couple more feathers fell. "Maybe they could convince you I'm not a liar."
Nada. The guy seemed almost like a painting, for how still he was, his mouth slightly agape. He looked like a fish out of the water. I took yet another step forward, and he snapped out of it.

"Those must be props. Angels don't exist." The guy repeated, with the slightest hint of disbelief in his voice.

"I'm here. And you can touch them. And it's ableist to deny my existence."

"Pfft"

"What's so funny?" I asked, with a tinge of irritation.

"Ableist? Really?". Oh, how sarcastic.

"Listen, I get it. I was atheist too when I was alive. But damn it, can't you see this?? Who would go as far as me to convince you of something? This is not a prank, and I hope we're both sane enough to acknowledge it. Just touch the wings. Just, just do it."

I saw him hesitate. For a second, he almost seemed to believe it, before his gaze dropped into yet another blank, purposefully vexing expression. But he got nearer, nonetheless. The little stubs on my back twitched again. I saw his hand get nearer and nearer, until he did it. He touched me. I gritted my teeth a little, as they were sensitive after all the injuries.

**Craig's pov**

They were like nothing I had seen before. The base was covered in some kind of fuzzy flesh, extremely soft, yet obviously torn and scratched. The stubs continued, and they really did seem like they were structured to be wings. Except, they were torn off midway. There was dried blood on the downside of some feathers that I hadn't noticed before. Soft, velvety feathers that were so frizzled. They had a blue-ish undertone, maybe it was just the night's hue reflecting off on them. I spent a good couple of minutes observing that all. The more I looked at them, the more I was starting to doubt my beliefs. They really did look real. Was this girl some kind of monster? Was it some kind of social experiment? A movie being filmed?
She moved them again. No. No, maybe I was dreaming. I looked at my hand. I could count my fingers clearly. I moved two of them to pinch myself very hard. Ow, fuck. I lit up my phone screen. 7th of March, 11:47 pm. None of these tests denied that was, indeed, real life. I looked back at the winged girl, scanning her face. She did the same.

"What's your name? I told you mine, but you didn't say yours."

"Craig."

"So Craig, what do you think now?"

"I don't know what to think. It feels too surreal."