Curiosity

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamt of the Heavens and an angel who dreamt of the Earth.

She would lay on her roof and count the stars winking above her. There were worlds up there, lands orbiting other suns, but gravity chained her to the Earth. She could never know the universe.

He would lay on the edge of a cloud, drifting slowly over the patchwork world beneath him. People scurried about down below. Their thoughts and dreams would drift up to him, their prayers tiny glimpses into mortal lives.

It was a warm summer day that found the girl and her companions wandering a mountain forest. Laughter echoed as they chased each other between ancient tree trunks and around fallen boulders. By cruel fate, the girl soon found herself separated by an impenetrable thicket of thorns. By the time the brambles had opened into a clear grove of trees, she was alone, her friends nowhere to be seen.

By then it was nearing nightfall, and dusky night began to paint the forest in silver. The girl, alone and lost, remained in the grove of trees. She was fearful of leaving the clear spot to brave the thorns and wild creatures in the lonely night. She called for them, but as the darkness fell, she too fell silent. As she knelt at the foot of a tree, her fantasies of being safely at home twisted into nightmares of creatures stalking her from beyond the grove.

Unbeknownst to her, this grove was the peak of the mountain. From this highest point, her faint cries were lifted upwards to the angel. Curiosity burned within his breast, and without hesitation he took flight, plummeting on fiery wings to meet the frightened creature below.

She wailed when he landed in front of her and threw her arms up to shield her eyes from his divine visage. He stumbled back, surprised at the violent reaction.

"Do not be afraid." His words were a plea as he held out a hand to the frightened girl. "I mean you no harm."

Her screams quieted, but she trembled as she peeked at him from under her arms. "You're an angel." Her voice was soft and low, but flawed by a hard streak of curiosity. "Aren't you?"

"I am. And you're a human." The corners of his lips curved into a reassuring smile, and he knelt across from her, holding his hand out to her in a gesture of friendship.

The girl contemplated it, fear warring with desire for the unknown, and then reached out to lace her shaking fingers with his, in a handshake with the power to seal fate. They looked into each other's eyes, each studying the other.

"Show me the Earth." The angel was the first to speak, pleading. "Please. I have never been able to see it from this viewpoint."

The girl saw that they were the same in their appetite for knowledge, and her smile was that of genuine friendship. "I will show you Earth, but only if you show me Heaven."

The angel did not hesitate in agreeing, and then they both stood. The angel swept the girl from her feet and, unfurling magnificent wings, whisked her down the mountain, her friends forgotten. She laughed in delight at the flight, her arms around the angel's neck, and her trembling was that of excitement rather than fear as the frigid night wind whisked her hair and nipped her nose.

At the base of the mountain, the angel set her back on the ground. Her feet had barely touched the grass before she'd grabbed his hand, pulling him away at a run.

First she showed him the trees, tall rustling shadows in the dark of the night, and the grass, and the bright pops of colors possessed by the proud flowers, so vivid that they seemed to glow in the night. A babbling stream curled beneath them like a mirthful flow of molten silver on a journey to some unknown place, oblivious to the splash of the angel's feet. His cry of delight at the icy bite of the water startled up a flock of birds, and he gazed in rapt attention at the poetry of their synchronized flight, a ballet of survival initiated by perception of danger.

"This is beautiful. It is more than I ever imagined..." There were tears in his eyes as he looked over at the girl who stood, illuminated in the moonlight. Her eyes were turned up towards the sky, reflecting the celestial light, entranced by the cold stars far above. The angel was loathe to leave, but he had promised her the heavens in return, and he intended to keep this promise.

He touched her arm, and she jumped, yanked from her thoughts. The angel felt a little sting of regret for startling her. "Are you ready?" Once again, he spread brilliant wings.

"I've been ready." The girl took his arm, and then he flew, rising from the ground, leaving the beautiful land far behind.

The girl shivered in his arms as she looked skyward, enraptured by the increasing proximity to the stars. The air grew colder as they left the Earth, leaving the land far behind, and, unconsciously, the girl tucked her hands close to her chest to keep her fingers warm.

The angel could feel her shaking. "Are you alright?"

"I'm good." She smiled at him, nose and cheeks red as her gaze moved back to the sky. "Thank you. For showing me this."

"It is the least I can do, for showing me the Earth." He flew higher and higher, towards the moon and stars. Below, the land was nothing more than distant darkness. Ice crystals crackled on the girl's hair as she laughed, overjoyed by the vastness of the night sky. Her lips were tinged blue under the fogginess of her breath.

The angel slowed the beat of his wings, realizing that the girl would push her adventure past the abilities of her mortal body. "We must return to Earth now." He gently brushed the frozen strands of hair from her brow.

"I want to see," she pleaded, breath a dense fog against the emptiness of the night. "I need to. You promised."

"A bit further, and then we return." He beat his wings against the chilly air, lifting them higher and higher, until they were amidst the stars themselves.

The girl's eyes were wide, even as her body shivered against his. "It's b-b-beautiful," she stammered, the cold taking control of her lips. "I w-w-want to see m-more."

"Your vessel is fragile," the angel told her, trying to rub one of her arms to bring back the heat. "The cold will leech the warmth from your blood."

Her eyes were accusing. "You p-p-promised."

It was true. He could not deny it. "I will show you the moon, and then we return."

The moon was only a few wingbeats away. He took the journey quickly, eager to bring her back to the earth where she could be warmed by the heat of a fire. "You see?" he asked, gesturing with one hand towards the great silver orb that hung in the sky. "This is the celestial body that lights your night skies."

The angel waited for a reply, but none came. When he looked down, the girl was slumped against his chest, limp in the arctic air, frozen eyes still fixed on the moon.

It was the angel's turn to scream as he dove to earth, falling with the girl clutched to his chest. The warmth of the air surrounded him, but no light returned to her eyes. Her body was limp as he lay her back on the ground where she belonged, and when he pressed an ear to her chest there was no breath.