Outcast Angel

• April Fiamengo, Grade 9, Marist Sisters College
• Short Story
• 2014

Finalist in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

The temple stood tall, towering over the lands it protected from demons and other creatures of the night. The guardian looked down on a young girl seeking refuge from a village that had been attacked. “An orphan” he thought to himself as he turned his back on her. The man walked away shutting the door on her tear stricken face. The man never felt bad for them as he thought they were vermin, especially the ones that believed they would be allowed into the temple. The little girl flipped her long, tangled, black hair off her shoulder and looked around, her bloodshot green eyes looking for a way in. She eventually found a small hole, just big enough for her to fit through. Although the man said to leave, she knew she couldn’t as her ‘other’ side was guiding her, the angel side of her. She belonged to no world, not to the world of Angels and Demons, not to the world of Humans either. Even her name proved it, Apóvlitos, which meant outcast. She had another name before that, Vasílissa meaning queen, but that died along with her title as guardian of heavens. Apóvlitos went through some hallways and found herself in a large dark area that had a single bright light in the centre. The key to the heavens was brightly glowing in the soft, red velvet that it rested on, with a large stone column holding it up. Large, realistic statues of warriors lead up stairs, in which people of stone are forever trapped. They were caught up in the key’s beauty that they forget who they were, and once that happened, those people were turned to stone. If demons see the key, they are turned to ash because of all the pure energy the key holds. No one knows what happens when an angel touches it, as angels have been kept away from the key, the cause being the humans and demons are scared the angels will become too powerful. The girl snapped out of her gaze and slowly started to walk up the steps, just as the door flew open and the guardian from before stormed in. Apóvlitos jumped in shock, and then started to run up the steps towards the key. The guardian ran after her, yelling for her to stop. She stopped right in front of the key and tentatively reached her hand out to touch it, but was yanked back. She struggled while he pulled her down the stairs but she pulled out of the guardians grip, and quick ran up, her hand stretching, touching the key. A bright light surrounded Apóvlitos and she felt like she was falling. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, and she was in a large field, trees everywhere, with other outcast angels playing with each other and having fun. “Paradise” she thought to herself as all the other angels walked towards her, welcoming her to what they called ‘Land of the Mortal Angels’.