Fall From Heaven

• Aiden Leeman, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2014

I looked down towards the ground. At the Earth. Always so very distant, yet always there, always in plain sight. Only a step off of the edge of the clouds, and I could glide down to visit.
I shifted my feet on the soft cloud that constituted my home. What would the dirt feel like? How would the grass smell? What would it be like to frolic amongst the animals, to live with the people?
Oh how I wished to live down there! Just for a day, to see the land up close. To be a part of the creation.
I turn around to see the other angels going about their daily business. Walking to and from administration, discussing concepts of the Law, studying the people below. Everything is so bland and monotonous.
What good do we do here? No one visits below anymore, not since the Son returned. And why? The people need our help now more than ever. We shouldn't be sitting up here in admin. We have a duty to help those below.
I will not stay here. Just let the Archangels try and stop me. We have purpose.
I have purpose.
I spread my wings and jump.
The wind rushes past me faster and faster as I fall. Leaving the clouds behind feels amazing. I will help the people, I will help as many as I can. I will show them the way. I will lead them to salvation. They need our help. They need my help.
I tuck in my wings and fall faster.
The others will see that it is the right thing to do. They will follow my lead. No matter what He says, we need to help his creation. That is what we are here for. That is why we exist, why he created us.
I can make out individual trees now. I can see the land clearer than I have ever had the chance to before.
I will teach them to respect nature. To nurture it as was intended to be. I will teach people to look after the animals, as He charged them with. I will teach them to be good people and look after one another.
I will help them to live a proper life.
I spread my wings as I near the ground, slowing my descent. Flapping my wings a few times, I alight on the ground. The blessedly hard, dry ground.
I take a moment to feel the gritty dirt beneath my bare feet, and think of what I have done.
I fold back my wings and start walking. I don’t know where I am going, but it matters little. I know I am to help the people. To teach is my purpose.
I am walking for some time before I realise that I don’t know where I came from. That is strange. I try jumping in the air, only to fall back down a second later. Very odd indeed, I could have sworn I just tried to fly. It’s not like humans have wings at all, that would be absurd.
As I make my way along a dirt road, I begin to think of how I could start my life anew here. There are many ways that I could build myself up and get my way. There are many ways to which I could bend others to my will.
The thought crosses my mind that I have a greater purpose. One that I have forgotten, not too long ago. Maybe I could help others, live for their sake instead of my own? But no. I cannot make my way under such a premise.
Of course in this land it is every man for himself.