The Psychosis Series

Descension

This short is an extract from my longer story Amongst Purple Skies

My back arched painfully in the wrong direction and I continued to spin, hurtling towards the ground hundreds of feet below.

Dark blue hair whipped around my face, slicing through skin as though it were butter and causing my eyes to water more than they already were.

A tall metal figure appeared in my vision as I rapidly neared the earth below, still far away.

Getting closer.

Still, I spiralled,

Still, I span out of control.

Every time I turned back to face the ground it got closer and closer, appeared larger and larger until I felt it.

My already bloodied back landed with a sickening crunch on the metal platform but still, it did not stop my fall.

My vision blurred and I saw stars, along with flash of dark blue followed by a trail of blood from my own body.

Yet still I fell, now followed closely with several large pieces of debris like a mobile lulling a child to sleep.

I welcomed the crash with open arms.

Her voice came from somewhere above me, a soft, echoing hum pulling me out of my dark, pained slumber.

Lifting my head from its place cradled in my arms, I allowed it to rest on my bicep and looked out to the line between my sand cot and the tide slowly washing in. The cool sand beneath my broken body soothed my evident bruising, yet I could not ignore the warmth coating my back and mixing with the beach below.

"My gentle warrior," she spoke again, her whispers washing over me and wrapping around like a blanket. The words met with a sigh and the closing of my eyes, she continued.

"Darling, the depth you have fallen is not so low you cannot rise above." She encouraged.

My head fell out of its cradle and my forehead fell onto the sand. I let out a deep groan, sending shockwaves down my back originating from that one spot.

With tears forming in my eyes, I lifted a shaking, sandy hand to the space between my shoulder blades.

My prediction was correct.

I was not met with two strong, feathery bases, once home to two beautiful wings.

Wings that carried me high, higher than any others who dared compete.

Wings that took me to such highs I felt as though I would never come down, I didn't want to come down from.

Through the blood and pain, I was instead met with two jagged stumps.

My body sobbed.

It didn't care about the pain erupting from my back, crying out for the freedom it once held.

It cared only for my despair.

"My humble warrior, you are not broken.

Though your wings may be gone, your angelic state is still intact.

It is not the fall that prevents you from the high, but the attitude you adopt upon the crash.

Pick yourself up my love, although it hurts, and you will learn to soar again."

I felt her presence leave.

The warmth that once filled me with comfort left my aura and I stilled.

Motivation filled my veins, darkness filled my mind and agony flowed through my body.

But I pushed.

Slowly, my hands found the flat earth beneath them and filled with a sudden surge of power, they pushed my body to its knees.

My head launched backwards with a crack, a series of clicking down my back following.

A raw screech escaped my lips increasing in volume as my jaw unhinged until the sound was too loud for my own ears.

Yet I couldn't turn it off.

It kept going, and going, my jaw unhinging further.

Until I was thrown forwards again, creating a path in the sand behind me.

Free of pain, peace in my mind, I looked down at my hands.

I was reborn.