The First Fall: A Love Story In Four Parts

Ether

I awoke in a haze, as though from a satisfied sleep on a drowsy summer's day. Slowly, but surely, sensation returned to my extremities and my lungs seemed to return to the fullness I had for so long taken for granted. The air I inhaled seemed to smell of honeysuckle, of ploughed grass, of wildflowers and of newness. It seemed to embrace me, calming me from its caress of my skin to its nurturance of my drowned soul. Carefully, I opened my eyes. 

The light surrounding me was bright, brilliantly so, and peculiarly warm, as though coming from a much closer sun. For moments all I could do was blink as I slowly adjusted to the nature of my surroundings. I noticed trees - so many trees - each festooned with blossoms of the purest of whites, daintiest of blushes and softest of lilac tones. Leaves burst forth from between their floral comrades, cuddled close to their petals with just glimpses of their vibrant emerald visible from afar. I lay gently cushioned on a field of long, thick grass sparkling with spatters of bright, enthusiastic daisies, their yellow hearts opened to the warmth of the sun. 

I do not know how much time passed before I realised that my body had been left naked. In a small panic, I clasped my breasts in an effort to hide them and pulled myself up from the grass. I felt as though I could see for miles into the horizon but there did not seem to be any sign of humanity, just those beautifully decorated trees - an eternity of flowers sprawled before me. Tentatively, I stepped forward, once, and then once more. No sky came crashing down upon me, no pastor came to beat me for my sins, no, I was left only to be one with the trees.

I walked for what must have been miles and days, yet my body never seemed to grow weary. My mind remained alert, my throat refreshed and my skin pleasantly cool. I revelled in the emptiness of my environment, feeling, for the first time in my life, as though I were no longer judged, as though my life finally belonged to me in the most real of ways. It took some time, but my mind began to quiet, abandoning its usual frenetic tirade and growing peaceful, as though suspended Eventually, the glorious silence in which I had been bathed was broken by a few gentle strands of song.

Without considering any possibility of danger, I rushed towards its source only to be stopped in my path once I saw her.

She was so entangled in her own melodies that she did not notice as my gaze caressed her Venusian form. Her cheeks were plump, pink and kissable, her lips much the same, falling into an intricately perfect Cupid's pout, and her eyes - oh, her eyes - so wide, so innocent, so gentle, honey-coloured as they met the rays of the sun, warm, dark and earthy when cast to the daisies between her toes. The woman's breasts were firm and high on her chest, soft nipples just visible from beneath the soft rose-toned material of her gown, which fell so lightly and shone so transparent against her skin I could not help but wonder as to whether the material belonged to the world of mortals. Her legs were long and glistened from beneath that fabric, her arms strong and muscular as she brought her delicate fingers to the strings of the small harp that rested between those glistening limbs. Oh, dear reader, no woman could ever have longed to be an instrument so much as I. 

My reverent gaze danced across her wings, barely registering their existence as transcending the bounds of normality. They were broad, thickly feathered and appeared soft to the touch, shimmering with a thousand colours and more the scientists have still yet to discover. Perhaps they never will, but I did. I had discovered her. 

"You watch me," she chuckled, and I started. The angel's voice befit her beauty, lingering in the air around me, as addictive and sweet as the tension surrounding love's first kiss. If I could have fainted, perhaps I would have, but my body seemed too well, too strong, to do now. "Why?"

"I watch you because you are the most wonderful thing I have ever seen," I replied, the words spilling like wine from my love-drunk lips. 

"If I am so lovely," her laugh seemed to sparkle, almost a corporeal presence. "Come closer and sit beside me."

How was I to disobey an angel?