Cupid's Rising

Manny

It was cold.

It was cold.

Why did the cold worry me so much?

Was it the cold, or just the absence of heat that worried me?

Why did the word heat make me think of the color purple?

Why did the color purple make my heart ache in grief?

Why did I not know what any of this all had to do with each? Or if they even were related?

Too many questions. So few answers.

Not knowing worried me.

Everything worried me.

I was scared.

It was cold, and not warm, and I was scared.

Did I even want to bring up the fact that everything felt off. My ears were ringing in this weird way.

My head felt dizzy. Everything was moving too fast, yet nothing moved at all.

There was something wrong-something behind me that couldn't let me stand straight. It took me a long moment to balance out my feet.

I looked myself over, instinctively knowing that what I was seeing wasn't what how I looked before. My clothing was fit for a warrior. It was also kinda girly.

The pure white feathery skirt of it barely reached past my thighs. Draped over it was gold and gray fabric covered in tiny yellow hearts. The bust was red and shaped on my chest like a heart. Golden straps crossed over it with a new smoothness. The gold was reflected softly in the moonlight.

Though I liked the shoes. They were dark red with white strings, like sneakers, reaching my knees. They looked wonderful on me. There was a fluttering noise the longer I thought about it.

Suddenly, I realized neither of my feet were on ground.

In my shock, I fell back to the ground with a loud thud.

I screamed in surprise. I had wings?!

It was terrifying. I screamed again. The wings were red, the same red as the hearts on my chest. The wings were flapping all about.

It occurred to me after too long that these were my wings. I could control them as easily as I controlled my arms. With a deep breath, I made a thought to relax my wings. They stretched out farther than my arm width, catching the small breezes with my feathers.

In a strong burst, I was in the sky.

This time I laughed.

I laughed as I flew among the wide open sky. As my fingers danced in clouds. As my wild blonde curls danced in my own breezes.

The flying was so fun that I forgot...that I forgot.

When I flew ages passed. There was no reason to keep track of time as I flew.

No worries were in my mind or heart.

Not until my feet hit the ground.

That's when everything hit me again. The worry, the doubt, the pain. The questions of the who, the what, the why.

It didn't make sense.

Until I heard the heard Manny.

"Cupid." A warm, gentle voice spoke in my mind. I instinctively knew it came from the moon, though I saw no part of it moving. I knew his name was Manny, and that he would always have my back. "Take your arrows and fly."