Fallen

+ Chapter Five

The first thing I smell is a floral aroma. It is strong enough to be noticeable but subtle enough to not be overpowering. It sort of has a calming effect. It smells like... home? Weird. 

The first thing I feel is my body being engulfed in soft fabric. I stroke it softly with my fingertips. Silk? I slowly feel around with my arms and legs and realize I am on a bed, a huge one by the feel of it. The mattress conforms to the shape of my body in a way that makes me want to never get up.

The first thing I see when I open my eyes is a tiny galaxy that floats above my face. It looks like a baby mobile that is hovering in midair. As it rotates slowly, it drops little stars that land softly on my face, just like Phil did with his hands that one night. Curious, I reach up to touch it. I can't feel it but the galaxy reacts to my hand by disappearing like dust.

I sit up slowly and see that the bed I am on is actually a huge white cloud with a gold silk blanket and pillows. A cloud? The headboard is upholstered in a cream colored velvet and has gold accents all around it. I look down at myself and see that I am wearing silk pajamas that are the same shade as the blanket. I try to look around but my view is blocked by the curtains that surround the bed. They are the same material and color as the headboard. They don't even look like they're attached to anything. I carefully get up and go to move them, but, to my surprise, they part on their own. They stay bunched together as if they have been tied to invisible bed posts.

The room I am in is incredibly luxurious. It almost looks medieval. Everything is in different shades of white and gold. It is all so full of detail and intricacy that I can almost not comprehend it. I gingerly step off of the lush carpet and onto the marble floor, expecting it to be cold. I certainly did not expect for it to be warm, almost the same temperature as my skin. Everything about this place just has me in a constant feeling of awe. My jaw is practically on the floor.

Where on Earth am I? Is this the afterlife? I'm dead, aren't I?

I walk up to the first door on the left and open it. I enter yet another ridiculously large room—the bathroom. It has a huge bathtub in the center of it with two leather benches on either side of it. Right above it is an enormous crystal chandelier, just like the one in the bedroom. Behind it is a shower with entrances on the left and right. Light seeps in though the windows near the it. Along the side walls are long sinks with mirrors. They help reflect the light around the room. Some of it hits the crystals in the chandelier and makes random rainbows here and there.

I turn around to walk back into the bedroom when it see him.

My loud gasp echoes throughout the entire room as I see the strange man standing in front of me. Only, that isn't a stranger, that is me. I slowly walk toward the huge mirror on the wall to get a better look at myself.

I am taller than I remember. Way more muscular looking as well. Tears stream down my cheeks as I see that on my back is a pair of enormous wings. They are so big that they look like they could wrap around me twice. Their color is a delicate mix of light gold and white feathers. The gold feathers reflect the light and almost seem to glow ever so lightly. I lift my hand slowly to touch them. They are so soft it is almost unreal.

It isn't until that moment that I notice the halo over my head. I grab it and hold it in front of me to examine it. It takes the shape of the most beautiful crown I have ever seen. It has intricate flower and star designs in the front that become more simple at the back, forming a sort of half-crown. It looks more like a flat disk than an actual crown. The halo has five large peaks in the front and and six smaller ones that rest in between them and go all around the back. Different sized jewels spot the crown in various places. It seems to be made of some weird mix of physical light and gold. If light could be a solid, I'm sure this is what it would look like. My hands shake as I place it back over my head. It goes back to floating inches above my hair at a small upright angle.