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It felt like a jolt of electricity passing through my body. In one instance I was imagining her persona
and in another I felt a part of my soul split, take new shape and condense before my eyes.

She had come from deep within me, from that crystal-clear fraction of my essence that was yet
untouched by wrongs of this world- the innocent part of me, the one chunk I never thought I had.
She had sprouted from me like a flower-shoot in spring from under the blanket of snow. A thin veil
of mist glided in mystique swirls, coiling around her petite body and taking form of a wispy, white
gown. Bright as a star, delicate as a flower with two silver moons for eyes and fresh-spun silk for
hair, she stepped with swan-like grace as if she was performing a complex ballet routine. Each step
was carefully measured yet so causal as if there was no thought behind it. The light that illuminated
from her was like a candle flame- glowing warmly and flickering happily as if by life of its own.

The stars are so bleak and distant, the moon but a hole in the dark night sky; the rose has a foul
smell͙ nothing can compete with the woman from my hearts depth.

I devoured the sight of this bright beauty and although no words were ever spoken, I knew she
accepted me. She did not wrinkle her nose or grimace at my sight. Her eyes did not widened and her
lips did not part. She just smiled gently and her eyes were filled with understanding and͙ pity. Why
did she pity me? I did not ask for anyone͛s pity! As if hearing my thoughts, her expression became
saddened. She then smiled at me for the last time and bowed.

She disappeared like the sun behind the horizon at sunset.

I stared blankly at the same spot I͛ve last rested my eyes upon her. I blinked once, twice, then again,
but the spot remained unoccupied by any life form. The spell was broken; the soap bubble has burst.
I wanted to scream; I wanted to scream till my lungs blasted like a balloon pricked with a needle and
life slipped from the cracks of my broken heart.

One thought haunted me: I did this. I made the angel leave.

It was the next night following the apparition of my angel. I was huddled at my usual spot under a
large oak tree whose branches were twisted and deformed to such extent that one would think it a
witch͛s tree. The bench was wrought of iron and was attacked by rust here and there; little
archipelagos of russet in the sea of peeling, black paint. The shadows created by the tall lampposts
seemed to be playing a game with the light, creating a glitter-like effect; the shadows gave way to
the light and then the light would draw back and the shadow would return to its starting point, then
the process would repeat itself. It was almost like a tide- the water being he light and the shadow
being the shore, except ͞the beach͟ had been divided into smaller islets that were dispersed in the
pools of bright ͞water.͟ It was a depressing sight. Come think of it, it was more of a war than a
game͙ like the war within myself.

It happened so suddenly, so suddenly that even the bats with their sharp hearing could not have
heard it. It was like a strike of a cobra: thunder lightning-fast.

I was just thinking about what comes after death; I wondered if in the afterlife I would still have that
vile growth on my back as if I͛m a snail carrying my own house and fate. I was just sat there, under
the protective asylum of the shadows cast by the oak when I heard a deafening bang as if a giant had
just stomped it͛s foot from anger. The noise aroused a flock of birds and although I could not see
them set off, I could hear the flutter of their fragile wings. Swish, swoosh, swish, they went. Then I
heard laughter, cold and cruel like winter. The sound of it twisted itself into a crown of thorns
around my heart. I felt exposed and vulnerable, like a worm squirming in birds beak, knowing what
fate has brought upon it. And I did know. I did know that this is it. The end,

. I didn͛t have to
feel the hole in my stomach to understand (the pain was enough to bring a herd of cattle down), but
I brought my pale, trembling fingers to the wound anyway and I felt how the life-giving liquid oozed
from me drip by drip.

Darkness absorbed me instantly.