Falling Home

Snap!

I awoke with a searing pain that shot up my back. I could hear the gasps and screams all around me. My eyes shot open as adrenalin began to surge through me. Everything was white, blinding.

My wings.

I couldn’t let them be seen. The hunters. I sat up quickly to fold them back in against my spine, but the sting of shattered bone and flesh knocked me back.

Shit!

I tried to focus, and slowly color began to seep back into my memory. Sonya. Where is Sonya? Faces were all around me, most likely belonging to the hunters who had followed me into the cave.

Shit! Shit! Get up!

I swallowed my pain and jumped to my feet, almost throwing up from the shock, forcing the oncoming tunnel to subside from my vision. I scanned the ground again. Sonya? I wasn’t in the cave anymore. What happened? Where are the hunters? My beloved…Flashes and clicks echoed around me, gossip and unearthly growls whooshed past me, reverberating off my ear drums.

These are not hunters…

I looked around me at what appeared like strangely dressed humans guarded by tall warriors, their armor gleamed brightly in the sun’s rays, blinding me so I could not see their faces. All around me were strange creatures with colored shells of different sizes and shapes. They all speed past me and the crowd without a care in the world. There was a scream and my attention was forced back to the odd humans that surrounded me. Hunters?

“Grab him!” am man shouted as he lunged at me and I bolted. The pain surging through my body was enough to flat out knock me over but I had to find Sonya. This was not the cave. Everything was wrong as I ran.

Where am I?

As soon as I asked I was taken in darkness, captured by an on looking human as I ran and then shrouded by a heavy cloth that covered by back and head.

“Let me go!” I shouted only to find my voice weak and hoarse, my head pounded.“Where is Sonya?”

“Shh… I’m trying to help you.” It was a woman’s voice. She was strong as she held me against her, stronger than myself in my present state, so I had no choice but to follow as she led me through the darkness.

I heard a door open and I was led inside gently then sat down as the heavy cloth was removed from my head and shoulders. She knelt in front of me and I could see it was an older woman. Older then I was at least. About 40 or so I would guess. The age of a mother. She had curly brown hair with little hints of silver shining threw. Her eyes were hazel and warm.

She can’t be a hunter…

Her eyes were worried, scanning me for God knows what. She smiled kindly at me and spoke soft and slow.

“My name is Barbra. Barbra.” she repeated again even slower. “Do you speak English? Can you understand me?”

I nodded, and just looked at her. Of course I can. I’m not stupid. Her smile got bigger as she looked at me. She was a strange human who asked strange questions, I’d give her that, but, she didn’t seem evil.

“Oh good! What’s your name? Where are you from? How did you get here?” she seemed fascinated with me and yet cautious, like I was the one hunting her. I looked around the room in which I was continued and everything was strange. My head pounded. Where am I?

“Are you an angel?” giggled a small voice.

Startled I looked in front of me where the little voice chimed. It was a young girl, 4 or 5 maybe. Her fine blonde hair wisped around her little face catching the light that broke from the windows.

Shit. She saw. Shit. Shit!

I just stared at her as the older woman started to speak again.

“That’s Courtney. My daughter.” She grinned and looked back at me. “Please, tell me your name. Listen, I’m sure you’re frightened, but believe me, we mean no harm. Won’t even hurt a fly.” She grinned. I swallowed, not about to give my identity away. Where is Sonya?

“Where am I?” I managed.

“San Francisco, California. United States of America. Year 2009.” She kept grinning. “Home sweet home. Where are you from?”

I couldn’t believe any of this. I had never heard of San Francisco, California or United States of America, and I’d been to all but three of the kingdoms plus some deserts and islands. I stared at the floor below me. It was strange. It looked like tile but it was shiny and definitely not made of stone. I’m lost… What happened? I closed my eyes, trying to reach back into my jumbled memories, trying to sort out what happened before I came to San Francisco. I was walking…with Sonya…there was a deer…then the hunters. They saw me with my wings out. They knew what I was. I was definitely worth more than that stupid deer… I ran into the cave below the willow tree…it was dark. I fell. Hard. My wing crumbled under me then…a bright light? There was a flash and I ended up here. Where ever that is. San Francisco. Shit. The humans didn’t seem like hunters, I hadn’t seen arrows or daggers being wielded to cut off my wings for gold. Just strangely dressed humans…Where is Sonya?

“Well, honey, you don’t have to tell me yet if you don’t want.” She smiled at me and stood, walking across the room to the wall. She picked up something black and began to push at it, making it beep loudly as she stuck it to her ear. I watched her cautiously. What is she doing? I looked at the young girl who knelt in front of me, smiling wildly.

“You’re an angel huh? Mama said that angels are special. Are you special? Did you come here ‘cuz I prayed for a brother? I thought I would get a baby brother.” She smiled at me and I could hear her mother talking into the strange black device from the wall.

“Yes honey. Yes. Courtney and I found him on the sidewalk. He just fell from the sky. Yeah…I think he’s the answer to your research. Yes he does…mhm. Yeah there were people, I’m sure a picture was taken. Yeah. Well you own the biggest newspaper print in San Francisco so I’m sure if there was pictures it would go to you. Yeah. Well maybe a little damage control. We don’t want to government to take him. No. I haven’t told anyone.” Her gaze was turned to me as she continued to talk into the strange device. “No, I don’t think he is. No. Don’t worry. Ok. Come home soon. I love you too.”

With that she hung it back on the wall from where it came. I stared at her, an uneasy feeling starting to sink deep into my stomach. I’m not safe here…who was she talking to?

“Are you hungry?” she smiled kindly at me and went over to a huge white box split down the middle and she opened it like a cupboard but it was not made of wood or metal. It was deep on the inside and filled with food and drinks, it reminds me of the storage boxes we have back home, except those are flat on the ground and filled with ice…this stood up and seemed to be just filled with sustenance. My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. How long has it been since I’ve eaten anything besides berries…? I nodded slowly, afraid to trust her. What if this is a trap? What if she really is a hunter? Is she going to poison me? I glanced back at the black box on the wall trying to figure out what had just happened. She must have seen my confusion because she took food out of the strange storage unit and followed my gaze.
“Oh that? That’s a telephone. Do you have those where you come from? You use them to contact people. Like, I just called my husband, Dan, at work. He works for a very popular newspaper. Do you know what that is? Um. Its how a lot of people get their new here; learn about what’s happening in the world. And, that includes you.” She smiled “Your big news for sure, and you being here proves my husband’s theory.” She smiled as she prepared what looked like a sandwich. “He’s very excited to meet you. He’s been studying about other worldly creatures. Like you, if you’re really an angel. Are you from another world?” She asked as she brought me a plate and set the wonderful sandwich on it. It looked like a normal sandwich… bread… meat, cheese, lettuce, but still. My stomach growled again and I felt like I had to hold it to keep it silenced. The sting of my shattered wing and the throbbing of my shoulder and head somehow just amplified my hunger to where I couldn’t stand it. I gripped the sandwich and took a bite half of me expecting to fall over dead, and half of me not caring. To my relief it was the best sandwich I have ever had.

She sat at the table and watched me as I scarfed one sandwich down after another and she started to explain things to me. She told me that I had fallen from the sky into San Francisco and that her husband was doing research on the possibilities of other universes and other worlds unknown from her own. She said the fact that I had wings has to mean something because people with wings just didn’t go around San Francisco or anywhere in her world. It reminded me of home. Even there I was one of the very few angels left after the war... After four sandwiches my stomach stopped rumbling and I felt like I could sleep for days, but my wing still ached and I had no idea what happened, and I had no idea where my Sonya was. I couldn’t remember…

“You get enough to eat hun?” She asked cautiously, like I would eat her next. She took my plate back to the storage unit and placed it beside it. I nodded and was about to tell her my name and ask if she saw Sonya when the door in the next room opened and a man dressed differently from Barbra came in smiling.

“Is this him?” he said looking me, setting his things down on the table at which I sat. Barbra nodded.

“Yes. He said he can understand English but he hasn’t told me his name or…really anything.” She sighed as she took her seat across from me again. I looked at the man. He was in all black with his hair neat and slicked back. His eyes were kind like Barbra’s and Courtney’s and I could feel the tension starting to leave my muscles, but I wouldn’t let myself drop my guard fully.

“My name is Dan. How are you? Where are you from?” he knelt in front of me, examining me like Barbra had done earlier.

Well my wing is broken and my arm is numb and I have no fucking idea where I am or really where I’m from anymore and I’m exhausted and confused and alone. I can’t remember what happened completely and I don’t know where the love of my life is or if she’s been kidnapped by the hunters as a ransom for my wings, or worse. How the hell do you think I feel? I continued to watch him carefully, if I were really in another world how does he know about me? I was sure it had something to do with his newspaper. It had to be some foreseeing device or…window to other worlds. Maybe he wasn’t a human as I had believed. Perhaps he was a wizard or warlock. I could feel my muscles tightening again as the feeling of safety threatened to run.

“I need help.”

I bit my tongue at that. I hated to admit it but it was the truth. If I were home again I wouldn’t have a problem, even with a broken wing. I would have been able to find my way around and chances are I would find somewhere I’ve been before. Years of traveling and scavenging had thought me a thing or two about survival, but things here are so strange. If Dan was a wizard, he didn’t seem evil…just…strange.
Dan smiled at me and closed the door, his eyes told of his excitement but his voice was level. My wife, Barbra, told me over the phone that you had wings. Is this true?
“Yes.” The heightened danger began to ripple on my skin. He wanted my wings.
“May I see them?” he asked with pure curiosity. I stared at him. There was no bloodlust in his eyes and he hadn’t mentioned anything about gold.

“Why?” I asked simply.

“I just want to know if your real. You have no idea how long I’ve waited to meet you. Please?”

I sighed quietly and pulled down the cloth from my shoulders. He rushed over to me to examine them as I let them out slowly, cautious of the situation and of the hollow bone that jutted out the side. The pain was excruciating but I swallowed it down, having to force away the oncoming tunnel yet again. I closed my eyes as he gently extended it fully, examining every inch of it. Barbra was behind me doing the same and I could feel Courtney’s presence in front of me, but I kept my eyes shut, wincing at every movement.

“You’ve definitely broken it. What about your other one?”

I answered simply by extending my right wing fully. I opened my eyes and looked at Dan. His mouth was agape as he and Barbra stared and Courtney clapped, giggling. I looked at my wing. It really wasn’t that impressive…it was about 14 feet long and a dull grey color. Nothing spectacular. Sonya used to say that it made my blue eyes stand out. I never really understood that. Barbra had gone and gotten bandages before I closed my wing in again.

“Poor darling, you really fell hard didn’t you. You must have come a long way.” She said softly as she bandaged my wing. I could only manage a small nod. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you fixed up in no time. I’m a vet. I’ve dealt with broken wings before, never this big or on a boy…but wings never-the-less.” She smiled.

I had absolutely no idea what a vet was but she was gentle and seemed to know how my wing extended and where to place it. “My name is Kal-el.” I said looking back at them. If they hadn’t killed me yet, maybe they wouldn’t, and, if I was going to survive and find my Sonya, I needed people I can trust on this…United States of America. They both smiled at me, like it was the one thing in the world they wanted to hear so they could die happy. Dan sat me back down at the table after my wing was bandaged. It felt awkward and heavy against my body. I tucked it back into my spine as well as I could but the bandage was now too big to go in. Barbra had gotten the cloth from earlier and placed over my shoulders yet again.

“The coat will keep you from going into shock.” She had said smiling.

“Well Kal-el. Where are you from? If you don’t mind but I really need to know.” The excitement once contained in Dan’s eyes was now shining through his smile and practically vibrating off of him. “I’ve been researching just this sort of thing for years. You have no idea how important you are Kal-el. There are going to be big changes. People will believe me now. I mean, just look at you!”

I sighed. It seemed like I was going to be here a while. At least long enough for my wing to heal and to get my bearings in this strange world. I hope Sonya found a family to stay with as well…or better yet, I hope she didn’t fall with me.

“I’m from everywhere…Except here I guess. I traveled a lot. I was orphaned as a child and from then on I’ve belonged to a group of orphans…runaways…thieves. Misfits. We would travel from town to town, kingdom to kingdom…fighting to live and trying to fit in… A lot of the angels like me died in the war and a lot of other children were orphaned like I was, we all had joined together…but, the last place I was before here was the Elvin kingdom.”

“Elvin kingdom? You know elves?” Dan’s excitement was almost uncontrollable and I couldn’t understand the strange question he asked me.

“Of course…don’t you? Elves are the most widely populated of beings. They have the largest population next to the Riders…”

He just shook his head, but his smile continued to spread as he listened. “Elves don’t exist here Kal-el. You’re on planet Earth. Don’t you see? You’re unique! Something the people here can only imagine. You’d make quiet the story Kal-el. Elves and angels, well, they’re just figments of fairy tales here. What other creatures do you live with? What’s your world called? What is it like? Are there many angels? Is it a democracy or something else? What about the war, was it-?”

“Honey.” Barbra smiled. “Breathe.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just excited, I’ve always thought there were other worlds and now here you are.” He smiled. “Sorry, I’m just really excited.

No kidding.

“Well…I don’t really know what you’re talking about…but no…there were no other angels…none that I knew of or had ever met. They were all killed in a war about a twenty years ago…” I looked down, the thought bringing up all of my old questions of where I came from and where I belong…and now I’m here. Great. I need to get home. Home. Where my Sonya is, I hope. My heart felt like it would split and my head ached. I couldn’t remember what happened with my Sonya. I closed my eyes almost begging to remember everything before I fell, but the rock that I hit my head on in the cave had claimed a lot of my memory of the last few hours. What if it wasn’t hours? What if I was in another time? Sonya. My Sonya. Where are you?

Dan opened his mouth to express the sympathy etched across his face when the front door swung open, slamming against the wall, making everyone jump.

“Evelyn Jane!”

“Sorry ok?!” the door closed and a girl came into the kitchen, and in spotting me she stopped dead in her tracks.

My heart felt like I had died. My beautiful Sonya, my beloved. She couldn’t be gone. I have to get home. I have to go home.

“Mom. Who is this? You didn’t bring home another hobo did you?” she shook her head and stormed past us to the ice chest. I watched her, her fury written all across her face and yet she was probably the most attractive human I’d seen so far in this strange world. She had chestnut hair that was pulled away from her face so I could see her honey colored eyes. Her bone structure reminded me of an elves but she was far too short to be one. Courtney ran over to her with her arms raised for a hug.
“Me and mommy found an angel sissy.” She said pointing to me. I looked at the girl called Evelyn Jane and her eyes narrowed into a sinister glare.

“Oh you’re an angel are you?” I just stared back at her, unsure if I should answer or prepare for a fight.

“He is sissy! He has wings I sawd them. Daddy was right!” she giggled with a warm-hearted, innocent smile, her arms still reaching for her sister who just sighed and shot a glare back at me.

“So where are they then?!” she yelled looking at me and then to Barbra who frowned. “You know better than to let dad influence Courtney!”

“Excuse me? Don’t you raise your voice to me young lady.”
“But he does sissy! I sawd them!”

“Yeah well you also see imaginary friends!” With one last huff she slammed the ice box making its contents rattle and she ran past us up the stairs with Courtney close on her heals.

“I’m sorry about her…her boyfriend just broke up with her yesterday…she’s still a little sour. Do you know what a boyfriend is?” I shook my head as I looked up the stairs after her.

“What about lovers?” he continued. “Soul-mates? Do you have those in your world?”
“Beloved?” I looked back at him. My heart sank. Sonya…

He nodded and smiled. “Yeah, a beloved. Do you have one?”

“Yes…Sonya. Have you seen her?” I looked to Barbra and my soul was almost pleading. “She was with me in the cave, when I fell. Was she with me? Was she here? I- I can’t remember. She has blonde hair…she was wearing a purple gown…"

Barbra frowned and my heart sank. She’s not here.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see where you fell. You ran into me…but I didn’t see anyone in a purple dress.”

“Why were you in a cave?” asked Dan as he stared at me.

“The hunters. They wanted my wings. We had ran and there was a cave, then…I don’t really remember…I fell. I fell into the cave after hitting my head and I landed on my wing…there was a bright flash..and I ended up here. Where is Sonya?”

“A bright flash?” Dan stood and went to a shelf in the next room, I watched him as he fumbled through what I thought were books until he had found what he was looking for. “Were there glowing symbols? Symbols like this on the walls?” he returned and held a page up for me. There were symbols written on it. Elvin.

“I thought you said elves didn’t exist in this world.”

He looked confused as he glanced back at his book. “They don’t. Is this Elvin?”

I nodded and tried to remember, everything happened so fast. There was a blue glow as I fell. It sped past me body as I crashed to the ground. I nodded again.

“We’ll according to this book. That was a portal used to travel from one universal plane to another.” He smiled wildly as his excitement began to leap off him into the air surrounding us. “You found a portal! A real portal, that’s how you’re here! I can’t believe this! I have to tell somebody! A real portal Barbra! Time and space travel are possible! There has to be a portal on somewhere in San Francisco. We have to find it. This is amazing!”

“A portal here?” I asked and hope began to press into my mind. “That means I can go home right? Please, please help me find it. I have to find Sonya. Where is it? Is it close?”

Barbra frowned and looked at Dan. “We don’t actually know any of this Kal-el…it’s just what makes sense. Because, if there wasn’t then how did you fall here?”

“Please! I have to find Sonya!”

“We’ll help you, ok? Tomorrow. We’ll search for your Sonya after you’ve had some rest and your strength is up. It’s late and this has been an exhausting day, so lets go to sleep and we can start searching tomorrow. Alright?”

I bit my lip. I needed to find Sonya now. She could be in danger and I’m not even in the same world as her, I need to get back…but Barbra had been right. I was weak and needed rest before I started to look for my beloved, so reluctantly I let her show me to a room and some clean linens.

I was shown up the stairs to the guest room next to Evelyn Jane’s with new sleeping pants on and my wound freshly wrapped. Barbra had gone in before me to explain everything to Evelyn who, judging by the muffled screaming coming from behind the closed door, did not believe her. Barbra had said that Evelyn should apologize for being so rude but by the sounds of it, that wasn’t going to happen. Dan walked by after putting Courtney to bed and handed me a warmed, dampened cloth.

“Put this over your shoulder and wing when you lie down. It should help relax the muscle a little. And don’t worry about Eve…she’s not as mean as she’s making herself look.” He smiled at me and bid me goodnight, retiring to his room when Barbra came out. She smiled at me and kissed my forehead encouraging me to enter the room, “Evelyn has something to tell you. If you need anything just let me know alright? Or let Eve know and she’ll help you. Goodnight Kal-el. Get some rest.” and then she too retired to bed.

I stood in Evelyn’s doorway waiting for her to yell at me for something I wasn’t aware I did but she didn’t even glance at me. She just pointed to a pile of blankets on the floor. For bed I presumed. I sighed and went over, and bended down to gather them up but the strain on my shoulder made me rethink my plan. I stood again and looked at Evelyn Jane. But she never looked back.

“I’m sorry if I upset you.” I said after a while in silence.

“Just shut up. You’re only here because my dad thinks you’re an angel. You know that right?”

“I don’t believe in lying Evelyn Jane. I am an angel. And I am grateful. I was fed, bandaged, and tomorrow I am to look for my beloved, and the portal from where I fell.” I said.

She glared at me. She didn’t believe me and I couldn’t understand why.

“Just shut up. Those are your blankets. Now go to your room and leave me the hell alone you freak. And I’m not going to apologize for something I didn’t do.”
She turned her back to me and stuck something into her ears. I watched her. She was a very beautiful human, no doubt about that, but she seemed to hate me for no apparent reason that I could grasp. Her personality reminded me of my Sonya, stubborn and hardheaded, but Sonya made up by being kind and loving…my beautiful Sonya. When I thought of her my heart clenched and threatened to stop, sometimes I wish it would, so that I could die and find my beloved again.

“Will you help me lift these, please?” I asked but she didn’t turn or even recognize that I was still standing there. With a sigh I and let my eyes wonder around the room. It was dull to say the least and yet fascinating. There were figurines on shelves and pictures of random men hanging on the wall. I glanced back at Evelyn to find her looking at me. Our eyes met.

“What are you looking at freak? Why are you still here? Get out.”

“Your room. Who are those men? Past beloved?”

She looked angry and confused at the same time as she shook her head and lay on her back. She brushed one of her delicate fingers over a face.

“They’re movie stars.” She stared at me. “God you’re really out there aren’t you. You know, movie stars. George Cloony, Ewan McGregor?”

“What are movies?” I bit my lip as her face began to change color from porcelain to crimson.

“Seriously?! Stop playing this stupid game Kal-el. A Superman reference, really? What the hell is your name?”

“My name is Kal- el, Evelyn. Why would I lie to you about my name?”

“Hmm, well let’s see, maybe because you’re lying about everything else?” She stood her eyes fiery as her voice. “I know my dad is a little weird but he seriously believes in angels ok? So stop making fun of him and my family and just get the hell out. You’re not funny.”

I couldn’t stand her ignorance anymore and I stepped closer wincing at the tare in my side.

“Don’t you dare come any closer. My parents may trust you but I sure as fuck don’t” she grabbed the blankets and stormed into the guest bedroom and then back into hers, pointing furiously out the door. “Get to your room freak.”

“I DON’T lie Evelyn, I told you that. Why can’t you just believe that I am an Angel? I am.”

“Angels are not real KAL-EL!”

I shook my head , taking off the shirt that Dan let me wear to open my wings. His shirts were solid in the back so I couldn’t. I looked hard at her, tired of being doubted. I opened my wings as wide as they would extend. The left drooped a little from the bandaging but I stretched it as far as I could, staring at her as her eyes got wider and wider until she began to hit me furiously.

“Get out! Get out! You’re not funny and I don’t believe you now leave me the fuck alone! Get out!”

I glared but didn’t have the strength to fight back, and besides that, she was a human girl. Her ignorance was spiteful but if I we’re really in another world then she couldn’t be blamed. I simply blocked her hits and said calmly, “I didn’t mean to scare you… I just didn’t want you calling me a liar anymore.” I admitted as I retreated back towards the door. She just watched me, her eyes furious.
“I’m sorry I scared you Evelyn…goodnight.” I walked back into the room that I was given and laid beneath the covers, setting the cloth on my shattered wing. The warmth soothed the tears and I began to relax. I thought about Sonya, my lovely Sonya. Soon I will be home…and calm darkness enveloped me in its arms.

Snap!
A scream.
Snap!
Another. Where is she?
Sonya! Sonya where are you?! Watch out for the arrows! Sonya!!
Snap! An arrow flew past my head into her back.
Crack! Through her ribs and her chest.
Momentary silence rushes my brain as I fall to my knees. She lay dying in my arms and there was nothing I could do. The poison had spread throughout her body and not even the best healer or divine power could save her. Her eyes were glazed over and staring blankly through me. I whispered her name and her gorgeous, dying, blue eyes focused on me once again. I watched as my beloved drifted away into permanent sleep, as her lungs froze and her loving heart stopped. I clung to her; I clung to the fading warmth of her skin, to the lost sound of her song and to the calming sense of her touch.
My beloved, my beloved…
I wept for her, begging God to return her to me, just for a moment. I needed a moment to tell her she would be ok, that I loved her and I would see her again. I needed that one last moment that was robbed from me by the devil himself. The hunters. I grab Sonya’s lifeless body and retreat to the cave under the weeping willow. It wept for Sonya. A sorcerer could bring her back. Survive. Survive!
Crash!
Tumbling uncontrollably into darkness. Crack! My head against a rock, Sonya no longer in my arms. I fall.
Snap!
My wings! I can’t let them be seen.
Flash! Blinding.

I awoke with a start as tears welled into my eyes and fell uncontrollably. My Sonya. My beautiful Sonya. Dead. She didn’t fall. The hunters. I remembered. They had gotten her in the opening of the cave. The arrow had burst through her chest as she began to fall to the ground. Sonya. My Sonya. My sobs echoed in the dark emptiness around me. I was alone. Alone. Sonya has been gone too long to be saved by even the greatest sorcerer. Alone. I am alone. This is my home now. Home. The sound fell deafly on my heart, I didn’t want to except it but this is my home now. I am the only one left of my kind.

There was a creak at my door as a thin line of light grew into a child sized glow. Courtney came into my room and climbed onto my bed, curling her small body against mine. I held her tight as the tears rained down from my eyes.

“Don’t worry big brother…mommy and daddy will help you get home.” She whispered.
I swallowed my pain, and the numbing of my heart began to swallow my soul. I watched her as she lay there. Unafraid and caring. “I am home.” And I let the numbness swallow my pain, at least for tonight.