The Awakening

Finally, he succumbs to reality. This is his life now, whether he likes it or not. Time to get to work before he's even further demoted-if that were possible. However, if he's learned anything in this life-it's that anything is possible. With one last deep breath, his long, plush wings extend from his back with one swift movement. They sprout out past his arms in a glorious, pure white not visible on the secular plane. With one gust, they make him airborne and with a few more, his feet land on the roof. The shades in the room below him are drawn, but a dim light emanates from behind them. A sigh escapes his lips as he closes his eyes and swings down from the roof. He takes a step into the exterior wall. His body goes rigid, the blue siding of the house shimmers as he enters. The vortex pulls him completely through, the smell of wood lingers on his nose as he opens his eyes on the other side.Whoa. It's apparent he's not in Heaven any longer. This Sec confines herself to a sma

The oval driveway feels longer than usual as she navigates her way up toward the office. The three-floored, glass medical building sits atop a freshly manicured lawn. The morning sun reflects on the windows and glares into Sera's eyes while she continues her journey up from the employee parking lot. Sometimes, she hates going to work. It seems like she can hardly get herself out of bed anymore. The only thing keeping her going today is the gossip she has for Amanda and her pseudo date with Jack. Once through the automatic double doors, she's hit with the sharp scent of antiseptic. Ducking her head and holding her breath, she heads straight for the elevators. Stepping inside the elevator, she presses the button for level three. Normally she can deal with a small space, but elevators are the one thing that makes her heart race. Just something about a rickety tin can held up by a pulley system that doesn't sit right with her. The metal doors close and the contraption clangs to the top.

Sera turns to Jack whose face appears genuinely shocked. Whatever is going on with him, I don't think he was expecting this. Sera's instincts start to kick in; she sneaks past his rigid body heading back into the store. This isn't right, she thinks shaking her head."Sera?" She turns around to respond when the fire alarm blares to life in a deafening roar. The sprinklers extend almost automatically before raining water on the two of them. Sera glances down, almost unbelieving as the water soaks through her shirt and pretty much everything else around. Their eyes meet again; Jack's eyes are as wide as his mouth. He's frozen in the same stance as when the sprinklers started. If Sera didn't know any better, she would say he looks just as stupefied as she must.Pure unrelenting laughter bursts from Sera. What are the odds? Jack's shoulders visibly relax at Sera's reaction before also cracking a smile. He then walks beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder blades this tim

The morning sun streams its way through the blinds, slowly creeping across the carpet until it remains on Sera's face like a spotlight. The light is a gentle reminder that it's time to wake up. Sera rolls over to face the wall and escape the sun, which is growing brighter and brighter by the minute. She finds herself unable to wake from this new dream. For months, the handsome stranger was just out of reach, and now she can feel him somewhere within the deepest parts of her. She refuses to let that go. Not soon after she rolls away from the impending morning does she begin to hear the raucous noise of the garbage truck hunkering its way down her dead-end street. Sera clamps her eyes shut. Tin garbage cans are thrown around and the truck screeches into her gravel drive before it turns around and putters away.She's allowed a few blissful moments of silence before her alarm clock clicks on, blaring the news: "It's a gorgeous, brisk December morning in Angelica, the temperature

Sera pauses on the sidewalk taking in the small store with royal blue curtains draping across the front windows. The door chimes when Amanda opens it and disappears inside, waiving for Sera to follow suit. Sera lets out a sigh and follows her into the dark shop. She just has to survive ten minutes of this junk, and then she can get back to work. Walking inside, Sera's immediately hit with the aroma of incense and lavender. It soothes her slightly, on the outside. Her insides have been doing weird backflips since she walked in."Good afternoon, lovelies, what can I do for you today?" An older woman approaches, her voice soft like clouds and eye shadow as bright as one."Hi." Amanda's excitement renews, "I have an appointment with Daphne.""That's me, dear, and your friend?"They both glance back at Sera, touching a figurine of a black cat on the desk. She snaps up immediately, caught. Amanda leans in closer to whisper, "She says she doesn't believe in this