Between Angels and Insects

“C’mon, let’s go hiking.” I said, already loading the backpack.

“Hiking?” she asked, her dark brows furrowed in suspicion. “You hate hiking. The only time you would walk for leisure is between the couch and fridge.”

“Wrong. That is for pleasure.” I looked up at her and saw her smiling. “I know you love hiking. And today will be your special day.”

“My special day? Is it my birthday? Did I miss our anniversary?”

“Not yet,” I mumbled under my breath as she ran for her gear.

We parked the car half in the ditch of a dirt road. It almost let my heart sink, seeing my car tilted an angle in the dirt, before we continued by foot.

“Look up,” she said. “Not a single cloud in the sky. You will get your baby back out of the dirt.”

Walking was her thing. Before I met her, she was a long distance hiker. She crossed countries by foot and lived for months in a tent. She bathed in the same streams she drank out and always told with a nostalgic laugh, she “stank like a week old, dead animal. When she entered towns for resupply, people saw a walking roadkill.”

When I met her friends from the trail, they confirmed the sight and smell. I can’t imagine what led to her decision to live like a homeless, putting herself through the ordeal of surviving from the contents of a backpack. And neither can I imagine what stopped her.

“God has a plan for me. And you’re the key to it.” She told me more often than I liked.

“So you’re just here, because God told you to?” I asked.

“No, then I would just be your hot neighbor. I wanted to get more out of the deal.” Her smile was intoxicating. I could feel my veins lightning up in fire every time when she kindled them with the curve of her lips.

“Is it like signing a deal with the devil? Did you sell your soul to wake up in the same bed as me?”

“Better, I gained immortality!”

“Vampire! I knew it!” I shouted and ran away. “Let the daylight burn you!”

My heart tried to keep up with delivering blood, which was needed in almost every muscle to support my body from collapsing. Lungs bellowing like a giants’ snore and my head swirled from lack of oxygen. I looked up from the sight of sweat dripping onto my shoes and saw her balancing with one foot on a rock, her arms outstretched and swirling. She was a ballerina disguised as a mountain goat.

“How far. Did we come?” I asked, having to split the sentence into two breaths. She hopped down the rock and frolicked towards me. With a kiss on the cheek and a fierce embrace around my chest she said:

“Thank you for hiking with me.” She craned her neck up and even standing on the tip of her toes, she stood more than a head shorter than me. “But remind me again, how you manage to not get fat without a trace of fitness?”

I learned that we only made it one third of the way so far, before reaching the top of the mountain. It was more of a hill, but with my physical stamina every elevation was a fight against nature.

“Look, Raul!” She nodded her head in the direction we came from. I followed her gaze and after a breath or two, I realized what she saw:

We stood on a rocky path leading uphill; the trail surrounded by green bushes. Yellow and pink blossoms spread across them, swimming a bi-chromed sea. Down the valley, a dense forest covered the ground and only the width of an unseen road split the canopy of trees apart. It was a marvel to see the world from a vantage point with her on my side.

“You’re beautiful.” I said. Already forgotten was the sensory pleasure nature was offering, and all my attention back to the woman I loved.

“Silly. Not me,” she chided me with a smile. “Come. If you’re not interested in what’s behind us, at least let us find out what lays ahead.”

After hours of a dread- and painful fight, we arrived on the top. After leaving the leeward side of the mountain, a soft breeze welcomed us, drying up the sweat which accumulated in my hair and beard. I sat down on a rock in celebration of victory, but slipped off and fell to the ground like the proverbial sack of rice.

Isabella slapped her hands on the thighs and started squeaking.

“If that,” she said between gusts of laughter, “causes an earthquake in China, your ridiculous insurance will finally pay off!”

Thick grass mellowed my fall, and I lay there like a beetle on its back, not bothering to get up again. Sunshine had warmed the ground and I could hear the buzzing of insects somewhere close my ears. I turned my head and saw a single 4-leafed-clover amidst a field of grass and knew this to be the right moment.

“Come here.” I said, my head towards the over saturated blue of sky. The sound of her approaching footsteps were tender, almost too soft to perceive, as if she hovered and deliberately tried to avoid leaving a mark.

She stood over me, casting a shadow over my face while the sun left a halo around her head. I smiled and stood up, slowly growing taller than her. I cupped her head in my hands and kissed her brow, leaving a faint taste of salt on my lips. Bending down, I looked in her universe of swirling brown eyes. I found her left hand loosely hanging at her side. I took it and gave it a gentle squeeze, before I sank down in front of her on one knee.

“Isabella,” I said trying to keep my voice steady, “you are-”

“YES I WILL!” She yelled at started dancing on the spot.

“Hey! I got a speech prepared!” I protested, but she wasn’t listening anymore. Pirouetting once, then twice. She jumped on top of me, tumbling us both over back into the grass.

We kissed and laughed, and we smiled and cried. We did it together, as it was always meant to be.

“Do you have a ring?” She asked between kisses.

“What?” There wasn’t enough blood and oxygen left in my brain to follow the meaning of her words.

“A ring? You know, circular band, usually made of metal, often worn as jewelry?”

“Oh, shit!” I said, “In your haste you skipped several parts of the ceremony. Give me a second.” I rummaged in my pants until I found the ring. Between my fingers, I turned it slowly for her to see. The engravings of the inside reflected in the sunshine as she stared at it, transfixed like a child seeing a kaleidoscope for the first time. For the second time, I took her left hand. This time she was quiet, anticipating. I slid the ring on her fourth finger and spoke the words I knew she would like.

“One ring to rule them all.”

A grumble echoed over the landscape, which turned into a thunder that shook the earth. I could feel the vibration to the marrows of my bones, as if an army of Orcs were marching the lands. We turned and looked but couldn’t see any clouds. The sky was still a spotless blue, and everything around seemed peaceful as ever.

A second boom. Even louder and with greater force. We hugged each other and I could feel her trembling. Lighting hit a few hundred meters away into the woods, leaving a flash in my vision and a cloud of black smoke over the trees.

“Where did that come from?” I realized it was not her, but me trembling.

“We should go.” She said and stood up and lifted me with her.

“Now.”

“The sky is blue. Where is the thunderstorm?” I looked around to make a sense of what was going on but couldn’t find any hint that would lead to an answer.

Boom.

A small earthquake hit and I could feel my knees weaken. The echo sounded even worse as it carried through the valley.

Boom.

More thunder.

Boom.

Another lighting strike. Closer this time.

Boom.

I looked at Isabella. Her legs were shorter than mine and I almost dragged her behind me.

Boom.

Without a word, I urged her to run faster, but I wouldn’t let go of her hand.

Boom.

Tears were running down her face and I could see my vision blur.

Boom.

And the world turned into darkness.

“Welcome back under the living.” A soft voice spoke from somewhere.

“Can you hear me?” How much time had passed since the voice asked me this?

“Third time’s the charm.” I opened my eyes and brightness blinded me. There was no contrast, no contour, no color. Only light.

“I’m sorry. It’s okay now. I closed the shutters. It should be better now.” I opened my eyes again, still seeing fading flashes of light.

“Where am I?” I asked. My voice croaked, and my mouth felt dry, as if my insides were dead wood.

“You’re in the hospital, Raul. Can you remember what happened?” The brightness was gone and left only white behind. White ceiling and white walls. White blankets and a white cloak. The voice that asked me was wearing a white dress.

“Where’s my girlfriend? Where’s Isabella?” The following silence covered the room in darkness again.