Echoing Through the Between

A primal scream, a terrified response.

Her eyes flew open, beholding the jungle spread before her. 

Where was she? How did she get here? Last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her bed, in her cozy apartment. Southeast Texas can get humid, but it has nothing on the muggy air she’s now struggling to breathe.

“Ugh, what the hell?”, she says. “What happened? And where the hell am I?”

She sat up and looked around, trying to orient herself. It looked like she just fell asleep at the base of a tall fig tree, covered in vines and with fruit hanging high in the branches. She could hear rustling up there; hopefully it was just a monkey or something.

She noticed that there didn’t seem to be any signs of other people. Just the calls of the birds and animals now that they were used to her being there. She couldn’t figure out how she just seemed to appear here.

Slowly she stood up, dusting herself off as she continued to look around.

“Well, this is weird.”, she mumbled to herself. She pinched herself, hissing when it hurt. “Not a dream, then, unless I’m in a coma for some reason. And I know I have an active imagination but this takes the cake. Seriously, wtf…”

She saw what looked like a track through the woods, a path something larger took. She decided to follow it and see where it led. Hopefully nothing predatory was further down the way but she figured the track would be easier to walk down than trying to push through all the vegetation.

It felt like she walked for hours. Telling time through the dense overgrowth was impossible; there were only the occasional shafts of sunlight that made it this far down. There was enough light to see, but it was so dim it could have been the early morning, late evening, or overcast and she couldn’t tell.

Slowly she realized there was…something out there. It had been following her for awhile, but she couldn’t remember when she first sensed it.

She couldn’t see it. Couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination or something real, an animal or a person. There was a rustle; and over there, the barest shimmy of a branch that wasn’t caused by the wind. Was that a footstep, a breath behind her?

She began to walk a little faster, her spine straighter, her senses on higher alert. She didn’t feel hunted in the normal sense like she was this thing’s food. More like it was curious? Or maybe studying her? Whatever, she didn’t feel scared, just highly alert for its next move.

A breath. A break in the trees. Sudden, blinding sunlight. And her palms meet warm flesh, hands landing on her hips.

She freezes, trying to figure out who she just walked into. All she can see as her eyes struggle to adjust is a vague outline. It’s definitely a man; the chest she can feel is flat and hard. He’s tall, easily a foot taller than her average 5’6”. He’s also strong. She can feel the strength in his hands and forearms as he flexes his fingers around her hips.

She struggles to think for a second, then “Who are you? And where am I?”

“How do you not know where you are, Kitten? Or who I am?” he asks.

“Uh, because I’ve never been in a jungle before? Much less wherever this is. And how would I know someone I’ve never met before?” she asks. 

He chuckles, “I’ll grant you the jungle. But you have met me before. Many times, in many ways. Don’t I feel familiar? Are you scared of me?”

As they talk, her eyes finish adjusting and she can finally see him clearly.

He’s fit, built like someone who has spent their life outside surviving. He is lean, but not gaunt. Clearly strong but with working muscle. His face is bold and noble, with a twinkle in his crystalline blue eyes that shows mischief. He has a smirk twisting his bearded mouth, as if he finds her scrutiny amusing.

But, he does look familiar somehow. Is it something in the shape of his face, his mouth? Or is it his eyes? Those piercing, bright blue topaz eyes that see straight to her soul?

“Who are you?” she asks again.

“Who are you?” he replies. “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first, if you really want to make friends?”

She snorts, “I’m not sure you and I could be just “friends”. I get the feeling whatever relationship you think we have is more complicated than that. Fine, whatever. I’m Twixt, nice to meet you. I think.”

His smirk widens, turning into a satisfied grin. “Hello, Twixt. You can call me Uriel. And you’re right that we could never be just “friends”; you and I are so much more than that to each other. Forever and always.”

Twixt’s brow furrows, picking up on his meaning. “You say that like we’ve known each other a long, long time. Why don’t I remember you? And how did I end up here like this?”

He sighs, softening his smile. “These moments are the only ones we are allowed, for now. Eventually you will remember me always, and we will break these walls keeping us apart. Until then, we meet here in the shadows. And the light cages your memories in mist.”

“You are here because this is where you wished to be,” he continues. “The jungle is an interesting choice. It’s been millenia since I’ve been to one, though this one looks familiar. If I recall, there is a lovely little waterfall not too far past this meadow. Would you like to dally there again, my love?”

“A waterfall?” Twixt asks, ignoring the “my love” bit for a moment. It felt right, natural. She’d circle back to it. “My feet could definitely use a soak after all the hiking. How much further, if it's there?”

“It should be just past those trees on the far side of the clearing. We’ll likely hear it once we are back in the tree line,” he replies. He finally lets go of her hips, turning as he does so and reaching to grab her hand.

He leads her across the meadow, which is filled with the most glorious purple and vibrant blue flowers she has ever seen. There are a ton of butterflies around, flitting from flower to flower as they pollinate and drink nectar. She almost feels drunk off their perfume. She keeps swaying closer to Uriel as they walk, until she realizes his arm is wrapped around her and she is almost leaning on him for every step.

She tries to stand up straight again and walk on her own, but he simply tugs her a little closer and makes it more comfortable for them to walk side by side. She decides to accept his help; her knees feel unsteady anyway.

It isn’t long after going back into the dimness under the trees that they hear the pounding of the waterfall. Shortly after that she can smell the fresh scent of the water in the air. She straightens then and he lets her, going back to holding her hand as she speeds up just a bit. Suddenly she is eager for a drink, not just to dip her feet. 

Pushing one last branch out of the way they come upon the waterfall. Only a dozen or so feet tall it isn’t overly majestic. But the pool it falls into is large and lovely, clear down to the bottom after the foam settles and teaming with schools of fish and gently waving water weeds.

There are a couple of fallen trees and boulders around the edges, giving them some place to sit. She chooses a larger boulder that is fortunate to be fully in the sun, sitting and sighing as she sets her feet in the cool water.

Uriel wanders over to the trees, then the waterfall, returning with a cupped leaf full of water that he offers to her. “Here, love, you must be thirsty.”

“Thank you,” Twixt says, gratefully taking the impromptu cup and carefully sipping. Once she’s had her fill, she hands him the leaf back so he could also drink.

“This place really is lovely,” she says, “how did you find it?”

“This place? We found this many years ago, wandering the forests of the South. I’m not even sure this spot exists anymore. That time was ages ago,” he replies.

She studies him, trying to decide whether she really believes him or not. 

He feels so familiar, like a puzzle piece that was always missing was finally back in place. She remembers always feeling lonely, no matter the crowd, friend, or lover she was with. All her relationships seem to fail or feel superficial; she said yes more to appease the other person than from any real interest. She feels like she went through the motions with others because it was what was expected.

She doesn’t feel pressured with him. She feels comfortable, natural. He feels like an extension of her, someone that would always be there to listen and understand. A true heart and soul mate. He feels like hers.

“What happened to us? And I’m sorry if I’ve asked before. It sounds like I might have.”

He heaves a heavy sigh. “Mortals are finite. Your lives are intrinsically fragile and ephemeral. Loving you is hard because of that fragility. But loving a mortal is also the most enlightening thing an immortal can do for the same reason. The briefness of your lives means that your love is fierce and hot and true; you brighten the eons with your firefly shine.”

“Our chains are simply the differences in our existence, my heart. You are mortal, destined to live a bright, fleeting life. I am immortal, bound to the between. Destined to meet you here in the shadows, to love you in the in between places. We meet, and love, and part over and over and over again. But my love for your soul never wanes. You are the brightness that keeps me moving forward through the years. Your light keeps me burning and hoping for more.”

“So, we’ve always met in places like this?” Twixt asks. “Have we ever met in person, touched flesh to flesh?”

“If we were to break the chains of our existence and manage that, I would never let you go,” Uriel replies, with a solemn look in his eyes. She knows he means it, and wonders what that would feel like.

“May I hold you, while you are here? It has been a while since I saw you last. I would learn the shape of you again,” he asks.

“Of course,” she replies. He comes to her boulder and sits behind her, draping his arms around her and snuggling her up to his front. He rests his chin lightly on the top of her head and exhales gently, relaxing.

“I miss these moments most of all. Touching you in other ways is wonderful, but these moments soothe my heart the most in between. I miss you deeply when you wake, my love, and yearn to share all the simple moments with you. Tell me of your life now?” 

“What do you want to know? It’s a pretty boring life, I think,” she says.

“Everything.”

So she starts at the beginning, reminiscing on what she remembers of her childhood, laughing at the antics her younger self got up to. He tenses up and becomes deathly still when she speaks of the abuse she experienced from her stepmother; softens and soothes her when she speaks of losing loved ones; and laughs until he cries with her at her funniest moments.

Time has no meaning, other than it is spent together. She feels cracks she never noticed before sealing in her heart. She is content, probably for the first time in her life.

Eventually she runs out of words and they just sit together, absorbed in soaking up each other as much as possible. Finally, Uriel stirrs.

“The light grows,” he says.

“What?” Twixt asks.

“The light grows. You will fade soon.”

“I’m not ready to leave you yet. Why must I fade?” she asks.

He squeezes her tighter, seeming to curl around her as if to prevent this “fading” he speaks of. “Because you are mortal and cannot yet live in the between,” he replies. “Soon, I think. You remember more of me every time, and the more you can remember the closer our hearts will be. If you can remember me completely in the light, feel me, breathe me, taste me, then I will be able to join you there and bring you with me into the shadows as we choose. Until then, we fade from each other.”

A tear slippes slowly down Twixt’s face. She doesn't want to forget this completeness, can’t believe that she has so many times. She can feel the pressure of them, building up inside her. She believes him when he says it will be soon, but knows it won’t be today, this moment.

She squeezes his arms tighter around her, even as she begins to feel light headed and the world around her starts to lighten and fade. “Hold me as long as you can. I want to feel your arms around me as I fade, holding me fast.”

He holds on tight, trying to draw her into himself even as she slowly fades away into the light. 

A tear.

A vow: “Forever and always, my heart.”

She wakes in her bed, the sun peeking through that one broken slat in her blinds right into her eyes.

“Dammit, I need to fix that. Every time…,” she mumbles, turning to bury her head into her pillow. “And I was having such a wonderful dream….”