The Cliffside

Did anyone know what lay underneath the rocky cliff? The fog rolled out too thick over the entire ledge, obstructing whatever lay below. The only clues were the hostile rumbles from the waves echoing throughout the haze, but even that did not tell what lay waiting in the treacherous waters. Sharp rocks? Alien creatures? A black hole? Maren was soon to find out. She hovered a curious leg over the uneven edge and rose to the ball of her foot on the other.

“What’s with all this fog?” The voice came from behind. Maren flinched, nearly sending her slipping down the jagged rock. She screamed.

A hand locked around her wrist and yanked her from the cliff’s edge. She flew back against a sturdy body and whipped her head around. An innocent, worried expression met her own harrowed one. “What the hell are you doing?!” Maren shrieked. 

“What were you doing?!” The stranger echoed back. He released her from his python grip. “Why were you so close to the edge?! You could have died!”

That was the whole point.

“I- I…” Maren looked down. Shame flooded her cheeks. “I thought I was alone.”

“Good thing I was right there!” The stranger pointed to her flip-flops. “You’re not even wearing the right shoes to be up here!” He shook his head.

“What?” A puzzled look spread across Maren’s face. He doesn’t know that I was trying to…

“What a bummer.” The man peered through the lens on his camera. “Can’t see anything with all the mist.” He put a hand over his eyes and squinted as if it’d magically part the fog to reveal a beautiful scenery. “I guess I’ll come back another day.” He started walking away, then turned to Maren. “Aren’t you coming?”

She blinked at him. “What?”

“I’ll sleep better at night knowing you got off this cliff safe and sound.” 

Unable to form words, she silently followed him down the bumpy path to the cliff’s bottom. Before they parted ways, he gave her some advice. “It’s super dangerous to wear sandals to a cliff. Next time, try hiking shoes.” And with that, he was gone.

…

As soon as Maren got into her car, she turned it on and sped from the beach, not giving herself another second to reconsider returning to the cliff. How could she have been so foolish? 

Once at home, she splayed out across the creaky bed, enclosed by the paper walls of her apartment. She felt for the folded paper in her back pocket and took it out. It was a snapshot of her and Caleb, her then-ten-year-old brother. They had been playing on the beach that day. Squatting down in the sand, a crumbled, half-built sand castle between them, and an opened packet of Bunny Blips chocolate in Caleb’s hands.

 Six months after the picture was taken, she had stood over his grave for the first time. That had been exactly ten years ago. 

“I miss you.” She mumbled at the picture. I just wanted to see you again.

She let her face flop into the mattress and allowed the grief to pull her into a far-away slumber.

…

A thirteen-year-old Maren inserted a crumpled dollar bill into the vending machine. Surprisingly, the prehistoric hunk of metal accepted it. The packet of Sweet Swirlies fell to the bottom, and she creaked back the flap to grab the candy. She dawdled down the hallway, stalling for as long as she could. Eventually, though, she would have to face her brother again. She peeked her head into room number fourteen. Caleb looked up from his coloring book.

“They didn’t have any Bunny Blips,” Maren said, ripping open the Sweet Swirlies. She tapped a few pieces into his slight hand.

“It’s okay.” He held up two Swirlies over his eyes. “I’m the Super Swirl, ahhh!” Maren smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was glad her brother somehow had the energy to joke and play. She was happy he could still laugh, but he was also unaware that he was slowly dying.

…

An hour and thirty minutes after dragging herself out of bed, Maren was clocked into work in a two-sizes-too-big Flip’z Mart uniform, because she had forgotten hers at home. Now set up at cash register eight, she was ready for the influx of customers. 

The hours dragged on, of course. Customers fussed over the prices, told overused jokes, and made unnecessary comments on the size of Maren’s shirt. She felt like clawing her brains out until a young boy and girl came to her register. 

“Hello,” Maren said, “how are you guys doing today?”

“Hello” copied the girl “just these please.” She placed two water guns onto the belt. The boy grabbed a candy bar from the display, but the girl shook her head and grabbed it. “Mama didn’t give us enough money for that.” 

The boy scrunched his face into a pout. “Aw.”

Maren smiled. “You guys having fun this summer?” The girl gave a polite nod. “Tell you what, I’ll give you the candy bar for free if you promise not to tell my boss.” She put a finger over her lips. The boy’s eyes lit back up and he started to bounce slightly.

“We promise!” He grinned and the girl handed the candy back to him. Maren finished scanning the water guns and gave them the receipt. 

“Thank you, ma’am.” The girl smiled, and the two went skipping out the door.

Maren smiled again, reminded of how she and Caleb had had a similar dynamic. She was the mature one, usually the one doing the talking, and keeping them out of trouble. He had been the opposite. Free and unbound to any responsibility. Emptiness started to fill Maren’s chest. She didn’t like thinking about this, it’s how she ended up on that cliff. 

She shut off her register. It was time for a smoke break. She grabbed her purse and rummaged around before feeling the box of cigarettes. Then footsteps shuffled toward her register. 

“I’m sorry I’m closed,” Maren said without looking up from her purse.

“Actually, I was told you’d be training me- oh it’s you!” Her ears perked up at the familiar, cheery tone. She looked up. The man from the cliffside smiled at her. “Hi, again.” 

Maren flinched backward. “What the hell-” she hissed “A-are you following me?!”

“I haven’t been, but I will be soon since you’re my trainer.” He said. She didn’t respond. Instead, she zipped over to the manager’s office and rapped on the door, a fear bubble trying to float its way to her throat. 

“What’s up, Maren?” Mrs. Briya asked, her voice flat.

“Who is that guy? The one I’m training?” Maren’s voice was on the verge of frantic now. Mrs. Briya peered up from her glasses. 

“Oh, sorry.”  She looked back down at her clipboard. “I would have warned you earlier but I didn’t have time. That’s Michael. Just take him through the standard training routine, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I mean, I- I’ve seen him before. He might be following me.” Maren fumbled with her fingers. When they were at the cliff, he didn’t seem to realize she had tried to kill herself, or if he did, he pretended not to notice.

Mrs. Briya adjusted her glasses so she could look at Maren through them. “You’ve seen him before? Where?”

Silence filled the office for a moment. “Yesterday, at the beach.”

Mrs. Briya sat back in her chair. “Well, he applied here two weeks ago.”

“Oh.”

Maren shut the office door; it closed with a mocking squeal behind her. She swallowed her worry and decided to show Michael how to work the belt. She was in the middle of explaining when she heard him crunching on something. She glanced at the colorful bunch of pastels in his hands. A packet of Bunny Blips.

“You… like those?” She asked, unable to hide her confusion. Everyone had always exclaimed ‘Ew!’ or ‘Gross!’ when she or Caleb brought out the sour chocolate.

“They’re my favorite.” 

“Mine too.” Maren’s lips curled into a tiny smile. Her first real one all day. She decided that Michael was safe. “I see you’re already taking advantage of your employee benefits.”

“You should take advantage of them too and buy some of those hiking shoes I was telling you about.”

Maren crinkled her eyebrows together. “Um, I don’t know if you did any research before deciding to work here, but we’re a grocery store.” He responded with a simple chuckle.

She took him around the store, giving the mundane explanation of inventory rotation and cleaning assignments. He nodded at every word she said, fascinated as if she had produced meatballs from her hair. She was also pleased that he didn’t speak much of their cliff interaction. Maybe he didn’t realize what she had been trying to do.

…

After closing Flip’z Mart, Maren shuffled out to the parking lot, car keys clanking in her hand. She shut the door, pulled her seatbelt across her body, and twisted the keys to start the engine. It sputtered for a moment, then died.

“Come on you piece of trash.” She mumbled, twisting the keys again. Two sputters, then nothing. “Oh my god, please I just want to go home.” She pressed her forehead against the steering wheel until a mark formed.

When Maren opened the hood, black smoke swirled out into her face. She coughed and waved the dark puff from the air. Shit.

“Need a ride?” Without even looking, it was obvious who the voice belonged to. 

It was eleven-forty-eight, and Maren didn’t have the energy to call a tow truck or walk two hours to her apartment. Without looking at Michael, she shut the hood in defeat and said “Yes.” 

            His car smelt as if he had driven it off the dealership’s parking lot that morning. Maren typed her address into his phone and nestled against the headrest, gazing out the window until her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. 

Her body jolted awake as the car came to a stop. She expected to be in front of the brown, poorly lit building that was her apartment. Instead, they had parked on a dirt road, in front of a dark grassy field on the edge of a forest.    

Thoughts of dread rushed to her mind. Michael had been following her. He probably followed her up to that cliff to stop her from committing suicide so he could kill her himself! Now he was going to kill her and dump her in this field! Maybe she had wanted to die, but not like this. 

She lunged for the door handle and pulled at it with all her might. The door didn’t budge, but she yanked at it again and again. 

“Hey whoa! Are you trying to break my door?!” Michael put his hand on her shoulder.

“Let me go!” She sobbed, turning to him. “Please, don’t do this!”

He stared at her, his mouth open and brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about? Jeez! I’m sorry, I should have told you I wanted to show you something, but you fell asleep!”

She wiped her face with her jacket sleeve. “Show me what? Why the hell are we in the middle of nowhere?!” The sickening fright started to grow, she felt like puking.

“Can you just relax first?” Michael put his hands up, palms facing her. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She glared at him. “I promise.”

He reached to unlock the doors but turned to her. “Can I trust you to not take off running?” She nodded. 

When she heard the confirming click of the door unlocking, she almost laughed. How stupid was he?! Of course, she was going to book it as soon as she got the chance! She flung the door open, and sprinted from the car, running through the pitch-black field. She didn’t care where she was going, as long as she was alive.

“Hey!” Michael shouted after her. “Wait!” Maren didn’t dare look back. She couldn’t waste any time getting away from him. Her body was in pure survival mode now. Her lungs and throat had started to burn, and a cramp was pinching at her side, but she kept running. The sickening dread that had settled in her stomach had started to lift, and her pace slowed down. Then Michael’s voice reached out to her again.

“Stop!” His voice sounded like it was close. But how?! Had he caught up to her?! “STOP!” His voice boomed through the air. This time, Maren looked back and screamed. Whatever he was, he wasn’t human. Michael was flying. Two giant white wings had sprouted from his back, and he was chasing her like a falcon after a mouse. He was catching up to her with deadly speed.

She kept screaming, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and awe. It wouldn’t be long until this monster caught up to her and killed her. She felt hands reach under her arms, and her feet lifted from the ground. She thrashed her body and flailed her limbs, trying to escape his grasp.

“Would you stop that?!” Michael shouted. “I’m not going to hurt you!”

“Let me go!” Maren screeched, her voice was hoarse. 

Michael ascended into the air at blinding speed, with Maren yelping the whole way. He stopped when they were at least at the height of a three-story house. “Listen!” he yelled over her crying “If you don’t stop, I’m going to drop you!” The threat made Marez freeze. “Oh- okay, that was easier than I thought.” He coughed to clear his throat. “Okay Maren, listen, I’m going to take you back down, but once I do, you have to promise not to run away again, okay?!” 

“Okay.” she whimpered. She let her body relax. He wasn’t going to kill her after all. They floated back down to the grassy field with surprising grace, and Michael released her. She stared at him, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain this.

Finally, he opened his mouth. “I wasn’t trying to scare you.”

“Well, you didn’t do a very good job!” She scoffed

“I’m sorry, I had to bring you somewhere no one else could see.” He said, his voice now gentle and understanding.

She glared at him, trying to bore a hole through his face. But after a while, curiosity overcame her fear. “What… are you?”

“I’m an angel.” He said, offering her a smile. In any other circumstance, she would have cackled, but after witnessing him fly, she was silent. “I’ve come on your brother’s behalf.”

Her head jerked towards him. “What? M-my brother?” She felt tears creeping toward her eyes.

“Yep. Caleb wanted to say hi, and that he loves you.”

“So, he’s okay? Caleb is okay?” She asked, her voice cracking. He nodded, smiling. This time, she let the tears fall. She knew that this was real, that Michael was an angel because she had never talked about her brother. Never wrote about him, never even wanted to think about him because it was so painful. She broke down completely: crying, and sobbing, and leaving snot on her jacket. Michael didn’t interrupt, he just patted her back.

When she was done, she looked over at him. “You saved me yesterday, didn’t you? On the cliff?”

“I did.” 

The tears poured out again. “Th- thank you…” 

Michael squeezed her hand. “You are strong, Maren. Please don’t ever forget that. Caleb is watching over you, and he is waiting for you. But it’s not your time yet.”

Two hours later, when she was satisfied with the answers of all her questions about Caleb, she hugged Michael and thanked him. 

“Let’s get you home,” Michael said.

“Actually, this time?” She joked. 

“Cross my heart.” Said Michael, making a cross over his chest.

…

The morning after, Maren clocked into work, and Michael was nowhere to be found.

“I guess one day of working here was enough to scare him off.” Said Mrs. Briya. “I guess I’m gonna have to find another person.” She groaned. 

“He seemed like a good worker too…” Maren smiled, but she felt a twang of sadness poke her chest. She was going to miss Michael.

        …

In the sunny afternoon, the ocean was calm. The waves rolled gently up and down the shore, and seagulls squawked in the air. Maren was sitting on the cliff edge, a notebook in her hand. She was almost finished with her drawing. All she needed to add were the freckles on her little brother’s face. When she was finished, she shut the notebook and turned her gaze to the vast horizon in front of her. Without the fog in the way, the sun was warm and welcoming, and the world was her’s for the taking.