Even Angels Die
an excerpt

“He’s very badly bruised.”
“Flew too high again.”
“Out on his own again, then?”
“I sure hope he was.”
“Well, these wounds are gonna sting pretty bad healing up… he’ll make it just fine, but it won’t hurt keeping an eye on him…”
“He won’t be going anywhere, I’ll make sure.”
“Right, then off you go…”
I listened, half-deaf, half-numb, still trembling from the force with which I had hit the surface of the sea. They were talking about my fall as if it was something I had done on purpose, as if somehow I did it for their attention, whereas the only thing I wished for was to get out, get up, break the surface, fly some more… The sensation of air in my lungs, anything was better than the salt taste of the ocean, which I loathed; the feeling of wind streaming down my body as I’d jolt upwards… the drops of water lingering among the feathers of my wings drying up as I went.
I had gone so far this time, come so close… almost reached. The coast line had even been in my sight… I had known I was going to make it...
Then suddenly, from that on, my memory was all blank, and I remembered nothing but the pain, the pain that was spreading from a fixed point on my back, pulsating outwards, causing my body to twitch in spasms. The fever was making me toss and turn on the stretcher that was to try and keep me still; I was drifting in and out of haphazard, shallow sleep, haunted by the darkest of faceless dreams. At times, I’d hear the words of their voices, talking above me, from time to time saying something encouraging or reassuring. Somehow I could tell their anger was still over me, but it hardly mattered to me; it felt as if I had lost all conception of time and space, sometimes wondering if I was doing this by will… trying to prolong my stay among the plagues so as not to face the reality I had gone so far to attempt to withdraw from.
Slowly, I started keeping track of what was day and what was night; thus allowing me to reconquer the realms of the real world, the real life, that was where I belonged. Whether I wanted to or not.
Still I couldn’t seem to recall what had interrupted my flight, what had stood in the way between me and my longed-for freedom. But it felt urgent that I found out. I tried to straighten it out, I made suggestions in my head, thinking of all possible explanations, but nothing was satisfactorily enough.
As time passed by, and my pains faded, so did my commitment and my worries. Eventually I almost believed their lies myself… that I had caused my own fall while flying.
All I cared about was looking forward, to keep me going. Keep going to try again… Try again to succeed.
And like before, I was sure.
This time I was going to make it…