I was above the cloud layer, my wings lazily moving up and down to give me lift. My movements were sluggish as I looked around, seeing not but clouds. I heard a muffled voice come up from behind me.

“Are you alright...” The voice was female, that I could tell, but as she trailed off in speech, I think she said my name.

“What? Who are you?” As I turned to face the unknown woman, I saw something that awed me. She was surrounded by a corona of light. Her face was blurred, but the rest of her body was clear. She wore a long white robe that extended slightly past her feet, and her wings were of the purist of whites. Her skin was alabaster and her hair was jet black, but I still could not make out her face.

She seemed to ignore my question as she grabbed my arms in her hands, and started pulling me with her.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

“But who are you?” I exclaimed again in frustration.

As she started pulling me down towards the clouds, I resisted by flapping my wings. “Come on. You are always so uptight! We need to get you to live a little!” Her voice was defiant, as if I made a habit of ignoring her. “Please, for me?” She asked. There was an ounce of pleading in her voice that made my resistance drop instantly.

“Okay,” I heard myself say, not remembering opening my mouth. “I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you so much!” She let go of one of my arms as she said this, but proceeded to pull me down with the other.

After several minutes of decent, she finally let go. “Okay now just tuck your wings around your body; It’ll act as a pressure dampener.”

“A what?” I said, again without my own consent.

“It’ll slow you down, so you don’t hit too hard.” Even though I couldn’t see it, I could feel her rolling her eyes.

Who is this? I feel as if I’ve known her for... a long time.

I watched as she made a bubble around herself with her wings, and fell. My eyes widened as I felt myself doing the same. I could feel the wind rush through my feathers, and the adrenaline coursing through my body gave me a rather familiar rush.

I don’t know why it felt familiar, but it left me with another feeling: Dread.

I contemplated this turn of events until I felt a sharp pain in my wingtips, and my vision was suddenly obscured by water.

Coughing, I dragged myself upwards, towards the familiar light of day. She was already on the surface, laughing as she saw me sputtering, trying to maintain float with water logged wings.

“Did you forget to waterproof them again?” she asked, still having trouble keeping her voice under control from laughing.

“Yes.” I responded. With an uncontrolled flick of my wrist, and a powerful thrust from my wings, I was airborn, watching the rivulets of water fall from the now pristine surfaces.

“Well?” She asked, still bathing in the water.

“Well what?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion, causeing her to snicker again.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I don’t like adrenalin. You know this.”

She flapped her sleek wings, propelling herself free of her crystal bath, sighing. “I know you don’t. But we need to bring you out of that little world you’ve built for yourself. Everyone is worried about you.”

Again I was helpless in my body, as she came forward with her arms open, and embraced me. I felt a single tear fall down my cheek, and I smiled.

“Alright,” I said, “Let’s have some fun.” Me and the faceless woman parted from our embrace, and flew back to the sky. For what could have just as easily been minutes or hours, we dipped and weaved between and through the misty clouds.

But eventually the sun started setting, and our smiles started fading. As we drew close again, something peculiar lept out at me. I could make out her face. Her eyes were blue as the ocean, and her face as majestic as her wings. It was the face of perfection, And I understood what this woman meant to me.

Still I did not know her name, but for now, I could bask in the warm glow she emitted. We once again moved to an embrace.

“Thank you.” She said to me, her voice in a whisper.

As our faces inched closer together, a searing pain in my back wrenched my eyes closed. When I opened them again, there was nothing but a black void, opened only by small pricks of light.