Descent

Descent

The shocking cold enveloped her as she tumbled into the icy water of the lake. Sinking fast, she began to thrash in panic, watching the light from the surface retreat further away. The thrashing and the weight of her heavy winter clothes only succeeded in bringing her down faster. Her chest was aflame with the need for air. Instinctively, she inhaled only to ingest freezing water into her aching lungs. Completely panicked now, she felt the darkness encroaching, all light diminishing. Hope of surviving sank with her. She closed her eyes and stopped fighting. Her descent slowed.

Just as the blackness arrived, it was gone. Her eyes opened as powerful bands wrapped around her waist and she felt herself being hauled quickly up. A shadowy mass was working hard to pull her to the surface. In her diminished state of mind, she imagined glittering wings attached to what must be an angel rescuing her. The wings were folded back against the shadowed form rocketing them through the water.

The burning in her chest had only increased until she thought her lungs would burst with the need for oxygen. Watching the light from above get ever closer, she prayed she would be able to survive. A fleeting thought crossed her mind that perhaps she had not survived and the angel was pulling her to Heaven. Before the thought was completed, she was breaking the surface and being carried to shore. Her angel laid her on the rocky surface and turned her on her side as she began coughing up the water she had inhaled. Her rescuer was pounding her back with his open palm. Shaking uncontrollably, she was finally able to take a breath and hold up her hand as a signal for him to stop. He rolled her onto her back, with his arm bracing her underneath. She looked up into his face and
found concerned blue eyes staring back.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Able to see clearly now, she saw that he was simply a man with no wings. But to her, he would always be an angel.