CHAPTER III
They reached a night-time city where lights glowed in paper windows and the air was like the air on a mountain-top, scented with fog and steam and cold, but purer than any mountaintop in life. For this was Heaven, where the dreams and imaginings and longings of the living world were collected and concentrated and made manifest.
The angel followed the cat through the streets which, though empty, gave the impression of merriment just behind the opaque paper screens. It was lonely outside the screens. The angel dragged her feet, barely decent as her robe dragged on the ground behind her. It had fallen off her shoulders and hung low under her wings, which had grown to the length of her back, and she held the flaps closed halfheartedly. Her skinny back bent under the unaccustomed weight. Her wings grew as she walked, and after eleven or so steps they were so long that the longest feather just touched the ground. The feathers weren't white, but black as her hair and the sins on her stolen soul.
"It wasn't stolen," said the angel, picking up the cat's thoughts. "I sold it."
"How old were you?"
"Ten, I think--for the first time."
"I rest my case."
As they grew closer to the other end, the chain became fully visible, until they reached a wooden building where one screen was slightly open, the chain leading inside.
"This is where your master is," said the cat. "And this is where I leave you."
The angel shrunk in size, appearing suddenly as the ten-year-old child she had been, once upon a time, and still was, in some ways. Her lip trembled, and she looked at the cat with longing. But she didn't dare ask it not to go.
"You may pet me," said the cat, archness masking pity. The Cat shed its robes and appeared as a small tabby cat. The girl sat on the soft dirt road and gathered the animal into his arms.
The screen door flew open with a clatter and a slam. A man with blue skin and eyes like the primordial Light scowled down at them.
"No! No! This won't do at all. I need you to look sexy for our guests." He yanked on the chain and she fell away from the Cat, and was suddenly a young woman again, dressed richly this time in a robe of celestial blue spangled with stars.
"Get rid of those scars," said her Master, for they still burned an angry red across her skin. He yanked the chain again and her skin was a smooth, luminous white.
"Your payment," said the blue-man to the Cat, who had re-donned his robe. He offered the agreed-upon price, a shiny Karma coin.
"I don't need it," said the Cat, turning away. And he did not, for the Karma in his pocket had doubled from the compassion he had shown a little girl.
To be continued...
They reached a night-time city where lights glowed in paper windows and the air was like the air on a mountain-top, scented with fog and steam and cold, but purer than any mountaintop in life. For this was Heaven, where the dreams and imaginings and longings of the living world were collected and concentrated and made manifest.
The angel followed the cat through the streets which, though empty, gave the impression of merriment just behind the opaque paper screens. It was lonely outside the screens. The angel dragged her feet, barely decent as her robe dragged on the ground behind her. It had fallen off her shoulders and hung low under her wings, which had grown to the length of her back, and she held the flaps closed halfheartedly. Her skinny back bent under the unaccustomed weight. Her wings grew as she walked, and after eleven or so steps they were so long that the longest feather just touched the ground. The feathers weren't white, but black as her hair and the sins on her stolen soul.
"It wasn't stolen," said the angel, picking up the cat's thoughts. "I sold it."
"How old were you?"
"Ten, I think--for the first time."
"I rest my case."
As they grew closer to the other end, the chain became fully visible, until they reached a wooden building where one screen was slightly open, the chain leading inside.
"This is where your master is," said the cat. "And this is where I leave you."
The angel shrunk in size, appearing suddenly as the ten-year-old child she had been, once upon a time, and still was, in some ways. Her lip trembled, and she looked at the cat with longing. But she didn't dare ask it not to go.
"You may pet me," said the cat, archness masking pity. The Cat shed its robes and appeared as a small tabby cat. The girl sat on the soft dirt road and gathered the animal into his arms.
The screen door flew open with a clatter and a slam. A man with blue skin and eyes like the primordial Light scowled down at them.
"No! No! This won't do at all. I need you to look sexy for our guests." He yanked on the chain and she fell away from the Cat, and was suddenly a young woman again, dressed richly this time in a robe of celestial blue spangled with stars.
"Get rid of those scars," said her Master, for they still burned an angry red across her skin. He yanked the chain again and her skin was a smooth, luminous white.
"Your payment," said the blue-man to the Cat, who had re-donned his robe. He offered the agreed-upon price, a shiny Karma coin.
"I don't need it," said the Cat, turning away. And he did not, for the Karma in his pocket had doubled from the compassion he had shown a little girl.
To be continued...
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