Page 54 of An Unexpected Ascension
Looking down, I realize the clatter in my head has distracted me from the book I was reading to Phillip in my lap. His big brown eyes peer up at me, wondering if I’ll continue.
“More?” he asks.
I nod. “Of course!”
Uncover the truth! Touch me! Listen to my story! Uncover the—Touch—Listen!
It’s getting worse and a little drum at the base of my skull starts to pound away to the incessant pestering. I can’t even hear myself finish the book.
Slowly, I place the boy on the ground, giving him a soft kiss to his hair before I push to my feet and pull Sister Mary aside.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything, deary.” Her face grows wrinkles of concern as I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“How do I find my mother? She passed years ago. I’ve tried calling her name, asking around, but I refuse to believe she’s... not in Heaven.”
A dark cloud passes over her face, something like fear or perhaps a sadness that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“It might take some time. Don’t give up.”
It’s the same answer I’ve been given time and time again, meant to be hope, but it feels like a condolence. She brushes off my shoulder as if lint even existed here, then squeezes my elbow lovingly.
“Sister?”
“Hmm?” She pauses in the doorway to the room.
“I-I think I need a break. My thoughts are a little jumbled today.”
Those aged eyes soften. “Take as much time as you need, deary.”
“Thanks.”
There’s a ping inside of me and when I look up, I find that Sister Mary has paid off myHail Marys. My mouth drops open, and she gives me a wink before returning to assist another sister with a crying child.
Risking a brief glance at Jessie, I slip out the door without a goodbye and traipse down the stairs, then out the door of the orphanage. Through all the chaos littering my mind, I somehow manage to think about how I feel knowing my penance is finally paid off.
A demon is coming to collect me to live the rest of my eternity in Hell and here I am, that much closer to settling in. I feel torn between the two and it doesn’t help that an invisible force is pushing me towards the Garden of Eden.
I don’t even notice, too caught up in my own head, that my feet are carrying me to the one place I’ve been trying to avoid for the last three days. As I stand at the archway wrapped in vines and blossomed flowers, I dig my heels into the ground.
It’s here! Touch me! You’re so close! Uncover the truth! Hear my story! Listen!
Screaming, relentless screaming the closer I get. I lift my feet to turn around, but they do not move. Instead, they take me in the opposite direction, under the arch and down the path toward the tree.
Branches crooked and twisting, crawl high above me, reaching down. Its leaves like rain and its fruit like hail; a storm waiting to happen. There’s a frigid breeze that combs through my hair, biting at my skin as if the world knows my every thought.
Touch me, girl, and I shall give you answers you seek and answers you never knew you needed. I will show you the secrets of the Gods, I will show you the inside of the universe.
The many whispers die into just one voice. It hisses away at me, promising me things that I should not know.
Do you wish to know where your mother is? I have the answers you seek. Just one little touch.
My fingers twitch beside me as a branch lowers, the fruit dangling in front of my eyes. Slowly, my hand creeps toward it, wondering if this is what the tree wants, if this is the Devil’s doing. Am I failing a test or am I seeking the truth?
Thunder cracks above me as the skies blacken into a cluster of thick clouds. Flashes of lightning illuminate the tree, my fingers wrapping around the violet fruit and the world swirls around me.
Ice crawls through my veins, shivers course through my bones, and my lungs collapse.
