But these new creations…they were unhidden. Their bodies felt purposeful. Defined.
My eyes dropped again to their forms. Everything about them was different. Not just their shape—but the colors surrounding them. And the way they touched. The way their mouths moved—not to speak, but to express.
Suddenly the images rippled.
A pulse of red bloomed across the ground like petals scattered from the sky. I gasped and gripped my chest as something thudded deep inside me.
It was…sharp. Vibrant. And unfamiliar.
I blinked. A bare foot. Then, it was gone. The red vanished, replaced again by green fields and the same two beings, walking hand in hand.
“What was that?” I asked, unsettled.
“What was what?” Michael responded without turning his head.
“The petals. The…red.” I glanced at him. “Didn’t you feel that?”
He shook his head. “No. Look—see the trees. Their forest isn’t like ours. It’s full of texture. Shadows. It’s…rich.”
He didn’t see it.
The red. The foot. The pain in my chest.
He felt nothing.
I looked back into the well, squinting at the unfamiliar shapes. The humans were beneath a tree, their hands outstretched, gently running over a massive creature’s fur. It rumbled contentedly.
“Oh! God told me of this creature,” Lailah called from across the well. “He says it will not speak. No language. It won’t need one. They shall only know peace—just like us.”
“How will they talk to each other?” Haniel asked beside her.
“Maybe they’ll make something up,” Lailah replied. “They don’t need words right now. They already understand each other.”
I kept watching as the humans smiled—not with their mouths alone, but their entire faces. Their eyes lit up when they looked at one another. Fingers laced. Cheeks brushed. They plucked small fruits from trees and popped them into their mouths.
“They eat them!” Haniel gasped, pressing close to the well. “The berries vanish inside. I didn’t know mouths could do that.”
I didn’t either.
“Maybe theirs differs from ours,” Lailah suggested, and the others nodded in agreement. “Perhaps they require it for some reason.”
“I’m going to ask—” someone started.
“Don’t disturb Him,” Lailah interjected quickly. “Imagine how He must feel after creating all of this. How big is their world?”
The liquid in the well shimmered and rippled, and the image of the couple dissolved completely. A quiet hush swept through the gathered angels, but I stepped back, still caught on what I’d seen—the foot, the red petals…the pressure in my chest.
Had I imagined it?
I pressed a hand against my heart.
“What’s wrong?” Michael asked beside me. “Why do you touch your chest like that?”
I hesitated, eyes on the now-still surface of the well. Angels don’t keep secrets, I reminded myself. There was no need to. We were open and united. We had nothing but each other.
But this…
If only I saw it, maybe it was meant for me.
