Flying and Falling by Sophia Shan

Prologue

The cliff wall was rough and scratchy against Meriam’s ankles as she childishly swung her legs back and forth. She tilted her face to the wan rising light, smiling faintly. In front of her, the sun slowly hovered over the horizon, stretching out its bright wings. The indigo of the sky grew hazier and hazier, slipping into golden dawn.

Beside her on the cliff edge, Peridot sighed happily. She had never seen as many sunsets as Meriam. And she never will.

Shaking the somber thoughts from her head, Meriam leaned forward, peeking down the cliff. The chunky stone stretched down for miles, ending at a dry plain with a tiny streak of river. Scraggy underbrush peppered the narrow plain in little dots before stopping at another cliff face. The second one was smaller and gray, with large pockets defacing the sides.

She picked up a small stone beside her, grinning at the other mountain. It was only fifty meters or so away from them and would barely take any force.She weighed the stone in her hand, aimed, and threw the stone ahead of her. It clattered against the cliff face before dropping onto a ledge. She smiled victoriously at Peridot. “You can do that.”

Peridot unfolded her legs from under her, shook out the tingles, and tentatively took a step closer to the edge. She took her normal spot right next to Meriam. After selecting a pebble from those around her feet, she threw it across. It landed into a small indent on the other wall. She looked proud.

Meriam cocked her head. From her precarious perch on the edge, much further than Peridot’s, she could see how small the indent is. “Wow, that’s a great shot. Have you been getting practice without me?”

“Nope.” Peridot smiled as she touched her shoulder. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She grinned back at her friend. “Well, come on over. Can you see how small that hole is?”

Peridot carefully came forward, but her bare toes were still inches from the drop. She rarely went as far as Meriam. “Oh, nice.” She quickly scooched backwards.

Meriam grabbed a handful of pebbles, pelting them into a large cave easily. A spark of light flickered in the dark cavern before her eyes. She gasped and shifted across the ledge, hanging halfway off the ledge. She was the opposite of careful sometimes, but they both knew she wouldn’t, couldn’t fall. “Did you see?” She gestured to the other wall in amazement. “There was a spark! Like a fire!”

Peridot frowned. “Really?”

Meriam reached up and pulled Peridot closer. “You’ll be fine. Seriously, look!” She grabbed an uneven stone and lobbed it over. A wide streak of fire shot upwards. Peridot gasped too, her light green eyes stretching impossibly huge.

“Wow.” She tiptoed over, her hands wide out for balance. All of her original cautiousness was gone as amazement lingered in her eyes.  “Let me try.” She selected her own stone, held it up, and bent over for the most momentum as she threw it over. But she had put too much force into her throw and almost fell to her knees. Fear shot through Meriam’s heart as she slowly crumpled in half, her weight shifting over the edge.

Meriam shoved herself over to Peridot, wrapping her arms around her thin legs, trying to keep her from falling. Peridot was lurching forward, her arms flying about wildly, searching for something secure to hold onto. Her small fingers clamped onto Meriam’s shoulder, who let out a sigh of relief. She surged forward to grab Peridot’s torso and lift her back onto the ledge. Then she sensed something slowly slip from her shoulder. Her heart crawled up to her throat. Within a second, her friend was out of her grasp and flying downwards, her arm temporarily grazing her ownbefore Peridot shot down into the grayish-yellow field. 

Meriam released an unearthly scream into the slowly-warming morning. She propelled herself off the ledge, her arms pointed in a swan dive as she fell headfirst. Peridot was a blurring green shape ahead of her. Meriam closed her eyes, reaching deep inside for her powers. A familiar vibration echoed in her gut. She yanked fistfuls of air from around her, trying to speed up her fall. Instead, the denser air gathered underneath her and she was hovering over the earth. With a frustrated grunt, she cleared through the blanket with her hands and continued freefalling.

“Peridot!” she yelled into the wind. She reached out, ready to grab her friend. And then a loud, eardrum-blasting crash stopped her. Fear raced up her spine. She stopped right above the motionless body in a patch of dry grass.

Peridot’s eyes were closed. Her arms were loosely flung over her body and legs, like she was trying to protect herself. Her entire form faced the cloudless sky.

A slow, burning ache seeped through her like getting exposed to iciness with no powers to block it out. Meriam’s eyes suddenly started streaming, which they haven’t done for decades. Tears splashed onto Peridot’s legs and stomach. The drops came faster when she saw her friend’s tranquil state disrupted. She dropped to the grass beside her, trying to wipe off the wetness of Peridot’s t-shirt. She suddenly remembered the time when they both went swimming in their clothes. Meriam was barely a century old, and Peridot was also a little kid. The lake was shadowed by willow trees and startlingly cold. They spent the whole afternoon there.

More memories billowed through her mind. They were all of two, grinning little girls running around in sun-streaked lands. Peridot was initially hostile when they found each other in the woods, shielding from the golden-eyed girl who glowed slightly. But Meriam kept finding her in the forest, beside a stream, up on a tree, curious about the girl her height but nothing like her age. Eventually they warmed up to each other. She sluggishly envisioned Peridot, only half the size she was now, hand in hand with her as they picked wildflowers from a meadow. She was a clever child for her age and could name most of them. And she was so fascinating to Meriam, because she found lying in green green grass and looking up at the sky fun, along with running everywhere. As Peridot grew, she started growing intrigued with Meriam’s powers, urging her to light up her fingers with fire at night, asking her to catch her as she jumped into the air, or telling her to grow exotic flowers on her windowsill. Meriam obliged and found herself looking at her powers in a new light. She even enchanted a tree to weave its branches into a treehouse for them to spend their afternoons in. Only because of Peridot did she have a real childhood, unlike any other immortal she had ever heard of.

 A loud wind blew through the dry grass, pulling her out of her thoughts. Peridot’s closed eyes came back into view. Her heart pulsed with sadness. She clutched her friend’s cold, stiff fingers in hers as tears fell faster and faster. Lights flickered at her fingers, her powers wanting to do something, to solve this.

Suddenly guilt flooded her as she realized that she was the one pushing Peridot to the edge, eventually over. She was always treating Peridot carelessly. After all, her friend was the one who asked to be flung into the sky, or to disappear from one place into another. So Meriam forgot that she was mortal. Forgot that if Peridot charged into a rocky stream, she would scrape her knees. Forgot that she herself would remain the only living immortal until eternity.  

She finally turned her face from Peridot’s frozen face. She looked up to the sky, realizing it was deep orange. Time had slipped through her fingers, but she was timeless. Peridot wasn’t. She released a sigh along with her last ounce of hope.

Carefully, she placed her lips to Peridot’s small ear. Struggling to wipe away her tears, she whispered, “I guess this is an earlier goodbye than we both thought.”

A cloud slipped into the sky, shadowing them both in a final goodbye.

***

Meriam carefully climbed down the fire escape on the side of the brown brick building and dropped onto the dark cement. She slipped out of the alleyway, making sure no one could see her, and zipped down the street.

She finally found something to do today. In the past, she wandered across the world and sat on the tops of buildings, surveying the current society. It all seemed the same to people. People grew increasingly rich and self-serving while continuous causes, one after another, fell under their feet for their progress. No one was curious anymore, and certainly no one wanted to get to know a stranger. Meriam had lived in solitude ever since, well, ever since her childhood officially ended.

She actually used to explore and experiment. One of her mentors, she hardly remembered any of them as they disappeared after a decade of teaching, told her that she should enjoy everything the world had to offer before she grew old and bored. So Meriam did. She went to every country on the map, stuffed herself with countless foods, learned millions of languages to speak to people wherever she went, and trekked over the most harsh and unforgiving, yet beautiful, landscapes. Before she could even get close to bored with the rich cultures and views, something changed. Friendly, huge middle-class families living in small tents, or little authentic shops on the corner of the cul-de-sac, stopped welcoming a tall girl with golden eyes. No one wanted to teach languages to a “foreigner” who popped out of nowhere with shimmery skin and a too-perfect smile. Her trip to discover everything had crashed to a stop.

  With no place to belong to, Meriam selected the biggest cities in the world that would offer space to everyone, which looked nothing like the wild where she grew up in, and found little living areas for herself there. But it still wasn’t home. She usually spent her days out prowling the streets for something to do and visiting a tall, scenic cliff off in the wilderness. She even had a regular pattern. When one of her oldest mentors visited her last year, she remarked that Meriam was the brightest, most smiley immortal she’d trained, but also the one with the most short-lived joy. And, like all her other mysterious teachers, she patted her shoulder and disappeared into a puff of white smoke.

Meriam did find little jobs to do that she found interesting. A small artists’ colony wanted to paint her, and when she agreed, they pulled her into a messy, ramshackle studio and spent the whole day sketching her out on canvases. She came for months, and the artists started carving statues of her, taking spectacular pictures, and even weaving together a tapestry of her face. She was completely unused to the attention, as she originally lived alone in nature, but she did like posing and hearing the artists compliment her in the most absurd way. “Your ears are so small and abstract!” she remembered hearing one say almost every day.

But of course, like all things to do with mortals, it ended. Within a few months, the colony had captured her image into as many forms of art as possible, showcased a gallery, and then bid her goodbye. She was back onto the streets, searching.

A bunch of helpful people in suits urged to take up jobs in these little shops, and she agreed out of curiosity. She got to work at plenty of ice cream shops, clothing boutiques, and even knickknack places. But all of her coworkers glared or stared at her constantly, and most of her fellow female workers snapped at her in the clothing boutiques. Finally, one of the nicer workers, Abby, pulled her aside and said, “Are you seriously that thick? They’re all jealous of your looks.”

Meriam couldn’t stand that, so she quit those jobs on the spot. She never changed her appearance, because Peridot said she looked the most natural as herself, but after that she stopped glowing and turned mousy-haired.

A soft pink heart, mounted on top of the small storefront, came into view. Meriam had reached her destination. It was a small café named, “Tiny Cat.” She ordered a small cup of tea inside, settled onto one of the metal chairs outside, and watched the stream of people going down the sidewalk.

She enjoyed people-watching, because mortals constantly became fresher and more creative with their looks, but today was special. She’d heard two girls gossiping behind a window about someone special coming here this afternoon, and Meriam was always curious about “famous” people. Her mentors always said the whole business of money was silly, and from what she could tell, it was extremely complicated, but the amount of adoration placed on wealthy people was intriguing. So she sat outside the café and slowly stirred her tea, waiting. Many people came inside, all different-looking but staring at their phones, yet, there was no excited greeting or gasping. She couldn’t even find the two chatting girls from yesterday.

When the sun was starting to set, blaring bright orange right over the horizon, Meriam sighed and leaned back in her chair. She had to go back to searching. Don’t eavesdrop on conversations anymore, she told herself. They’re not all that accurate anyway. She gathered her few things and quickly calculated how much money to leave beside her cold teacup. Money didn’t come easily to her, but she still learned over time. All the currency she had was from working before, but she didn’t have any reason to use it, so she had a small collection. Well, she was considering leaving coins for the homeless on the street. She could decide what to do with her money later. Merriam adjusted her tips into a cutesy arrangement and headed back towards her minuscule apartment.

While she was strolling down the darkening street and glancing into cramped, quirky shops, something slight crashed into her side. She lost her balance in surprise and landed on the dirty sidewalk before her powers even had a change to arise.

She rolled over to get a better glance at who knocked her over. It was a tall, skinny girl, with her light brown hair covering her face as she shoved things back into her bag. Meriam easily slid out beneath her and helped her up.

The other girl looked up. A pair of pale green eyes, the color of a newborn leaf, met hers. Meriam gasped loudly. The blood slowly drained from her face.

Shaking heavily, she gripped her hand. “Peridot?”

***

Meriam’s gut finally stopped tingling when they appeared in the rocky cove. She stared at Peridot, trying to realign her with the images in her memories. This Peridot was much taller, and most of her freckles were faded. Her bones were far more defined than before. She continued to frown deeply. Meriam immediately noticed a huge scar peeking from underneath her loose shirt.

She was about to close in and examine it when Peridot backed up with wide eyes. “What are you-where am I? How did I get here?”

Meriam frowned. “Are you okay?”

“No! Who are you and how did I get here?”

Something sharp sliced through her heart. She dropped her eyes from Peridot’s. “Don’t you remember me?” she asked softly. “I’m Meriam.” She flicked her hand and a small red rose grew from the sandy floor, which was Peridot’s favorite trick.

Instead of picking it up and sticking it into her hair, Peridot’s eyes widened even larger. She backed up further. “I don’t know you. What are you even doing?”

Meriam felt like crumpling down. Grief surged over her again, a bigger wave from when Peridot died. But she needed to know how Peridot came back. “How are you, no, actually, when were you born?”

“2002,” Peridot said suspiciously. “Why? You also look sixteen.”

Meriam swallowed nervously. Neither of them was actually sixteen. Well, she had no idea what happened to her friend. “Are you sure you were born then? Do you remember anything from before?”

“No, of course not!” She looked indignant. “Because I was born in 2002!”

Her mind swirled. She didn’t know how to be careful. “I know, for a fact, that you were born before that. I know that you were alive last century. I was there. You were seven years old.” She looked at Peridot hopefully.

But her friend gaped. “What? How? There is no way that’s possible. Why are you telling me all this?”

Meriam felt desperate and sad. She grabbed Peridot’s hand and passed her a slew of memories from when they were young. Laughing together, weaving daisy crowns, flying down a small waterfall. But Peridot stared at her with horror, yanking her hand back.

“Stop it! Stop giving me all this! It’s not possible for me to be alive last century. I don’t know who you are, but you’re telling me lies to confuse me. I want to be back in New York.” Peridot stared at her with anger and shock.

Meriam’s eyes flowed once again. A tear streaked down her cheek. More of the truth came out of her, rapid-fast and urgent. “I used to be your friend. We spent so many days together. You had horrible parents and schoolmates so you snuck out to the woods where we found each other. We had so much fun with each other. You were less sad when we were friends. We spent almost every week out in the wild. I’m-I’m an immortal with powers. And you died.”

Peridot gaped again at her. “What? Why are you saying all this?”

“You were about to start first grade. You were nervous. You thought that your new classmates would be as mean as the ones before. I said I’ll come rescue you from them. That’ll I use my powers so grass grows out of their ears. We laughed into the night. I even promised to pretend to be a student and visit once my mentor let me come. But you died and I couldn’t help you and it was all my fault.” She was crying, hard. “I am the reason you disappeared from the world far too early. I didn’t catch you. I saw you fall and hit the ground. I didn’t do enough for you. I’m the worst friend in the world. I’m immortal and I killed my friend. I let her die.” She curled up and cried. “I didn’t want to kill you, Peridot. I’m didn’t want to be the worst friend in the world. It’s my fault that you died and disappeared.”

Sobs racked through her body. She shivered and cried. Peridot probably left. She was going to be confused and scared forever. Before she disappeared again.

But then thin arms wrapped around her. She trembled once in shock. “It’s fine,” Peridot whispered softly in her ear. “I am here now.”

Meriam sobbed again, her whole heart feeling lighter. “Yes, you are here now,” she managed back.

“Seriously? This isn’t funny.” Meriam crossed her arms and pouted at her grinning friend.

“Yeah it is.” Peridot danced over to the cliff edge, and Meriam immediately raced behind her.

“Don’t you dare,” she warned her smug friend. “I might not catch you.”

Peridot smiled up at her. “I know you practiced your flying. You can definitely catch me.”

She stared at her in shock. Her friend had completely figured her out. “I-I might not want to catch you,” she tried to retort.

Her friend grinned again. “But you will.” She jumped around and crashed her shoulder against hers.

Meriam groaned. Her friend knew her so well, even after a century. “Fine.”

Peridot smirked at her, turned over to the sunset, and threw her arms up. Her silhouette against the deep ochre and orange sky made her look so fulfilled and whole. But the truth burned a hole in her chest.

A large chunk of her soul had gone away when Peridot died. By some stroke of luck, all the playing they did with Meriam’s developing powers had managed to capture a tiny bit of her life. Someone mysteriously found this piece of immortalized life and spun it into a breathing body with the remaining parts of her spirit. The only way they had even found out this was when, on their worldwide search for answers, an old man covered in sackcloth grabbed Peridot’s wrist and displayed this whole process in the air with his own powers.

“Meriam! The sun is setting! We don’t want to do it in the dark, do we?” Peridot turned back around, her eyes shining in excitement.

“I really don’t see the point of this,” she groaned. But Peridot’s stark green eyes in the darkening gold light lifted her spirit. “Alright, fine. Come, on. Hold on tight.” She held out her arm, and Peridot wrapped her small fingers around her hand, her knuckles whitening as she clenched. Meriam didn’t even bother to call up her powers to erase the pain. She wanted to spend this moment with all her senses intact.

They ran to the edge, and without hesitating, jumped off. Peridot’s excited shriek ran into the air as the wind whistled loudly in her ear. As they careened down to the spot where Peridot had died, the faint orange sun shed its last rays of light and the biggest grin ever stretched across Meriam’s face.

Featured Image –52nd Street in Manhattan – Photo Courtesy of wikipedia commons