Therian

How long has it been since I was alive?

Gliding here in the skies, watching the sun and moon rise and set hourly, the winds shifting through my once physical form, the seasons no longer discriminate with the quick passing of time. When I first found myself here I felt I had to run to keep up with the changing, but I quickly realized the futility of the effort, since then resorting to floating on here effortlessly.

I no longer knew the feeling of sleep. I would close my eyes and open them to a whole new world, signifying that time had passed, but just how much? Now that I had no physical form to feel rest, to feel anxiety, how did I know whether I fell asleep or merely blinked? Time was no longer reliable.

From the amount of winters that I have witnessed since I've been up here, I knew that it had been a great while since I had died, but there was no way to be exact anymore, and no need to. As much as I wanted to pass on to join my brethren in the starry skies above, I knew what it was that kept me tied down to Earth. All of my regrets and my mistakes had lead up to this...so called "life" between both worlds. I justly deserved it. An eternity in purgatory, the plane between heaven and hell. I thought I would remain here until the end of days, a witness to all that came to be as the humans forever expanded their territory, the animals forced further and further into the forests where food was made scarce, where more of my brethren died, yet none came to join me. Yes, I was almost content with this, until an unusually calm voice came to me, one that spoke in an unfamiliar tongue.

Come to me, it said in a hushed, soothing tone. I did not understand what it meant, but I felt compelled to follow it. I swayed my four paws towards wear my ears had heard it, my body easily gliding through the clouds as I steered myself towards where I had heard the voice from. Come to me, it repeated. It's voice resonated through me and the air as time seemed to slow down while I descended from the sky and landed on the hard, cold stone that was the land of the humans. As I walked onward the blurs that were once people began to take form and shape, the moon solidified in place in the night sky, and once my four paws had delivered me to my destination, time had once again been reverted to that which I remembered.

"It's very good to see you, Wolf," said the warm bright mass of light. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"What are you?" I asked, then yelped with surprise. "What is this, how am I-"

"Talking?" The word sounded foreign, but I still knew what it meant.

"Yes... Talking."

"This is the way humans communicate, through words formed by sounds, a more organized version of your yelps and howls back when you were alive. Now that you are a spirit, my friend, you'll find that communication works much more differently."

I tried to think on this and found myself surprised at how I was now thinking in words.

"But...I was able to communicate just fine without this...language. Why is it that I am speaking now?"

"Because I asked for it to be so, and it was." said the Light. Despite my inability to see its form, I could hear the smile in its voice.

"I don't understand."

"I am not asking you to, Wolf. Your purpose for being here is for a different reason than to understand the workings of the spirit world. And as for what I am, there is no name in your language, but the humans refer to me as an Angel."

"Angel," the word seemed to leave a pleasant impression on my tongue. I found myself repeating it, trying to fully understand what it meant. The Light giggled as it watched me.

"Do you find me amusing?"

"It's not that at all!" it responded happily, which I found to be just sarcasm, but I was getting ahead of myself.

"Why did you bring me here, Angel? Why was it that I was left floating among the clouds for so long, wandering, until today?"

"I will show you why." The world around us shifted, and we went from the streets to a white, cramped room filled with people. I flattened myself to the ground, covering my ears with my paws as the woman on the table shrieked loudly in pain.

"Why is she screaming?!" I unnecessarily shouted.

"Child birth can be very painful."

Another scream, this one louder than the first. I was able to make out the man in blue compelling her to continue.

"Child birth? As in, a new born? Why is she in so much pain?" I whined as her shouting hurt my ears.

"Human babies are actually very large upon exiting the womb. And given that it's such a small opening..."

An even louder scream. Had humans no limit to how loud they could be?

"I agree, this is becoming a nuisance." And the sound disappeared. I lifted my head up to look around. Everything was still going as it was before, but it seemed as though someone had just flipped and switch and muted the world

"Did you do this?"

"Yes, I want you to watch closely, and listen to only the baby here. This is a very important moment."

I watched as what the humans called a doctor continued to compel the woman to expel the child further and further out of her. Although the opening had started small, it was forced incredibly wide open as the new-born's head began to slide out. I was almost made sick to my stomach from how unnatural it seemed, until the baby slide out completely, a large cord attached to the baby's stomach as it took its first breath and cried out. The sound, at first, was piercing, hurting my sensitive ears, but as I watched, an unusual light began to manifest from the small, damp body. It grew bigger, brighter, and warmer the more it cried, leaving me in awe and wonder. It was such a refreshing sight, like the light of a new morning multiplied a thousand fold.

"Angel...what is this feeling...?"

"That is an emotion the human language does not have words for. What you are seeing is the start of a new life. This is the power of a newly formed and growing spirit within a human body. A power not much unlike your own spirit when you were first born."

I snapped out of my marvel, looking down at myself. Between the two scintillating figures in the room, I looked pale and transparent. My soul barely shined at all anymore. As though sensing my distress, the angel began to speak again.

"Do not be discouraged, wolf. It is very rare for a light to stay as brilliant as it is now with the passing of time. As people age, they grow weary and jaded, some lose sense of their spirituality, others lose sense of themselves. It is very hard to remain with your light shining in a world so full of darkness. And tied down by your own regrets and mistakes, your light has been dimmed as well."

I felt my spiritual form sway and shiver at my anger. "Why are you showing me this? Simply to rub it in my face why I can never see Heaven?"

The angel seemed to cast it's sights upon me, and I felt a sadness emanating from it. "Not at all, wolf. You are a beautiful creation and deserve to see paradise as much as any other. Which is why we are here."

I looked at the angel strangely.

"I wanted you to see what a new-born should look like before I took you to the room I was meant to show you." The world around us whipped into a frenzy, the sound turning back on again. Hundreds of voices flew past us until we ended up in a similar room as before, the woman and the doctor in the same position as the other two were, the baby having just come out, except there being no sound at all. I looked closely at the body of a new born, to my horror seeing his skin purple and blue.

"What's...what's wrong with him..."

"This is what the humans refer to as a still birth. They consider the baby dead having come out of the womb."

"But...why?" I looked back at the angel to distract me from the horrific sight, yet still being able to hear the mother's panicked and worrying voice at her child.

"This one's soul has exhausted itself within the body, or perhaps it entered the body exhausted to begin with. In either case, it does not have the energy to properly merge with its new body, and thus the soul will be forced out, and the body left to rot."

I felt myself shudder again as anger coursed through me once more. "Is there nothing you can do? Are you just going to let it die?!"

"Anything I can do? No, there is not," it responded in a soft, almost whispering tone. "However, you on the other hand, can."

"Yes. Look closely." Time stopped, and suddenly we were put into a completely blank space, white surrounding us entirely, with a dime blue light in the center. The light seemed to have a shape, almost that of a human, but it shimmered and shuddered in and out of existence. I could see it's effort in trying to remain within the body, the fatigue eminent on it's form. I couldn't help but come closer, feeling compelled to aid it.

"Greetings, wolf," it whispered, it's voice full of exhaustion, yet still ringing with a soothing, beautiful tone.

"Human...why do you struggle so?"

"The reason for why will be of no importance soon enough...it seems I am at my limit."

"Is there no way I can help you? Nothing I can do? It pains me to see you in such a state." Why I felt such compassion with a creature that took part in destroying my world confused me, but somewhere deep down I knew this one was innocent. It had no part in any of that. It was not to be blamed for any of my misfortunes.

"There is a way," the angel chimed in almost a song behind us. "There is a way for the wolf to find the redemption it seeks, and for the spirit to find the life it desires."

Both of us looked towards the Angel, myself astounded. "You speak in tongues, Messenger."

"In more ways than one," it chimed happier, the light from it seeming to shine brighter. "But what I mean is, there is a way for this...human," the way it hesitated in the word, made me curious, but that soon left my mind. "To find the life it seeks, and a way for you, wolf, to find the way to be rid of all that ties you down to this Between realm."

"And what is that?" I asked, the excitement of having an answer to my problems resonating through me.

"You merge together to become one. No longer separate human and separate wolf, but one being of light inside this body, to begin life anew."

I looked back at the spirit as it looked to me, almost pleading now. The thought of it should have repulsed me. I should have at least felt to think twice, but I knew the angel spoke the truth, and I knew this was our only chance.

"I will do it."

As soon as I had spoken those words, beautiful white wings had sprouted from the back of the human's spirit. They stretched far to either side, the human's arms outstretched to me, welcoming me to it, and I followed into them, embracing it's cool, soothing form as best I could, while it held onto me, the warm, bright wings enfolding around us in an even tighter embrace.

"Together you shall be both man and wolf," the Angel declared triumphantly. "While you may not retain many, if any, memories of your past lives during your new one, know that you are a special being, deserving to live the life of happiness that was designed for you, to be welcomed into paradise once your time has come!"

I felt a strong wind swirl and gust around us, enfolding around us, pressing us tighter, further together, melding our spirits.

"I am...afraid," I managed to say into the human's ear, feeling weaker, my mind beginning to drift. I felt the human's spirit hold me tighter.

"Do not fear, wolf, for I am here with you as well. We have each other, never alone again."

Those were the last words I heard, before all went dark.

----

In the real world, the child that was considered dead began to cry, startling the doctors and nurses in the room, and relieving the panicked woman. It cried louder and louder, a cry so resonant and powerful that it seemed to overpower any other sound in existance. The doctors brought the new born baby into the arms of it's mother, and as soon as she looked at it, shushing it and hugging it close to her, it quickly began to quiet, from the silence a small smile trailing along its face to greet her. She smiled back, crying tears of joy, kissing it softly on it's head.

"My beautiful baby. My one and only."