Angel.

Mathew had stopped in his tracks at the sight before him, his mouth agape; he stood staring for a second before a faint blush found its way to his cheeks. There, on a pile of straw lay a girl whiter than snow, her skin was completely hairless and she bore no goose bumps, even in the morning cold. He assumed she was asleep as her wide set eyes were closed and he could make out some faint purple capillaries on her eyelids, she had high inhuman cheekbones and her nose was small and delicate and looked as if it had been carved gracefully from marble.

Her flawless naked body was perfectly in proportion, long thin legs with a flat stomach and hand-sized breasts; her hourglass figure was like a work of art, that only a pure genius could ever think up. Her wings only looked natural spread out below her, reaching a large span, they were also white, feathered and she looked as if everything she touched would taint her in some way. Next to her surroundings, her pure white seemed to glow and dulled everything in the barn, almost as if Mathew had never seen real colours before, as if he had only seen the dulled washed-out version.

Suddenly very aware he was staring at the sight before him, he backed away speechlessly to the top of the wooded stairs. There his dad stood waiting expectantly. Mathew’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he could get any sound to come out.
‘I...I think we might need some blankets up here...’ he managed to stutter out to his astounded father

Now usually Mathew would have gone to get blankets himself, but this was no usual day and in his state of both awe and surprise he highly doubted he would be able to find the house, never mind remember where the blankets were kept.

His eyes were drawn back to the hair-raising creature as he heard his father walk from the barn to the house, a shiver thrilled down his spine at her unadulterated perfection, he wanted to protect her from all the evils in this world, keep her safe and hidden.
It was as he stared at the white-haired beauty that her eyelids fluttered open and he held back a gasp, her eyes were also white. He wondered for a second whether she was blind, for surely she could not see with no pupil yet his thoughts were disproven when her head slowly turned to face him.

As each studied the other wordlessly he became increasingly aware that he was speechless, finding nothing he could say to her in this situation, and as the seconds passed he willed his father to arrive with the blankets for he felt both foolish and unworthy to stand before this creature in such a casual manner.

She awoke to an unfamiliar tingling sensation crawling over her skin and upon opening her eyes she found a brown-haired human watching her. His eyes were a rich mossy hazel infused with a deep brown and he was similar to the human she saw the night before. The difference lay in the mouth and eyes, however. The eyes were a slightly different shape to the old farmer’s and the lips were plumper and more feminine. His face bore an unrecognisable expression mixed with awe, shock and protectiveness.

Maybe if she had more experience in this world, she may have feared the man who stood before her, because although he was harmless and kind in nature, his stature was one of strength and it would not be difficult for him to look intimidating. However, she had no experience in this world and instantly trusted him.

‘What is your name?’ he asked, his deep voice rumbled through his chest like the formidable thunder as it strayed through stormy grey clouds yet it was full of kindness and interest and she instantly liked it.

Angel names, as well as the language cannot be spoken on earth, yet her knowledge of this had been forgotten for although Angels know everything, the mind of man does not have the capacity to hold all. As she tried to reply no noise escaped her mouth for no sound could form the sounds of which made up her name.

Her hands gripped her throat lightly, trying again to voice her name, yet she couldn’t. The eyes of the man who stood before her filled with pity at the realisation that she was unable to speak.

‘Do you understand me?’ he asked, feeling an immense sadness that this creature lacked a voice, for if she had one, it was bound to have been beautiful.

He watched as she tried to form words again and failed, instead she nodded her head sombrely, the universal sign of agreement.

Kneeling before her, on the dusty floor of the barn, he reached out and touched her cheek lightly

‘You’ll be ok’ he told her ‘I’ll make sure of it’ sincerity ringing out in his voice.

New emotions bubbled through her as he said these words; affection and gratitude, but she didn’t understand or know what to do with these new feelings, never mind what they were, and so pushing them aside and ignoring them, she just stared back.

Hearing the barn door being moved alerted Mathew to the return of his father, the dust swirled on the floor as he moved to get to his feet again, a grey patch now visible on his once clean trousers. His boot clad feet clumped against the dirty wooden floor loudly as he strode toward the stairs to fetch the blankets his father had brought; they were thick and soft and smelled faintly of burning timber. The top blanket was slightly damp, small water droplets clinging onto the fleecy fibres and Mathew looked to his elder questioningly.
‘The weather isn’t holding up’ John O’Brian explained to his eldest son; the drizzling rain had started on his way back to the barn, dampening the top of the pile. He allowed Mathew to take half of what he held, carrying the other half himself, eager to see the creature he was sure he had imagined.