Page 3 of Deep Love

Zeff stepped around me and opened the exit door. “Delphi, you are hereby banished from Seraphia until your human life comes to an end. Only then shall your soul be tried again. If you’ve lived to the best of your ability with love and kindness in your heart, Solari shall welcome your soul home.”

“If not,” Criston said, “you shall get a one-way ticket downstairs where your soul will suffer for all eternity.”

A shudder rippled through me as I turned and faced the open door, just standing there and dreading what was on the other side.

“It’s better if you take that first step yourself,” Zeff said.

“But we will push you if it comes to that,” Criston added.

I glanced at them over my shoulder. “When I come back to Seraphia, you two will still be at the top of my shit list.”

“That’s fair,” Criston said.

I chucked them both a middle finger and walked across the threshold. I expected re-entry to Earth to be like descending a staircase or something.

Nope.

That first step led me into a freefall in which I plummeted for-fucking-ever until my body slammed to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me and I struggled to take in a breath, but once I did, the next breath followed easily as did the one after that. I peeled myself off what appeared to be a grassy field and swiped at a smudge of blood on the palm of my hand where I hit a rock or something. More blood pooled at the cut and I was reminded of how much being a human sucked. Such fragile creatures. I hadn’t bled in ages. Hadn’t had a cold. No headaches or pulled muscles. Nothing. Now I was susceptible once again to that and much more.

I rose to my feet and brushed dirt and leaves from the jeans and T-shirt I was wearing. At least Solari found it in her heart to not drop me down here naked. It also appeared I wasn’t starting from being a newborn human. From the looks of it and how I felt in this skin, I was beginning this round of Earth-dwelling at about age thirty.

And I also remembered the last time I was here. Like every detail of my previous life was right there on file in my brain. Solari was going to let me pick up where I’d left off? Odd.

I didn’t immediately recognize where I’d landed, but everything was green and a warm breeze blew through the field around me. I recalled Criston saying it was mosquito season on Earth. My past experiences equated mosquitoes with summertime, and both the fact that everything appeared to be in bloom and the temperatures were mild led me to believe the summer season was in full swing here.

But where is here?

If Solari had truly dumped me back into my old life, then I should be in Vermont. Moon Valley, specifically, but how much time had I spent in Seraphia? And did time pass the same way there as it did on Earth? And why did I remember my past life and my time in Seraphia? Shouldn’t the slate have been wiped clean?

I wouldn’t get the answers to any of these questions unless I traveled beyond this field, so I picked a direction and started walking. The wildflowers around me perfumed the air and birds sang in the nearby trees, making me believe with every step that this was my beloved Vermont. Until I’d seen Seraphia, Vermont had been my top favorite place and I’d enjoyed my time in the state.

Before my untimely exit.

I guess that was a running theme for me. Untimely exits from places I didn’t want to leave. The first exit, the one that had made me exit Earth, had been due to a horrible car accident. I’d gotten caught in a flash snowstorm that had created whiteout conditions. Snow had accumulated so fast on the road that even people who had spent lifetimes perfecting their winter weather driving had found their skills lacking. My vehicle had been launched into a slide that had sent it directly off a highway bridge. I’d crash-landed on the road below it, and though my body had sustained life-threatening injuries, what had actually done me in was the heart attack I’d had on the way down.

At least that was what Solari had told me right before she’d erased all memories of my first human life upon entrance to Seraphia.

The second exit, the one that had led me out of Seraphia, had been a mistake. I never re-routed any souls. I’d swear this second life on it.

Goddess, I hoped there wouldn’t be a third exit that brought more unpleasantness.

I kept walking, the sun beating down on my back. Below my shoulders itched like crazy, and when I slipped my hand under my T-shirt, my fingertips ran across puckered skin.

Where my wings used to be.

Why couldn’t the remnants of my angel life in Seraphia have been lingering power instead of wing scars? Solari sure knew how to dole out a punishment that hurt deep. With these scars, I had zero hope of forgetting I was once an angel and living in the most perfect place.

After walking for what felt like endless miles, I finally stumbled upon a collection of houses. Assuming I’d hit a neighborhood, I kept walking until I found myself on a dirt road. I considered stopping at one of the houses to ask where I was, but that would no doubt seem suspicious and how would I explain myself?

Hi. I’m Delphi. I died and became an angel, but I was kicked out of that perfect realm. Want to see my wing scars?

I huffed out a breath and kept walking. My feet were aching as another reminder I was no longer an angel, no longer a pure soul, no longer a resident of Seraphia.

I was a human.

On Earth.

With no clue what I was supposed to do here.

If I had returned as a newborn, at least I would have been born into a family who was bound to take care of me. Being an adult meant I had to figure this shit out on my own.

“Okay, basic necessities,” I said aloud. “I need a shelter, food, water. If Earth still works the same way as when I was here before, I’ll need money before I can get any of those other things.”

Deciding I had to start with a job, I walked until I came upon a street filled with shops, restaurants, and businesses. While many of the establishments were unfamiliar, I found one I recognized. Moose’s Diner, still claiming to have the Best Burgers This Side of Burlington and confirming I was indeed in Moon Valley, Vermont. I’d frequented this diner during my first round on Earth, and the fact that Solari had given me this tidbit from my past had to mean that was where I would start on my future.

As I neared the diner, a sign in the window caught my attention.

Help Wanted. Waitstaff needed. Inquire within.

I’d been a teacher in my previous life, but apparently my calling this time was to feed the masses the best burgers this side of Burlington.