Tear The Sky Asunder

Behind every myth there is a sliver of truth

“Did you know that thunder is just the sound of angels laughing?”

Four-year-old Aneka stared up at the night’s sky in awe as she soaked up her mama’s words.

The rumble of the thunder outside her window had chased her from her bed and into her mama’s room, leaving behind the tattered remains of the confidence that had convinced her she could sleep on her own.

She clutched at her mama’s nightdress as lightning tore the sky apart.

“Really?” she whispered and her mama nodded.

“Yup. You see when someone dies, their body goes into the ground but their spirit doesn’t. And if they’re a good person, there’s only one place for them to go and that’s up.”

Aneka barely noticed the rumble this time, so caught up in the images her mama had painted in her mind.

If the only thing you needed to do was be good to go join the angels, then Aneka was sure that was where her mama would be going.

That was where she’d be going too because her mama always said she was a good girl…the absolute best.

Her dad on the other hand…

Aneka shook her head to clear it of her thoughts.

“What’s the lightning then?” she inquired.

“The angels dancing,” her mama replied without missing a beat. “Each time their feet touches the clouds, the sky celebrates because the joy of angels is worth celebrating. That’s the lightning.”

Aneka snuggled close, still clinging to her mama but not as tightly. The storm didn’t seem as scary with her mama’s words in her ears.

She still didn’t want to go back to her own room but now that her terror had fled, sleep was once again creeping in, making her limbs heavy and her eyes burn.

She was mid-way to slumber when she remembered one last question.

“What’s the rain?”

Her mama was quiet for a long moment and Aneka almost didn’t hear her response before she fell asleep.

“That’s an angel crying.”

Her father’s body was heavy but Aneka still managed to drag it outside despite the way the blood dripped down her arms, its loss making her knees weak.

The wound in her stomach throbbed as she straightened, leaving him lying in front of their house.

The trail of blood from where the man had fallen made the floor slippery and Aneka had to swallow back the bile in her throat as she stepped over it, slamming the door behind her.

There were wolves in the woods surrounding the home her mama had made for them.

Aneka hoped they found him.

She hoped they ripped him apart like he’d ripped their happy life apart.

It was what he deserved.

She stumbled twice as she tried to climb the stairs, her vision darkening at the edges but she forced herself to keep moving.

Her mama’s room had been almost destroyed in the fight and Aneka didn’t look at the body on the bed.

Her legs carried her only another few feet before she hit the floor.

She crawled the rest of the distance until she was pressed against the bed.

Turning her back to it, she stretched out her legs, watching the darkening sky through the open window as blood pooled beneath her.

She faded in and out of consciousness, her body almost completely numb but she was still aware enough to feel the first drops of rain on her face as the wind sent the curtains dancing.

She closed her eyes, lips ticked up into a small smile as she remembered the story her mama had told her fourteen years ago.

Another drop of rain splashed across her cheek, joining her tears as she closed her eyes.

“Mama, are you crying?” she whispered and as she expected, there was no reply except the rumble of thunder as the storm rolled in.