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morning sunrise giving birth to a new day, pouring their vibrant hues across the land. I had seen them many times before , and I d id n ’ t know if it was the glow, but I was taken aback by the beauty of this venator . For a moment d éjà v u crept ove r me. I had seen something like this before, but I couldn ’ t recall what it was.
    Admiring his wings , I wondered how they felt on his back. Obviously, I didn ’ t get the wondrous gene from my father , who was one of God ’ s first angels —or was it Gamma ’ s doing that I didn’t have wings ? I couldn ’ t remember . Austin turned to look at me with his beaming smile. “ What took you so long? ” he muttered , snapping me out of my daze . He too had changed.
    “ Making you wait. So, you going to fly me there or do we walk? ”
    “ Let ’ s see how fast you can move .”
    “ Huh? ” I didn ’ t have wings so I knew he didn ’ t mean flying. Maybe he meant running .
    “ I ’ ll lead and you follow. I want to see what you can do. Catch me if you can. ” His voice lingered for a second.
    Before I could register what he had just said, he took off running , s o I ran after him. To my surprise, I was fast. Not just fast, really fast, almost as fast as him. Like a light ning bolt, I followed him down the cliff to the sandy beach. “ Whoo hoo! ” I shouted, enliven ed by this excitement. I gu ess ed I ’d always moved like this. I d id n ’ t remember, but what a RUSH. The refreshing light wind brushed me , and I s p e d like the weightless breeze. As I chased Austin, I got so caught up with this newfound skill that I lost sight of him and smacked into his body full force. We tumbled to the sand.
    I placed my hands out to support myself , but couldn’t help landing on top of him , m y face next to his. “ Sorry, I got too excited and … . ” I paused , staring at his devious grin . M ost likely he was thinking of a flirtatious line.
    “ I always knew you like d to be on top. ” He winked.
    All of a sudden, h e flipped me over, wrapp ing his wings around us like a cocoon. “ But I like it on top, ” he said. H is lips were a breath away from mine . F lushed and hypnotized by his piercing eyes I lay there , paralyzed , anticipat ing a kiss that didn ’ t happen . Relief flooded through me when he broke away and lifted me to my feet . He pointed toward the row of bushes that was a distance away. “ We ’ ll have to go through th at field of tall bushes. Let ’ s walk this time. Y ou might knock me down agai n. ”
    “ Hmmm…I don ’ t need a reason to knock you down now that I know I can, ” I teased .
    He chuckled lightly as I dusted the sand of f my clothes and we headed toward our destination. The bushes looked like tall grand guards protecting the garden from uninvited intruders. To the left and right, they completely surrounded the island. Euphoria filled me a s I followed him. Austin was taking me to see the Garden of Eden where the Tree of Knowledge had re sted since the birth of humans—Adam and Eve. I could hardly wait!

Chapter 2

    What I thought were bushes were actually tall fronds of grass cov ered with sharp prickly thorns. E ven knowing they had thorns—a warning sign that flashed ‘ do not touch ’ —I disregarded the sign. Excitedly, I gingerly parted them.
    “ Ouch !” I jerked from the sting. The cut was deep and about an inch long. Blood trickled down the palm of my hand a nd one pearl— shaped drop fell to the ground. Austin flipped my hand over. I stared as the cut started to heal by itself , as if an invisible thread and needle s titched it up.
    Austin traced the healed wound as I stood there dumbfounded. Did my wounds heal like this all the time and I just didn ’ t remember? The cut and the pain disap peared like it had never happened.
    Austin glanced at me . “ Pretty cool , huh? ”
    “ Do all venators heal like that? ”
    “ It depends on the cut and how deep. The deeper the cut the longer it takes, but