Tiny Dancer

&Mariana's P.O.V.&

At the end of Jenni's funeral I performed in front of the lake. Several times I thought I felt someone's breath on my shoulder or their hand on my waist, but when I turned there was no one there. Towards the end of my dance I began to slowly inch towards the edge of the Lake of Tears. And when it seemed like I was done and the music ended I turned, flipping and cartwheeling off the edge of the cliff. Eventually I plunged into the icy water, ignoring the screams of my mother. My father didn't even say anything. He just stood there, staring over the edge of the rock face at me.
I watched the silver bubbles dance around me as I sank down, and water began to fill my airways and make its way quickly down my windpipe and resting in my lungs. This must be what it's like to drown, I thought. I felt my toes and fingers go numb, and then my hands. My feet and shins got cold, goosebumps spreading across my entire body. As I continued sinking my thighs grew numb, and the cold kept creeping closer and closer to my head. I smiled again for one last time before I closed my eyes, the trail of sparkling bubbles twirling around me.
As I rose from my human body I stayed for a moment to watch it sink further and further before I rose above the water. About halfway between the Earth and the clouds I was joined by a dark angel, who smiled.
"Hello, Mariana," he said. His voice seemed familiar. I frowned. "You must be wondering why you know me."
I nodded. "What's your name?"
"Well," he said. "I'm Tory, the one that was beside you when your sister died. And I was the one who told you to jump."
I tipped my head to the side. "Did you dance with me?"
He nodded. "Come on, we're almost there."
After rising through the clouds we passed through a busy marketplace, through a giant set of doors and by a smiling secretary. When we reached our destination, I smiled again. When we were first in the short line, a booming voice called, "Come in."
I smiled.