Autumn
It was on a cool spring night that Autumn found herself lying on a park’s sidewalk, under a lamp, unable to move. How did I get here? she asked herself. Her memory was hazy, her consciousness fuzzy, and she felt a slight pain in her chest. Blood, she could feel her own blood. That couldn’t be good.
Now it was coming back to her. She had come this way on her way home. It was stupid coming this way at night, but she had been in a hurry and this was a shortcut. And now…and now there were stab wounds in her chest. A searing pain cut through her lungs every time she breathed. She would die here like this she knew, if she didn’t get help.
“Are you alright, what happened?” someone was leaning over her now. She tried to speak, but it hurt. “Here,” the voice said, “let me help you up.” It was an oddly melodious male voice, gentle enough to ease her tension.
Soft hands took hold of her, helping Autumn to her feet. “I—I’ve been stabbed.” she used all her energy to speak these words. “Go get help.”
“I will take you to help,” her benefactor said. “Can you hold on to me?”
“I’m trying,” she gasped, clutching at his sides, “I’m . . . very weak.” She looked into the man’s face for the first time. His face wore a deeply concerned expression within its handsome features. “I’m—I’m too weak,” Autumn said, “you should leave me—call for help. It would—be faster—that way.” It took an enormous effort to form these words.
“If I leave you here you might die,” the man said. “I cannot leave a lady in distress. Here, hold on tightly, it is just a little ways to safety.” He started to walk awkwardly, clutching Autumn tightly to his side.
She was shaking, tears formed in her eyes and covered her face. The pain in her chest was overwhelming. “I’m bleeding,” she said.
“Yes, you are.”
“I think I’m bleeding on you.”
The man smiled. “That does not matter. Does it hurt much?”
“A bit,” Autumn answered. Truth be told, the pain seemed to have lessened, which probably meant she was losing consciousness. She didn’t want to think about that. “This was stupid,” she remarked.
“What? Getting stabbed?”
“Yeah, that. But I meant…I meant what I did to get stabbed.” She tried to straighten herself up. Failing that, she clung more tightly to the stranger. “I mean it’s just plane stupid—for a woman—or anyone I suppose—to enter a park—in the middle of the night like this—but that’s—that’s not even all of it.” She was interrupted by a fit of coughing. It hurt to talk, but she went on anyway. “I heard someone scream. I went to investigate. There was an old lady—someone was mugging her, I tried to help, to stop the mugging, but…but instead I was stabbed.” She coughed again. “This is what I get for being a good Samaritan.”
“Indeed,” the stranger said. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
“That is somewhat—cynical of you,” Autumn said weakly. She was tired of talking now.
“Yes, but it is true,” the stranger said. “I try to be a kind person, I try to help those in need. My—my family does not—well, they do not entirely approve of my selfless kindness towards humanity.”
“Why not?”
“They—they think I interfere too much with the lives of others. That if they wanted saving they would do so themselves.”
Autumn stared at him. “I can’t believe anyone would think that.” They were silent for a moment, as the stranger slowly helped her along the pathway. Then—“Who are you?” Autumn asked suddenly.
“I am—I guess you could say I am a teacher of sorts. Or a good Samaritan. One of those things. I—oh sometimes I do not even know what I am. What I am doing with my life. No one has ever really appreciated the things I have done.”
Autumn was in too much pain to make any sense of any of this. “How far—are we?” she asked breathlessly.
“We are almost out of this park now,” the stranger spoke soothingly. “Once there we can find a public telephone and call for an ambulance.”
“Oh thank God.” She stared down at his pants, which she noticed were covered in her blood. She must have lost a lot of blood by now, it was a wonder she was still alive. He held her tightly, pressing against her chest, trying to stop her bleeding.
“Here,” the stranger said. “We are almost there now. There is a public telephone over there, we can call for help.” He led her out of the park, and into the city’s crowded sidewalk.
Here, people immediately started running towards them, saying things like “oh my god”, “are you alright?”, “what happened?”. A man stepped out of the crowd towards Autumn, took her arm, and pulled her away from the stranger. “I’ll call 911 ma’am, can you speak? Are you in much pain?”
“Yes—call—911”, she said faintly. She looked behind her, and suddenly noticed that the stranger was gone. “Where did he go?” she cried.
“Who? Where did who go ma’am?”
“The man. The man who carried me out of the park.”
The crowd looked at her blankly. “There was no man. You walked out of the park alone.” Autumn looked at them all disbelievingly. “Ma’am, you’ve lost a lot of blood, you’re a little delirious right now, I wouldn’t—”
“I AM NOT INSANE!” she yelled—no, she shouldn’t yell, it hurt her lungs. Silent tears streamed down her face. “There was a man. I swear, there was a man, he helped me out of the park, I couldn’t have done it alone! I would have died.” the crowd whispered to each other. “Well he has got to be around here somewhere, he was covered in my blood, he cannot go unnoticed.”
The ambulance came and took her to the hospital. “He was real,” Autumn whispered to the doctors in the ambulance. “I don’t care what you say, he found me lying in the park dying, and he saved me.”
Don’t worry Autumn, a voice whispered in her ear. I am real.
Oh no, now I’m hearing voices in my head. I take it back, I am insane.
You are not insane. I really did help you out of the park. If it were not for me, you would be dead now. I—I try to help people, a guardian angel, if you will. I help. I teach. I help up those who have fallen, I bring light to those in darkness. I taught humanity good from evil. The others—the others don’t approve. The others watch, but don’t interfere. Many speak ill of me.
Who are you? Autumn asked of the voice in her head.
My name—you don not want to know my name.
Yes, I do.
They call me the barer of light. You may have heard of me…they don’t like me much in heaven anymore…My name…my name is Lucifer.
