So there I was, sitting on a cliff, hanging twenty feet over the ocean, watching the meteor shower, trying to discern any shred of inspiration for my painting for the art show. I had gotten several ideas, but none of them seemed to seethe through my brush and onto the canvas as naturally as they should have. With only a week left before the art show, this was most likely my last chance to get a substantial amount of inspiration. As I watched the stars shatter through the night sky, my hopeful attitude soon became somber and pessimistic.

I stood up to walk away. As soon as I turned my back, I heard a monstrously vociferous noise coming from behind me. It was getting louder. Before I could turn back to face the cliff, the ground turbulently shook under me, sweeping my off my feet. I was swallowed by a swirling inferno. The fire was unlike anything I had ever seen. It swirled with red, blue, pink, purple, black, green, white, silver, orange, and gold. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but its heat was too immense for me to last much longer in it. As if on cue, the rainbow fire died down. I ran to my car as fast as I could. In fear that something was behind me, I did not dare to look back. In fear that I would find the truth, a truth that I would not like, I did not dare to question what just happened. I just assumed that it was a renegade meteor that broke away from the rest.

When I finally reached my car, I rushed into it. My hands were trembling as I put my key in the ignition. When I finally got it into the ignition, I heard a thump on my window. My jaw dropped as soon as I looked up. It was a beautiful woman with shimmering, volcanic orange skin. Four black wings with purple streaks sprouted from her back. Tiger stripes covered her torso, shoulders, and cheeks. Clear diamonds were embedded all over her stomach. Golden leopard print danced down her legs and forearms. Her eyes were an ever changing, colorful kaleidoscope. Her black hair was as wavy and ever-flowing as a river of fire. Her nails were golden claws. A peacock tail with a flame design, adorned with the same colors of the fire on the cliff trailed behind her, like a wedding dress. She buffeted my window until I rolled it down. We starred at each other in silence until the sounds of police sirens and fire trucks filled the air. If I stayed any longer, the police would assume that I was responsible for the fire. I knew I had to leave, but I refused to leave her on her alone. I opened my car door and let her come with me.

She never spoke. She never ate. She never slept. All day, she just watched me paint. I still did not have any extant of inspiration. I painted pretty much every fruit, plant, and animal under the sun. Still, nothing I did was worth a spot at the art show. The woman that fell from the sky used her claws to tear up all my disappointing paintings. The only painting that she kept intact was one of a raven. So that was what I called her, Raven. After days of painting, I finally knew what I was going to paint. It took me six hours to finish it, but the results were worth it.

When Raven saw my painting, she gasped. It was a perfect portrait of her. Raven smiled and fluttered her wings chaotically. She purred with appreciation. Her peacock tail spread out. When she moved her feathers, the flame design on her tail looked like a live fire. The clear diamonds on her stomach started to gain color. It was a blurry picture of two people facing each other. I took her reaction as a five star rating. I left went to the art gallery, to drop off my painting. When I got back home, the house was dead silent. I searched everywhere, only to find that the house was empty. My window was open and the curtains softly drifted in the wind. Other than my home, there was only one other place that she had known of.

The sun was setting by the time that I reached the cliff. Raven was spreading all four of her wings, facing the ocean, preparing to take off. As if she sensed my presence, she turned around as soon as I arrived. She greeted me with a big smile. She slowly backed up towards the ocean, the waves corrosively crashing into the edge of the cliff. The light of the sunset reflected off her beautiful black wings. I ran up to her and begged for her to stay, dropping to my knees. I do not think she understood me because she just kept smiling. She placed her two hands along my jaw and slowly pulled me onto my feet. The blurry image on her stomach, of two people facing each other, cleared up to reveal a man and a woman kissing. She pulled my face towards hers. When our lips touched, I could feel electricity coursing from her soft lips onto my own. When our lips locked, my entire body heated up. I felt like a fire had erupted inside my ribcage. I lived my entire life within those few seconds of contact. The moment, that she pulled her head back, she launched herself off the cliff, falling towards the ocean.

I dived after Raven. There was no way I was letting her leave me after that. Before I could grab her, she changed her direction, propelling herself skyward. Fire danced on her wings. The diamonds on her stomach displayed a moving mosaic, a miniature movie of fireworks erupting. Lightning flowed through her hair. Raven looked down for a split second. Her expression quickly became one of despair and sadness. A single tear rolled down her cheek, free falling towards me. I stuck my hand out and caught it in my right hand. A smile came to my face right before I crashed into the waves.