Down, down went the Paternoster with Ori inside. The speed was dizzying. At times, Ori's feet didn't touch the floor as air from the open side ruffled Ori's feathers and lifted wings.

At first, all Ori saw were landscapes whooshing past – mountains, streams of water and, more alarmingly, lava, the occasional shower of rocks. Then creatures started to appear in flashes: writhing things, crawling things, lumbering things. Ori jumped when once, a gigantic beak, attached to an even more gigantic head, thrust itself halfway into the open doorway before withdrawing with an angry hiss. Ori had absolutely no desire to disembark at any of these places, and shrank back into a far corner of the conveyance as it continued its rapid plunge.

Being at the back of the Paternoster compartment was just as well, because now there came torrents of rain – massive drops from above falling on the earth beneath, causing rising waters. Ori worried for a moment that the Paternoster was going to experience flooding, but the rain seemed to trigger a defence mechanism in the lift: it threw up an invisible force field that repelled the water. That was something, at least. Ori wondered if there would ever be a sight out that doorway that looked the least bit safe.

Actually, Ori would have settled for 'not immediately life-threatening.'

And then Ori saw it: sun and cerulean. And an arch of lovely colours spanning the air. Ori didn't need an invitation from Prajapati, but simply jumped into that inviting sky.

The weather was great for soaring, and soaring is what took place. Ori was feeling cramped from being inside the Paternoster and enjoyed stretching wings. The angel climbed and dove and wheeled around for quite a while before remembering that there was probably some landscape below that might be worth looking at. So Ori did.

Wow, was all Ori could think. There was a sea down there. Incredibly blue. Bluer than the bluest blue of the skies around the Penthouse. And that sea was extremely noisy, because water, gallons and gallons of the stuff, hundreds and thousands of gallons of the stuff, was pouring over a cliff into the basin and making, as we said, a lot of noise, more noise than the entire Celestial Host Massed Choirs singing 'Wholly Satisfactory' at the top of their lungs with maximum amplification.

That's one noisy waterfall.

It was also a very effective waterfall: looking down, Ori could see the water level rising on the downside of the relentless cascade. You didn't have to wait long, either: that big sea was getting deeper by the minute.

Obviously, this creation business could take some surprising turns. At least nothing's trying to eat me, thought Ori, and decided to go in search of some land and maybe a fruit tree or two.

Ori had to fly quite a way to find land. This sea was really big. The wings were getting a workout. Finally, Ori spotted a shoreline, with a beach, and came in for a landing. The soft sand was warm to Ori's toes. Lots of interesting shells. Funny-looking creatures scurried along, in search of food, no doubt, before the next wave carried it away. Ori smiled: it was a nice day.

A whirring of wings overhead: Ori looked up as the sky seemed to become cloudy. Birds, hundreds of thousands of them, flying together. Small birds, much smaller than Ori, but impressive in such numbers. Ori smiled to see them, and stared upward, fascinated, as they performed patterns of murmuration against the blue sky. The birds were a light grey. Lots of food down here, he thought as they sped inland.

Then Ori heard a less pleasant noise: even an out-of-tune cherub section couldn't have matched that sounds. Somewhere between a squawk and a roar and sounding badly out of temper. Ori turned.

That's an awfully big bird, thought Ori. Looks like it has a nasty temper, too. The big bird glided over the beach, obviously looking for prey. Its windspan was impressive, even to Ori, who decided to let it go on its way.

That is, until it spotted the primate: about half Ori's size, upright, bipedal, and forward-looking like Ori's species, and covered with brown fur. The little creature was picking up shells along the water line and didn't notice the huge bird bearing down on it. Obviously, the bird had spotted dinner. When the little animal looked up and saw the bird, it gave a sharp cry and began running in the direction of the forest at the edge of the beach. It ran as fast as it could – but it wasn't going to make cover before the bird caught up with it.

Oh, no, you don't, thought Ori, and without thinking, flew after the nasty-looking avian.

The bird was a fast flyer, but Ori was faster. Circling around, Ori headed the bird off with menacing wing flaps.

'Ya! Ya! Go away, you! Shoo!' Ori shouted.

The bird, startled, veered off. It didn't seem to be sure what it had run into.

Probably used to being the biggest bird in the neighbourhood, thought Ori drily. I'll show you big bird. And Ori pursued the predator, doing the best imitation of a raptor possible for someone who had never, ever, been in a fight before.

'Ya! Ya! Go away, mean bird! Not satisfactory! Not satisfactory at all! Go peddle your wares elsewhere!'

Shouting seemed to help. It also made Ori feel better. Anyway, the big terror bird took its terror somewhere else. Out of the corner of an eye, Ori saw the small primate make an astonished dash between some trees.

Ori alighted on the edge of the forest. Chasing big birds was hard work, and Ori wanted a drink. Also snacks, if possible. It had been quite a while since Ori had last eaten or drunk anything and there was no sign of the kind of thing available in The Penthouse, such as an ambrosia fountain or water feature. Furling wings and adopting pedal movement, Ori locomoted into the forest, following the trail where the bipedal primate had disappeared.

The forest was a lot cooler than the beach, Ori noticed. And quieter. The ground underfoot was soft with mulch and old needles. The air smelled sweet. Ori drank in beauty: sunlight filtered through varicoloured leaves of red and brown and gold, as well as green from the needle-bearing trees.

'Ouch!' Something fell on Ori's head. Looking up, Ori saw that the tree above was full of some kind of green fruit. Ori bent to pick up the one that had fallen.

What are you? Ori thought. Can I eat you? Hm… Ori peeled off the outer husk, only to find a hard nut too solid to crack easily. I'd need really big teeth, Ori thought. I wonder what those little primates eat? Ori dropped the nut along the path for some better-equipped traveller to find and headed in the direction of the sound of water. Now water could be drunk.

Ori soon came to a stream that gurgled over rocks and flowed down in the direction of the beach. Finding a nice flat rock to settle on, Ori sat down – and was surprised at how good it felt to be sitting. Paternosters are fine vehicles, to be sure, but there's something to be said for resting once in a while. Ori scooped up water from the stream: it was icy cold, fresh, and tasted wonderful. Now, if there were only some fruit…

A quiet grunt interrupted Ori's thoughts. Ori looked up – straight into the brown, inquiring eyes of a friendly creature. It was the little primate. It regarded Ori without fear. And it was holding something in its hand: offering it to Ori, who took it.

It was a palm-sized round fruit, red and yellow, with a fuzzy outer skin. Ori nodded thanks and bit into it. The sweetness was astonishing. The fruit was incredibly juicy and tended to drip on one's chin. Ori shared the fruit with the little primate, whom Ori privately decided to name Ardi for no particular reason other than that the syllables sprang to mind. The fruit and the water made Ori feel a lot better. This place is nice. I think I'll stay a while.

Ardi tugged at Ori's hand, beckoning Ori to follow, and together, they hunted berries (also tasty) and collected some of those hard nuts. They also collected as many fruits as the two of them could carry.

If I had something to make a bag with… thought Ori, but nobody in The Penthouse ever carried things about: there was no need. However, Ori was inventive – which The Penthouse considered one of Ori's less admirable traits – and soon hit upon an idea. One of the trees by the water had really big leaves. Ori placed fruits, berries, and nuts on the leaves, rolled them up and tucked in the ends, and was able to carry a stack of them in two arms.

Ardi was delighted by this new discovery and danced a small dance of joy. Ori's small friend insisted on being given rolls of food to carry as well, and together the two of them followed the trail, carrying their spoils.

The forest was becoming darker by the time they reached the small clearing. Ori assumed the sun was going down and remembered the crash course in planetary movements from a few floors up. Ori wasn't really surprised to find more of Ardi's people in the clearing. They seemed to be unfazed by Ardi's turning up with a large bipedal bird, especially one bearing gifts of food. There were pleasant chattering noises and sounds of pleasure as the 'packages' were unrolled and food surprises found.

Some of the little primates had small ones with them, and Ori ended up holding a couple of them. Their fur was soft to the touch. Ori rocked and sang to them and soon had a cluster of little ones around, so Ori sat cross-legged on the ground and entertained them.

The adult primates, who were all of a size with Ardi, ate the fruit and berries, or masticated a few to feed the infants, and crooned to one another. A couple of Ardi's tribe showed Ori how they opened the nuts by cracking them with rocks. Ori was impressed with their skills.

As dark came on, the primates began to make nests of conifer branches in the trees. One by one, Ori handed back the babies. When they all seemed to be tucked in for the night, Ori went on a postprandial flight above the beach and forest. The sky was like a velvet backdrop to a dazzling array of sparkling stars.

Lighting in a tree near the clearing where it was possible to keep an eye out for nocturnal predators, Ori settled with a rustle of feathers. There was a sense of peace and belonging here that Ori hadn't felt for a long time in The Penthouse.

I think I'll stay here for a bit, thought Ori before drifting into a light doze.

You do that for as long as you can, said Prajapati, but Ori wasn't listening.

Dmitri Gheorgheni