[ WP ] In the realm where souls reside before we 're born , everything is pretty great . There 's no poverty , no one wants for anything , everyone knows their role and purpose . It is , essentially , perfect . But that perfection is accomplished via draconian law : the only punishment is the `` birth penalty ''

Sorry I know this is late, but I've never been a fast writer. Still the prompt was really cool so I thought I'd give it a try. If anyone still reads this let me know what you think. 
 
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 A piercing scream of pure panic tore through the quiet perfection of forest, and a sensation I hadn ’ t felt in an eon gripped me. Fear. 
 
 
 I could literally feel the fear coming from that scream as if it were contagious. My heart beat faster than it had in a decade and my head looked from side to side as if there was anything that could threaten you in paradise. The scream ran out of air to support it, and that gave me a moment of calm to compose myself as I flew towards the edge of the forest and the source of the sound. I had taken the form of a falcon, enjoying drifting and floating on a warm breeze before the scream had hit me, thus my eyes could spot what was happening long before I landed. After circling for a few moments I finally touched down and changed quickly back into a human to watch what came next. 
 
 
 
 By now a small crowd had gathered, everyone standing around morbidly watching as another soul left our utopia. There was no rhyme or reason behind it, we lived together in paradise. Every need was accounted for. Every want met. Every secret desire fulfilled. Yet every day it seemed someone else wasn ’ t content, someone had to break one of the rules. Had to challenge their place in the natural order. 
 
 
 
 There was only one punishment in paradise. Birth. 
 
 
 
 To be banished for decades from paradise in the body of a human. The thought sent a shiver up my spine. Dozens of other souls had gathered around the area we thought the scream had come from, all of us standing in silence awaiting what came next. 
 
 
 
 Finally far above a dot came into view, slowly descending towards the earth. They all tried to run when their time came, as if it would make a difference. The shape was changing rapidly, desperately. One second it was an angel, its mighty wings trying madly to slow its descent. The next it was a giant griffin clawing viciously at the air around it while trying to fly away. Next it was a creature of pure flame as if trying to burn away the force dragging it to the earth. Dozens of forms and shapes in a matter of seconds but none of them slowed the soul ’ s fall; there was no fighting the inevitable. 
 
 
 
 Finally the soul touched the ground and the crowd as one drew a collective breathe. One leg touched the dirt below and immediately began to sink into the ground as if it were quicksand. The soul looked around desperately its eyes wide, face a mask of panic and rage. Hundreds of hands flew out of the soul ’ s body grasping the earth, grasping at legs, at robes, at anything to keep it here in paradise. 
 
 
 
 It screamed again “ NO! I DIDN ’ T DO ANYTHING?! IT ’ S A LIE! I DIDN ’ T DO ANYTHING I SWEAR! ” its panic was rising more and more as it sank up to its chest in the soft earth. The pleading tone was heartbreaking. 
 
 
 
 That didn ’ t stop everyone in the crowd from taking a step back out of reach of the grasping soul. You couldn ’ t be caught helping one of the damned, or you might be next. 
 
 
 
 “ PLEASE SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! HELP ME! PLEASE! ” the earth had covered the soul ’ s mouth now and finally the last hand sank beneath the surface. 
 
 
 
 Immediately we all rushed in, morbid fascination taking over. Each time a soul was damned to Earth there was a brief moment where we could see them on the other side. Where we could see their birth into the next world. 
 
 
 
 A baby girl was born into the world. It was wrapped in a blanket and handed to its mother. It took its first breathe and it screamed. A scream that was hauntingly familiar. All children screamed when they left paradise.
