Within His Reach

Chapter 7

BRIAR POV

When I was seven years old I was out playing with my brothers in the forest by our house. The land was private and for that reason we were allowed to head off there on our own without there being much danger whatsoever. We were safe. Yet there was one danger that we had not foreseen. 

There was a particularly large tree in the forest, one that my brothers would often climb in order to compete against one and other to see who could the highest in the shortest amount of time. I had never been allowed to join in though, due to how protective my family where over me I was never encouraged to do any sort of activity that wasn't deemed lady like. My brothers did football, swimming and chess whilst I would paint and learn ballet.

However one day the three of us decided to play a game of hide and seek. Naturally, I wanted to win- prove my brothers wrong and show everyone just how clever and capable I was of winning. So the moment that Cameron, my eldest brother started counting, I formed the perfect plan in my head that would lead me to victory. I thought I had the most impressive hiding spot ever, and I suppose that for someone else it could have been just that.

"Five...Six...Seven..."

I glanced to my right to see Rowan, my other brother, running in the opposite direction and whilst Cameron still had his eyes closed I took my opportunity to get into position. 

"Sixteen...Seventeen..."

I reached for the lowest branch of the big tree that was before me, bringing up my leg so that I could hoist myself up off of the ground. The bark of the tree felt rough against my soft hands, staining them with prickly indents and leaving behind a trail of dirt. 

"Thirty-three...Thirty-four..."

I continued to climb further up the tree until I began to block out my brother's counting, to engrossed in the urge to keep scaling the tree until I reached the very top. 

"Fifty! Here I come, ready or not!"

I heard Cameron yell from down below, yet I didn't glance downwards, instead I gazed up above and admired the blue sky. My eyes followed a flock of dark feathered birds who danced with pristine elegance as their beautiful wings glided through the air. I stayed like that, watching the birds make patterns in the sky, until I heard the familiar call of my name.

Only then did I look down and as soon as I saw how high up I was my heart stopped entirely. I must have been at least twenty-five feet up in the air and for me, that was far too high. I instantly felt tears well up in my eyes and my hands begin to shake. 

"CAMERON! ROWAN!"

I screamed out so that they would hear me and after a few more calls both boys finally looked up and saw where I was. 

"BRIAR CLIMB DOWN!"

I shook my head and tightly hugged the tree, holding on for dear life. I had gotten so caught up with the notion of winning that I'd completely stopped thinking about how high I was going. 

"I CAN'T!"

I yelled back down, wanting nothing more than to grow my own set of wings, just like those birds, and fly down to the ground.