I was flying through the clouds, just barely able to see the ground. Dropping lower I searched for Sirius. I finally spotted him, a black blur darting in-between the trees. Bringing my eyes back to the sky I saw my destination. We only lived a couple miles away from town, a half hour drive but only a few minutes of flying. Pretty convenient if you ask me. From up here I could see the town square with modernish looking buildings but somehow had that isolated feel. About a mile away the school sat looking like your basic prison, not exactly encouraging for next week. The forest surrounding our mountain was starting to thin out as I got closer to the town. Grinning to myself I closed my eyes for my favorite part of flying.
Pulling in my wings all the way I tilted my body towards the ground. The wind tore at my cheeks as I sped up and my clothes flattered. My eyes shot open when I entered the forest and my wings made tiny adjustments as I weaved between branches. Once I make it through the branches I saw the ground coming at me fast. Fifty feet left. Thirty feet. Twenty five. At fifteen feet I curled myself into a ball and somersaulted into the ground. I opened my eyes and looked around from my crouching position. I was on one knee with my hand imbedded in the ground. Cracks shot out from the crater I stood in and the bushes and a few trees were uprooted on their side. Landed harder than usual. Standing up I looked over my shoulder and saw Sirius squeeze his large body through a tiny gap between trees. “Yea..” I say looking at the mess I made. “Let’s go.”
Coming out of the forest we started walking through town to the corner store. The building was one of the older ones, made out of red brick that crumbled in some places. I opened the creaky white door and rung the bell that hung above. An old man with a balding head and big glasses was startled awake behind the counter. “ Sorry to wake you Mr. Jenkins, Il try to be quieter next time.” I said as I made my way to the back of the small store. Grabbing a couple sodas and a bag of beef jerky, I made my way to the front of the store where Mr. Jenkins was scratching Sirius behind the ear. The big dog was in obvious bliss, thumping his leg so hard it caused the shelves behind him to rattle. I dropped a twenty on the counter and dropped the snacks in a paper bag at the end. “See ya Mr. Jenkins” I called as I opened the door. The bell tinkled above the door and Sirius jumped up to join me. I pretended not to notice as the old storeowner pulled a hotdog out from somewhere under the covers and slipped it to Sirius as he put a finger to his lips and smiled. Sirius trotted beside me as we walked away from the shop. I like him I heard in my head. “Yeah I know, you say the same thing for everyone that feeds you.” I said with a roll of my eyes.
Our next destination was a long walk from the store. Glancing at Sirius our eyes met. Race? He asked cocking his head to the side. “You’re on” I said “on three, one, two-” halfway through two I shot forward and sprinted away. no fair Sirius called after me. He took off behind me kicking up dust. Luckily there were no people on the road to see us so we were free to actually run. Sirius easily caught up to me and stayed right on my heels. Once I could see the destination coming up so I started slowing down. The ground turned to gravel as I came into the driveway of “Hope’s Place” I planted my feet and skid to a stop, sending gravel flying in all directions. I dusted myself off as I heard Sirius slide to a stop behind me. Cheater he said snuffing his disapproval. “I play to win” I said teasing him.
Hope’s Place was an old animal shelter that was founded a long time before I was born. I wasn’t sure how it was started but the shelter was booming with business. Hope’s place was a vet, a kennel, and an adoption center all rolled into one. When you lived on a mountain away from home you don’t meet a lot of people and no people meant no friends. Artemis had a few friends I think I tried not to embarrass her when it came to things like that since it was my fault she could never keep her friends she met. Hope’s place didn’t seem like much but I liked to volunteer here whenever possible, it was fun and it helped out the family that owned it.
I walked through the door as Sirius pushed past me and jumped up on the reception desk. The girl at the desk giggled. “Hola cachorro, hola calito” Rose said with a smile. Rosa was only nineteen but worked the desk part time while going to college in town. Her family had owned the place for a couple years and were great people. “Here to see the little ones?” she asked, putting her dark hair behind her ear. “ Hey Rosa, yeah IL be in the back if you need me.” I walked across the reception area and went through the door that led to the pens the animals were in. The building had 3 sections, the big dog area, the feline center and the “puppy play pen” as Rosa liked to call it. I walked into the puppy area which was just a plain room with toys scattered everywhere. I stepped over the small fence the separated the door from the rest of the room. Being as quiet as possible I snuck in to the room and grabbed a huge bag of puppy chow. Getting a good grip I held the bag above my head and started shaking it as hard as I could. “BREAKFAST, COME AND GET IT”
Dozens of sleeping puppies jumped up from their naps and scrabbled over each other in an attempt to get their food first. Puppies of all shapes and sizes swarmed over my feet. I dumped the food in a huge pile, accidently burying a few unlucky little ones. Once everyone started to dig in a put the bag away and sat down and ate the snack as I waited for them to get their fill. One by one they finished and started to play with the random toys scattered around the room. Sirius joined in and in no time all the animals were exhausted. After about an hour the puppies were asleep and the toys were put away. I woke up Sirius and turned off the lights. I reached for the door handle but when I was a couple inches away Sirius let out a deep growl. I reached back and grabbed my knife out of the waistband of my jeans and opened the door with a quick jerk.
Standing there was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. She was about a head shorter than me with a halo of deep natural red hair that cascaded down her head in loose curls. Electric blue eyes widened as a look of shock appeared on her face. I felt pang in my stomach as my face burnt and my body froze in place. Unluckily for me it froze about to stab this girl in the face. The girl instead of doing what any normal person would do when surprised with a crazy teenager wielding a knife such as running screaming or a combination of the two, she did something entirely different. With a squeal that increased my heart rate to an alarming rate, squeezed her eyes shut and swung an oversized bag she was carrying straight into my face. With a burst of color I was out for the umpteenth time today.
