Waiting for Amber Skyy

Chapter 24

"I swear I need a baby carrier to fly you around."

The following day we were flying again. Not far, just enough to see where we were. I was holding Speck as tight as I could in my arms as she stared around the area below us. It was tough, since she wasn't holding onto me either. I squeezed her again as we flew into another thermal.

"You're not going to drop me," she called to me over the wind, squinting at the ground below us.

"Right, and you're definitely not butter."

She laughed and continued looking. I squinted as well, looking around and only seeing rolling hills of trees. There were some patches of clearings, but not enough to tell us where we were. I felt her sigh in my arms.

"This isn't working, we need to find a town," she crossed her arms and locked her fingers around my wrists.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" I looked to the right of me and only saw clouds rolling in the distance.

"Sure, but a map would be better. I wish they would've given me a GPS or something."

I sighed as well, feeling hopeless until I sniffed something that didn't smell like water crystallizing. I looked ahead, sniffing again what appeared to be:

"Smoke?"

"Huh?" Speck glanced up, which made me have to grip her tighter.

"I smell smoke," I stared ahead, but only saw more clouds. Dipping my wings a little bit lower, I got under the cloud banking and cruised through a small lake of white. Once we broke through the cloud, the ground was closer to us, much closer, and I could see a road. Heck, I could even see what looked like a town up ahead. I snickered as Speck squinted to try and see.

"What? What is it?" she stared around, not seeing anything. "What do you see?"

"A town," I nodded. "Up ahead. It looks like a little village." I grinned and looked down at her, lowering my altitude ever so slightly. "Looks like I win," I taunted.

"I hate bird mutants," she mumbled, making me scoff and playfully loosen my grip. She let out a short scream which just made me laugh. I angled myself towards the town, hoping to get a glimpse of where I was on this planet.

𓆩 ────── 𓆪

It was a very pretty town, or ski resort, I should say. Speck and I were cautiously walking along the main road, me keeping my wings as tight to my back as possible and shoving my tail down my pants. I couldn't do much for my ears or my scales, so I was staring around at the local businesses like an Eraser was going to jump out at any minute. But it seemed like the town was deserted.

"Angel..." Speck paused while reading the welcome sign. "Fire? That's an interesting name." She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, and I could see her breath a little. It was colder here, and about eight-thousand feet above sea level. I could feel it in my lungs; it was a little tough to breathe.

I crossed my arms and bounced around on my feet to stay warm. I didn't even think to grab a jacket back at the lake. Well, I wasn't even thinking, I was just fleeing. I stared at the sign some more and something clicked inside my head.

"We're in New Mexico?" I asked aloud.

Speck furrowed her eyebrows, "Then wouldn't the sign be in Spanish?"

I shook my head and chuckled a little bit, "No. New Mexico. It's the state between Texas and Phoenix. It's always overlooked. I didn't know it was mountainous." I looked up at the mountain ahead of us. There was a large slice of the trees gone, making a large green hill and swaying ski lift look barren. But I could also see a snow machine nearby the run. Maybe they have trouble making snow?