The Serpent Queen

Glory of Love | Part Two

That night, Phoebe found herself in a children's play park alone in the dark. A few streetlights lit up her surroundings of the empty park. It was quite creepy due to the silence and eeireness. She half expected a random tumbleweed to bounce past the roundabout and the large set of swings, or a random ghostly children's laugh to creep through the air. Her bike was parked upright with the kickstand right next to the nearest curb. Her helmet, keys, and phone were all sitting on the grass next to one of the pull up bar posts, along with everything else from her pockets. She even had one wireless earphone in her left ear that were connected by the Bluetooth from her phone.

Phoebe began making up and practicing her uneven bar routine. She had practiced the power bar routine which was aimed really to get to the higher bar, due to the fact that she only had one bar to practice with and no soft mats beneath her, or chalk to put on the bar, but she did bind her hands with sports tape to protect her hands from wear and tear and herself from slipping.

Phoebe jumped up and grabbed the single bar and began swinging back and forth a few times to build momentum. She looked as if she was going to swing higher when she bent her legs closer into her body, but she brought them under the bar. As her feet her higher than her hands for a moment, she let go and flipped forward. Her hands found the bar again when she was in the original position.

She swung again to build momentum again and when she did, she let go of the bar once again and did a quick spin around midair and then caught the bar again with both hands. Except, one hand grabbed the bar the proper way and the other had reached under and grabbed the bar from the other side. She could swing back and forth by looking at the side post. That's exactly what she did. Phoebe swung back and forth and let go of the air, spun in mid air and got back into the original swinging position once again.

She did a kip up and a few hip circles and spun around the bar itself a few times by keeping the bar positioned between the crook of her legs and torso. Then she used that momentum to pull herself up and crouch on the bar, just as if she were getting ready to leap over to the non existent invisible higher bar. Since there wasn't one in front of her, she simply stayed put.

With one leg hanging down and both of her hands gripping the bar on both sides of her body, Phoebe pulled up her other leg so she fully crouched onto the bar. This was where her sense of balance would kick in, especially when she let go of the bar. She leapt backwards and did a back flip. Her hands aimed for their target; the bar. Her fingers wrapped around the cold metal and she swung and let go of it, and her feet landed on the grass.

"Did you do it?" A voice came through the one earphone.

"Well you didn't hear me in pain. So yes, I did. It's a rush and very nerve wracking."

"A lack of complete safety will do that. Why aren't you practicing in one of those academy's like you did last time?"

Walking back over under the bar, Phoebe said, "You do realise I have to pay them for that time since I'm unaffiliated with anyone, right? My parents paid my last entry fee while I paid for the practices. Now, I have to pay for both. I made enough for the fee, but not for the practices."

"Fair enough....Hey, can I ask you a favour?"

"Yeah sure."

"Can I talk to you about Tory?"

"Sure. Everything okay?"

"It's all great."

Phoebe focused on the bar and not Miguel. She was half listening to what he was saying. She was listening his voice come into one ear, but the other heard nothing but silence. She jumped up against and gripped the metallic bar with both hands and proceeded to do the entire routine over again.