I sit on the bench outside the stable, sipping my cold tea. My skin burns as I stare at the dirt. I set my jaw and kick at the dirt with my riding boots. After another failed test, it's hard to imagine what could come next. For some reason, riding dragons is more difficult than my family anticipated. I always dreamed of it, but now that I've fallen off again, I'll surely be expelled. I had one more chance to prove I was worthy of being in the academy, but now I'll have to return home in shame and scorn. I stand, dumping my tea in the dirt and putting down my cup. Or maybe I don't go home. Maybe I fake my demise and wander like a vagabond. Maybe I just... lie. Tell them I made it and that I'm too busy to come home anymore... or ever again. Yes, I'll do just that. I dust myself off, wiping the hot tears from my eyes. I'll take a walk through the woods before I set off for the stationary store so I can write home all my "good news"... I fix my eyes on the tree line and lumber down the path leading into the dense forest.
The forest is cool and shady, the greenery swishing around my legs and above my head. The gentle swaying is a cool bath on my aching joints. I stare up at the canopy as exhaustion falls over me like a wave. Maybe I could lay down a second? No one will notice if I lay down...
The night birds screech and fly away. I sit bolt upright and make eye contact with the end of my life as its' hot breath pools against my face.
YOU ARE READING
The Wonderful Adventures of Bea Andrews
FantasiBea Andrews was having a very troubling morning. Instead of going off to college, any college at all, she would be attending Lake View Academy. The prestigious Lake View Academy did not take no for an answer, and they had said an enthusiastic yes to...
