MisPrints

•Chapter 3•

I had a best friend, her name was Mia. Even though she was in generation U and I was generation X, somehow we just clicked. I was only 10 when I first met her, she was 14. But age didnt bother us at all.

At meal times I would pass her notes underneath the table, she would always pass me a note back. Mia was the closet thing to a proper sibling I ever had. We understood each other.

She was the only person who told me what she really thought and her hated for the Xplic. In many of her notes she used to tell me about the people outsider and say what she thought they did and described the real world in such detail I could almost view all of it in my head.

Almost, but not quite.

Because I wanted to see it how she had seen it. I wanted to see it with my own eyes, not just in my imagination and in my dreams. A part of me didn't believe that such a place could ever exist... but Mia had seen it. She'd seen it through her window... and it was her secret. I wasn't to tell anyone else, she said, or she'd never let me see it.

I begged her to take me there, to show me her window, to let me see it all for myself. At first she was worried about taking me with her.

--Two more easier to catch than one...-- was all she ever wrote about it when I asked, no matter how much I pleaded. But then one day, she finally agreed.

--3.30 pm meet in corridor 5 behind door. Don't be late. Don't be seen--

I don't think I slept that night. I practically stared at the virtual digits projected above me, urging the numbers to move forward faster. 12pm...1pm...2pm. At 3.30 I went out and I met her. We walked down the corridors, I copied her every move, until finally we were in the observation room. She pulled back the cupboard and then sat down, her face level with the window.

"There it is." She sighed, pressing her hand against the glass" I just simply stared in awe at the world I saw.  

"It's beautiful" I whispered. 

"I know." 

"How do we get there?"

 "We don't."  

We sat in silence and watched the world fly by, as the people walked below freely. I couldn't believe that there was a big yellow orb in the sky shining down on the people. There were buildings, there were animals, there were mountains, there was the ocean, something I had refused to believe existed. A mass of water so vast you couldn't see across to the other side of it? The whole concept just didn't fit inside my mind.

"I love it." I whispered

"So do I." She whispered back.

After that she took me with her every time she went. It was usually once every week, but sometimes we went more if we just couldn't wait any longer. We would just sit and watch the world, and as boring as it sounds... that half an hour was the highlight of my whole week. But one day, while we were sitting and watching as always, she passed me a piece of paper.

"You have to go back now." She said pressing the folded paper into my palm. 

"Why? It's too early, shut down isn't over yet?" 

"I know... But you have to go." 

"Why?" 

"There's something I have to do." 

"What's that?" 

"I know a way. It must be a way." 

"What way?" I asked, confused. 

"Ely, you know I don't belong here." 

"Yes you do, this is... this is the only place we belong."

Mia sighed and then took my hand and pressed it against the glassof the window. 

"If I had a bird," she said, staring at the sunlight behind my fingers. "A bird who is unique and special, slightly different to all the other birds.... A bird who wants to fly... Like it's friends?" I nodded and she turned around and looked at me. "Ely do you think it would it be right for me to keep the bird in a cage... or a box? To stop it from being with other birds? To stop it flying... just so I can keep the bird...to myself?

"...No it wouldn't be right." I sad, "you should let it fly too. It would be selfish to keep it locked away."

"And they are selfish..." Mia turned her head to stare out the window, her eyes fixed on the sky. "All of them."

I had never seen Mia like this before, so bitter, so... so angry.. She nodded towards the door. "You have to go now." She said. I nodded and unwillingly got up and turned to leave. But before I left the room I heard Mia speak. "Ely?" 

".....yes?"

"....All birds are supposed to fly. Remember that. Don't let them trap you... you're so much more than that."  

I stumbled back through the corridors clutching the piece of paper in my palm. By now I knew the route off by heart, and turned around the corners and through the corridors as if on I was on auto pilot. I was dazed, confused by what Mia had said. I slipped into my cavity and fell into a dizzy, cloudy sleep.

The next morning, Mia was not at breakfast. As I ate my bread I remembered the note she had given me. When I returned to the Canton however it was already too late.

"Dear Ely,Thanks for being such a good friend, you're the best friend I have ever had, or ever will have. I don't want to leave you, but I have to. I can't stand it here any longer. I have to get out. I can't breath in here. By the time you read this, I've probably already gone. It's the only way, it must be, there's no other way. It only takes one word. One word and I'm out of here. It's too dangerous for you, you must stay here. You can have my window, it's your window now. It's your secret now. Please look after it. And Ely... Don't forget me. They will try to make you forget, but fight it, don't you ever forget. Even if they try and break you to pieces inside... you mustn't forget, promise me you won't? Goodbye X-4-E-L-Y-5-1-A. Love Mia x"

And I never did forget. I never forgot Mia.

The girl who showed me the world. The girl who was brave enough to say it. The girl who was dissatisfied.  

But most of all, she was the girl who just wanted to be free.

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Authors note:

Hihii!

Soo... you've met Mia :) I put this chapter here just to give Ely a little bit of more of a background and you get to see how she knows about the window, right? :3 I hope it was ok! :o BTW Mia is going to be mentioned again hopefully, so dont forget about her just yet! ^.^

Again sorry if there are any grammar or punctuation mistakes! c:

so yeh, leave a vote if you enjoyed! The first chapter is getting a few more cheeky reads now so thanks! ;3 See you next chapter with Ely still stuck outside ;o

 -love Chloe xx