Aldora

Chapter One

The smell of rain fermented the house, it seeped through the walls and slithered under the window to creep through out the home. It mixed and mingled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Alayla took a long slow sip from her mug as she glazed out the rain splattered window. She had chooses this house not only for its exclusivity, but for theses very windows. They were wall to wall and ceiling to floor wrapping around the back half and side of the house, allowing a picturesque view of the wet, lush, Washington forest.
The pitter patter of rain on the windows and roof gave a relaxing and solitary feel. Alayla gave a content sigh and gave a large stretch to her wings causing the tips to brush against the bedroom walls end to end. She gave them a ruffle like a bird settling down to nest and then tucked them back up against her. When she did this the tops raised above her head while the tips crossed down at her heels. It had taken her awhile to get use to the large appendages; she was at first very clumsy and unable to hold them to her body for long periods of time, unaccustomed to the extra weight. Now they seem like any other part of her body, as much apart of her as her arms and legs are.
Alayla turned from the windows and exited the bedroom, slipping the silky strap of her cami back up her shoulder. Having large feathered wings jutting out of your back often inhibited the clothing one was able to wear. She had reverted to buying mostly backless tops, or often times with jackets and sweaters tailoring them herself so that the backs could open to allow her to get the top on and then button or zip the upper part of the top closed around her wings.
Entering the kitchen she set her empty coffee mug in the sink giving it a quick rinse, before turning on the stereo to try and tune out the quite. While she had been out here in her little haven for three years now she still could not go the whole day with out at least some background noise to fill the empty air. Living in the bustling city of New York had made her accustom to the constant presence of people and noise; it was something that almost drove her to the edge of her mind when she realized the quiet that came with living by yourself with no human contact on 100 acres.
It had become clear a few days after that fateful bathroom incident that seemed so long ago that she would never be able to show them to anyone; and as the wings grew larger Alayla knew she would have to hide herself away. She put in her two weeks claiming to have gone into a doctor who had said that her only hope was a specialist on the west coast and her recovery from "major tissue and muscle damage" could take upwards of a year to heal properly. Mr Hallbit had been devastated to lose his beloved personal assistant but had promised her that when she had healed she would always have a position there with him. This offer she had to refuse ever time he called, which was every couple of months or so to check in with her, claiming to have fallen in love with the culture and beautiful landscape of the West. Which in all honestly she had.
As Alayla made her way back to the bedroom and changed out of her sleep clothes into water resistant exercise wear, she felt her body start to quiver as the thought of going and stretching her wings with a long flight. Even though she lived a fair ways out of town a winged women with a 23 foot wingspan was easily spotted in the sky on clearer days. But the weather had finally turn in her favor after a week of being uncharacteristically sunny. The short low flights around her acreage was enough to keep her from going stir crazy but not enough to leave her with deliciously sore wings.
Alayla hurried out to the back sliding door and onto the raised patio. She stretched her wings high and wide, flaunting her golden feathers to the dim sunlight. When her wings had first made their appearance they had been small and featherless, like that of a newborn hatchling. They had grown to become what they are now like that of a baby bird grows to adult. The featherless skin had grown white fluffy feathers, the fluff replaced by short juvenile feathers, and then finally the large silky feathers that covered her wings today in only 6 months. The growing had been extremely painful as her body pushed itself to the limits growing at an abnormally fast rate. She had been constantly medicated and had barley been able to make it out here in her pain and drug induced haze. They resembled that of a barn owl, her wings did. The backs speckled with gold, red, and tan across white, while the inside was a pure soft white.
Alayla wrapped her white blonde hair into a bun and tied it off with an elastic. Loose hair when flying at high speed was not pleasant. She stepped up on the patio railing, balanced for a second and then jumped off. Her wings caught her before the ground and she flapped  furiously raising herself higher. The takeoff was always the hardest; gravity working against her to keep her grounded. She soared up above the house and looked down.
Her grandmother, the only relative she had ever know and the women who had raised her, had left her a sizable inheritance. More then enough for her to purchase her home and land, and to live on now, though she did supplant by working online. The house was modern and only one story. It was perched on the side of a hill so the back of the house was suspended on support beams and the back patio hung up in the air away from the ground. The forest backed the house while a large meadow that was filled with spring flowers sat in front. Her acreage encompassed thick northwestern forest and the western edge kissed the rocky sea coast. 
Alayla circled the house before slotting up into the sky grinning as she twisted and rolled, flying in loop d'loops and spirals had she climbed higher into the air. The forest raced under her as she pushed her self to her limits. Flying had been hard at first. Once her wings had matured it had taken several months after that for her to feel confident in the air. At first she could barely get herself off the ground, she had come along since then now able to fly as easy as she could walk.
Mist moistened her face and slicked off her windbreaker. She flew lower weaving in between tree tops and raising and falling with the curves and cuts of the vallies and mountains. Alayla had grown to love the Washington forest, much more then her New York concrete jungle. She reveled in the beauty of it, the way the evergreens smelled when it rained, the sight of an open sky and purple mountains, the sound of a flowing creek and an elk's call, she loved all of it.
Alayla flew for several hours, flowing the rivers, tracking the deer and elk herds, and and pushing the limits of her speed and altitude.
Finally when the morning fog was long gone, the rain had turned to mist, and The suns position was in the western half of the sky she turned back and flew towards home. Her wings and back ached slightly from the long workout after such a large duration of arial absence, she could not wait to roll on some tennis balls on the living room floor when she got home. Then she would make a large bowl of pasta to enjoy in a hot bath.
Alayla landed in the front meadow, causing a elk herd to shy to the far end before standing at attention to watch her. The buck, who she had affectionately named Elliot for his rack that seemed or grow in lopsided every year, blared his displeasure at her abrupt arrival. He snorted once, then twice and then lowered his head to graze; the females relying on his protection flowed his lead and soon relaxed as well.
But Alayla didn't notice any of this. Her attention was woefully enraptured by the front porch of her house. Because there in her doorstep was a person.

~*~
A/N

If you haven't noticed I am kinda digging this media thing. I love being able to show all the images that inspire me and this story. Obviously the main photo is Alayla, who is cast as Sasha Lush. The windows and the house are not as I actually imagine but just as close as I could find or the image that inspired me with the idea.
Updates will be slow, sorry! I am a college student who works three jobs and is pursuing a riding career; so I am kinda busy. I do hope that that doesn't deter you from reading, voting, commenting and adding it to your library as I find support is often convertible to motivation and motivation into action. 😏
~ Kaylee