In The Tower

Chapter 1

(Six Weeks Left)

I flick my head back to try and get my hair out of my face, but it's useless. My hair flies around my head as I stand on the exposed top of the tower, the stone walls surrounding me providing little protection from the wind. It's only here that I can be at peace, leaving all my problems behind. I wish I could freeze time and stay in this moment. I rest my weight on the edge of the wall and empty my mind of all my worries. I let myself relax.

Slowly, I can feel my skin ripple as it becomes smooth, snake-like scales. It starts at my collar bone and stealthily expands outwards. I pull back from the barrier quickly as soon as I realize what's happening. The scales stop progressing and quickly retract, leaving me with normal human skin again. I'm once again just a girl standing on top of a tower.

What was I thinking? I can't shift here, not now, it's the middle of the morning. I shouldn't even be out here right now. But it's been so long since the last time I've shifted. Almost a year without changing, more than a year since I have last been free to fly.

I turn around with a sigh and start to climb down the ladder that leads back down inside. I love spending time on the rooftop almost as much as I loved flying. I am away from everything, everyone. I can be at peace. But that feeling is temporary and I always find myself climbing back down to a normal life.

If you could even call what I have normal. Normal people aren't locked in a tower. Normal people go out and have fun with friends and family. Normal people don't have scales. Normal people aren't dragons. Yeah, I'm definitely not normal.

But it's not like I choose to live like this. The people of this town force me to live alone in this tower. Their ignorant fear keeps me locked up in here, a prisoner in my own home.

It's not like I chose to be a dragon either. I was born this way. They act like I'm going to kill them at any chance I get. I'm not, of course, but the way they treat me can make it hard to control myself. I just hate that they feel the need to lock me up like a wild animal.

I snap out of my thoughts as I reach the bottom of the ladder in the library. I slip through the aisles, trailing my fingers along the spines of the books. I love my little library. This is one of the perks of living in complete isolation. No interruptions from your reading, everything is quiet...

Bang!

I jump, startled by the loud noise from behind me and turn to see my number one distraction sitting on a pile of knocked over books.

"Ash, be careful! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I scold my midnight black cat. We've been together ever since I found him when he was a kitten. Or I guess you could say he found me.

~~~~~

It had only been a few months since the incident. I was sitting alone in the rain before school. All the other kids had ran inside when it started pouring, but they slammed the door shut and locked it before I could enter. I didn't bother trying to get them to let me in. The teacher wouldn't help anyways. I just sat and waited until I felt like I was ready to walk back home. That's when I heard a pitiful meow and turned to look what had made the tiny sound. I saw what looked like a drowned rat laying by the wall of the school trying to keep out of the rain. I moved closer to it before scooping it up in my arms. It looked up at me with big, shining green eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you," I had said quietly before hurrying home to dry the small black kitten off. I named him Ash, and he's been the best, and only, friend I've ever had.

~~~~~

I'm knocked out of my thoughts again by something furry sliding between my legs. I reach down and scratch Ash behind the ear. He starts purring and rubs against me even more. I laugh before I sit down and pull him into my lap. He settles in while I pull a book I haven't read yet off of the shelf behind me. Ash soon falls asleep, curled up in my lap. It's little things like this that make living in solitude bearable.