Alouette

29 (Claire pov)

This is the human dream. To fly, to soar, and these people have known it all their lives. It is their normal, as my normal is school everyday and typical teenage drama. I couldn't imagine a life like theirs.

It is so beautiful though. I'd endure all that pain to experience something this amazing. The breeze pushing my messy brown hair back. The birds soaring close behind.

The simple tweet of a bird here and the sound of the leaves rustling far below is so relaxing.

Finally we arrive, back to my island.

"So this is where you live?"

"Yeah, I guess," I try to make a gesture with my hand but it just turns to a shrug, "this is home."

Home. Such an arbitrary term. Is 'home' where your heart is? Or is it where you live? I know that I don't consider this island an actual home. But where else can I consider home?

"It's.. nice." She gives a faint smile and I chuckle, I assume that's her way of saying, 'this place is a dump.'

She's not wrong. After everything happened, ya know, the apocalypse, the world went to crap. In fact their island is probably the greenest in terms of plants.

"Our settlement is just a little further."

She doesn't even walk, just flies a few feet off the ground, taking in her surroundings. It looks so natural for her. She belongs with wings, but wings on me would look out of place.

"I'm Alouette, by the way." She says looking at a dead tree.

"Claire."

"Wow, I love that name."

"Thanks, I'm named after my mother, she was amazing, or so I'm told. She died in labor."

"Oh, I'm sorry." A very common phrase around me, but what else can I expect?

"It's alright, not your fault, ya know?

"Here we are."

They've changed a few things and I haven't even been gone that long. Makes me wonder what would have been different had I been gone a month. Somehow we have tents? And they found fish. We were never that lucky when I was here. Do they really need me?

"Claire!" Finally we're spotted, by Greg.

Then Jess, then Cam, and finally the one who really matters, Jeb.