The Nordic Girl

Chapter I

The sun rested lightly on its bed of clouds, warm rays spilling through the window. The plane shuddered slightly as I felt the plane drop, vanishing under into a pillow of white.

"Ugh..."

Perking up, I looked beside me. My sister sat restless, annoyance temperament around her.

"How much longer..." she moaned.

"I don't know." I muttered.

"Oh shut up, I didn't ask you."

Rolling my eyes, I stared back out the window at the darkening aether cotton. Focusing slightly, my eyes laid on the soft features of my face reflecting in the warped glass. My midnight hair shifted brightly in the hued light. My eyes, a deep hazel eclipse, stared out at me to the world below. Behind, my sister sat, her twilight hair shifted elegantly over her delicately wild eyes. Below, the blackened earth, strewn with a probing yellow haze, rose to me.

This was my new home.

This was my new life.

- o -

As the plane left the cotton aether behind, I was bewildered by the city below. Lights crisscrossed one another all around, reaching over the horizon into distances unknown. A city that teemed with life as the plane slowed ever lower.

Ever lower, the plane was just above the ground. I heard the roar of the engine as the earth rose up to the kiss. Screeching of tires and the springy metal sigh reached my ears as the plane and the earth kissed in another monumental landing.

The lights of the runway flashed by the window at a tremendous rate and the terminal buildings rose in my window. Two terminals stood, one glittered with yellow, orange spectacles while the other, shone with a vibrant snow blue.

A clash it seemed, a city on the verge of modernism but the past was still stuck fast.

I did not know what to expect but I felt a sense of pride already. A city already artistic in its greeting of the new. My kind of place.

Cruising through customs, my eyes were met with more awe. More surprises greeting me of this culture. Their culture, and soon, my culture too. But as the doors slide across, revealing the dark night outside, the energy just left me.

My eyes felt heavy, the world began to spiral and the minutes just passed by. My body left me as my mind clouded over, blurred lines and shards of light crisscrossed before me, everything sped forward. Ahead of me, a dark circle grew, and I accelerated towards it. Hitting it, my body felt light, floating through this empty expansion.

I felt myself relax. Closing my eyes, I breathed a sigh and relaxed for what time I have left. A sparkle caught my eye, twinkling in the distance. I peered into the darkness and saw a small prick in the darkness fabric. Closing my eyes, I opened again before taking in the dark expanse of my new room. The soft pillows beckoned for my return to the dark abyss of my dreams. But untamed, the cold dawn air wrapped themselves around me, thrusting me into the morning world.

Stretching my tired muscles, I turned, neon colours bore into my eyes, the time taunting my tired body.

4:35 AM

Groaning, I sat up and reached for my iPod. Plugging in, I let the soft music lull my thoughts away. Standing straight, I stretched my back, reaching to the skies above. Turning my head, I stared out the window. The shy sun just peaking over the horizon in the distance as the trees waved in the soft late summer drizzle.

As the lyrics sang in the air, my body wandered to the bathroom while my mind wandered into its depths.

What was it going to be like? Were they going to be accepting or will they torment me forever?

These questions floated aimlessly through my head as I stripped down, exposing my naked flesh to the early morning air. The fresh crisp frost bit at my body and I stared at myself reflecting in the mirror. A growing sense of anxiety sunk in my stomach. My bony frame quivered in the spotlight of my venturing eyes. Reaching up, I turned the water, it's cold daggers falling on my bare skin.

God, why am I still even alive...