Fire Flying- Art Book #5

~Excerpt for Book Cover Contest~

"Auntie once said that the big city they used to live in the Old World was surrounded by miles upon miles of pine forest. The trees stood like hundreds of sentries around the city, protecting them. This world was a lot like she had described. The somber trees painted the sky with their tips, but other than that, everything was... off.

After walking only a few steps outside the village, Max bent low and tugged a clump of grass out of the ground, a cloud of sand and silt rose after it, washing over the forest floor and Max's boots. He jumped as high as he could, and sat suspended in the air a moment before drifting down to the ground. Beside him, Sadie giggled, and watched bubbles float up and away, carrying her laughter with them.

Above the Edsels, manta rays glided through the air, water, on wings that made them look like graceful birds. Max and Sadie began to walk, wobbling a lot as they tried to gain their footing inside an atmosphere too floaty to be air, and too breathable to be ocean. A great white shark swam so close to the siblings, that Max reached out and felt its rough skin, while Sadie jumped back and tried not to look frightened.

"They can smell fear." She said, hiding behind Max as he stroked the shark.

"No Sadie, I'm pretty sure that's bears. Sharks only smell blood."

"I still don't like it." Sadie whined.

Max let the shark swim past them. "You shouldn't talk like that. Sharks have feelings too. Maybe they wanna be our friends."

"I doubt that."

Max jumped as he felt something touch his feet, only to find it was a cluster of little crabs. He laughed and jumped at them, and watched the crustaceans scurry away.

"Max, that was mean." Sadie frowned. Nevertheless, she spooked a fiddler crab, and couldn't help laughing.

The sunlight above was blocked out. At first, Max thought the day was ending, although the shadow of a great blue whale proved him wrong, and along with the whale swam pods of dolphins, who blew iridescent bubbles into the sky. When the shadow passed, the sudden sunlight lit up a school of silver tuna. Sadie looked at them with awe, and Max made sure to snap a photo for her.Delighted, Sadie stuck the photo into her journal.

Max tightened the strap on his bag and began to swim. Think of it! Swimming in air! Breathing in water! He laughed and spun in the water, paddling higher into the treetops. Sadie laughed, watching her brother, and swam after him.

The two settled into the needly treetops of the forest, feeling the cool currents around them. Max took a few snapshots. Auntie and Uncle were going to love this."

Again, if you have any questions regarding the contest in the previous chapter, feel free to ask me.