The Angel Experiment

Chapter One

                    Birds were the first thing I heard as I began to wake.  A cool breeze brushed across my face and I opened my eyes, smiling at the peace that surrounded me. No cars, no lawnmowers, no arguing neighbors. Just the pure sound of the trees rustling in the breeze and chirps greeting the rising sun. Moving to the outskirts of Polaria was the greatest gift my parents ever gave me. I never had had friends through the strict programming that fried your brain on a daily basis and the dream of quiet green mornings arose, chasing away the ache. On the day of Choosing, when graduated teens would choose their position of work, I never expected to be called up to the Council and declared the highest of my class. I was given the choice of living in the High Quarters with every luxury available to me or, to be sent to the outside Shelia, highs into the mountains of Cashmere, where I would follow my scientific calling and study the recovering nature, reporting every year animal counts and new discoveries. I, of course, chose the second option and was air-lifted to my new home the next day. I was given a Beamer, my very own personal robot assistant that connected me to the Capitol but after it had helped me finished unpacking and setting up my new home, I reprogrammed him to friendly mode and cut off my communication.

                The sun rose a little higher before I decided to get up, wiping my eyes and stretching.          "Beamer?" I called, stretching my long, skinny legs.                                                                                             

 "Good morning Annie. How did you sleep?" My small cat, a small black Tabby named Tod, jumped onto my bed and rubbed himself against me as Beam peeked in, his virtual eyes closed and a shy look on his silver face. I laughed.                                                                                                                 

 "I'm decent B. You can come in." He opened his eyes and laughed his funny sounding chuckle.      

"Oh dear your hair is quite unique this morning miss." I smiled and combed my fingers through my waist length black hair.                                                                                                                                                "Isn't it always unique." I sighed dramatically and Tod pawed at my thigh, mewing softly.                

 "Uh oh B. Tod's hungry." Beam nodded and left, calling the cat to breakfast. After B shut the door behind him. I began to get dressed for another day of hiking. Recently, I have been finding strange feathers appearing in bushes and broken branches of trees with really thick branches that no normal animal could do. I was excited because this could the first new species of animal I have found.                                                                                                                                                                               

 " Annie! Breakfast is ready!" I pulled my hair into a bun and moved to look at myself in my big body mirror, examining myself like I did every morning. I was skinny yet strong and light and had my mothers crystal blue eyes. The camouflage cargo pants and long sleeve shirt made them look a little darker and the shadows of the trees that stretched across my room made e look eerie. I shook my head and headed downstairs, the smell of french toast making me smile. 

      After a quiet breakfast of french toast, eggs, and hot coffee, I said goodbye and headed out, my light-weight backpack bearing my notebook, a couple of pencils, three water bottles and my communicator. B insisted I take the tiny phone-like device in case I fell or got hurt. I had argued with him for two hours before he threatened to stop making french toast. Reluctantly, and with a lot of grumbling, I agreed, but couldn't help but laugh when Beam had smiled, looking relieved.       The forest was alive with the usual sounds of birds and crickets as I began to trudge towards the big river, my first mark on my map and the place when I had discovered the huge feathers. When I got there, the sun in the middle of the sky and the water was clear and clean, perfect for a drink. As I began to lean down to refill the bottle I had emptied, something to the right of me caught my eye. I looked and almost dropped my bottle in a panicked joy. There, caught in the branches of a blueberry bush, was a huge feather, fluttering lightly in the breeze. I put the cap on my bottle and shoved it in my bag before rushing over and plucking it out of the leaves, examining it. I had the same light brown color as the others I found and from the looks of the torn tip, I knew that whatever it was, was molting. I looked around on the ground for footprints but grew puzzled. There was nothing, like whatever it was was in flight or perched in the branches if the trees above. I looked up and began to scan the trees, hoping the spot maybe a tail, legs, something, but frowned when nothing moved or rustled. I sighed and opened my backpack, taking out my gallery and sliding the feather into the slot with three others.                             After a quick rest and double checking the banks of the river, I opened my map and began in a new direction from the river, marking the trees as I went. After about thirty minutes of stepping over big, moss covered logs and stumbling through huge leaves, I began to hear  a slight rustling ahead. Flooding with excitement, I moved faster, hoping to catch the creature, my imagination running wild. Then, with the snapping of branches and snap of vines, the ground disappeared beneath me and I yelped as I fell for a moment before the world went black.