Broken Wings, But I'm Ready To Fly!

T W O

Billy Andrews walked in carrying a large pole of wood which would be used to support the stage and the curtain when they hang it up. He set it down and walked over to his friends who greeted him with a boisterous "Heyyy Billy!!"

Anne never understood how boys could be such bullies, why did they choose to degrade other people such as herself? Jane Andrews, the sweeter sister of Billy, explained to her that it was "in their nature", but Anne wasn't sure.

Billy leaned against a table and begun his groups usual conversation. A conversation that circled around belittling those who were different from the rest of the class. Those who were like Anne. The boys laughed and snickered and jeered, encouraging the horrible words, and Billy soaked this up in pride. "I can't believe that Anne had her hair chopped off," he laughed, "it's like she wants me to insult her. It's so pathetic!"

Gilbert overheard this and glared daggers as he actually worked hard to complete the mechanics of the stage and props. He would deal with them another time, right now he must focus on finishing in time for the Pantomime.

"Watch this," Billy whispered, his eyes glinting with malice. He picked up the pole he carried in earlier and walked to where Anne was perched serenely, Billy's mates watched eagerly and grinned to witness whatever scheme was concocting in Billy's (mostly empty) head. He walked just a bit past the ladder and used the pole to tip the ladder just a bit to shake things up.

And shake it did. It wobbled, making Anne shriek in terror. The boys laughed and pointed at the distraught figure. This caught the attention of the other people in the room. The girls stood in terror as the ladder teetered, the adults were also shocked into stillness. Gilbert dropped his tools and ran towards the red-headed girl in attempts to catch her, but too many things were in the way.

The boys stopped laughing and Billy realized his mistake. And it was a grave one.

The ladder never balanced out like what Billy thought it would. Instead, Anne's flailing figure propelled it to fall. The ladder slipped and down the girl went.

Down.

Down.

Down.