The one thing I had to remind me that I hadn't always been a punching bag for my foster families was a thin bamboo flute I kept in the bottom of my bag. I would take it out when I 'd gone through a particularly harsh beating, and play a few notes on it. It had a thin, reedy sound, uncannily similar to the sound of wind whistling through the trees, and I loved it. I realized that I had jumped without it, and I couldn't leave it behind. But more pressing than this realization was that someone was playing my song. On my flute. The sound caressed my broken body and soul, and with an energy born of desperation, I reached out and grabbed a sapling that was protruding from the cliff.
I can't leave it behind.
The momentum of the sudden stop to my drop slammed me against the edge of the cliff, and I cried out, nearly letting go of the sapling in the shock of the sudden jolt of pain. But the song kept playing, and it invigorated me with enough strength to slowly and painfully make my way up to the top of the cliff. Once there, I collapsed on the ground, crying hysterically. My body was screaming, and I felt two broken ribs and a broken arm. It was getting dark, and soon James and Aasia would be home. When they arrived and found me missing, they would act the perfect worried parents. Calling the police. Aasia crying on James's shoulder. And then when they found me...
It was that, more than anything else, that enabled me to get up and lock the pain in the back of mind. However, I couldn't stop the tears. I hobbled foward, hoping, praying, that I would hear the tell-tale whistle of the wind that heralded my song.
Just as I was about to give up and close my eyes, I heard it. It was faint, but it was definitely there. Tears streaming unheeded down my face, I stood up and limped foward.
I'm coming, I thought.
Just please be worth it.
YOU ARE READING
The Guardians
FantasyFourteen-year-old Storm has been passed from foster home to foster home for as long as she can remember. Not only that, but she has been abused by everybody she has placed her trust in. When she joins a secret society called the Guardians, can she l...
