Somewhere Only We Know - A Maskman626 Story

Age 8 and 9

"Dark! Dark!" I was running around the square looking for my pink winged friend when something landed on top of me making me topple over. "Hi Anti!" I flipped over onto my back to see Dark was the one who landed on top of me. "No fair! I didn't know you were above me! I can't fly yet!" I pouted. He put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Anti. Hey! It's my birthday today!" He started jumping up and down with sparkling eyes. "It is?!" I had forgotten all about how I couldn't find him. "Yep! I'm eight now!" He grinned so I grinned back. "Anti!" I heard my mother call out. "Awww... I have to go Dark." My mood almost instantly crushed. "Ok! Hey, Secret Place at sunset?" I smiled again. "Yep! I'll see you!" I raced back to my home and almost collided with mom. "My, my! You're in a rush!" She chuckled. "Sorry mom!" She smiled. "I'm off to the outskirts." She said. "Oh can I come! I bet I'm old enough!" I jumped up and down. "But you can't fly yet, hun. How about I'll give you a lesson when I get home?" I was a bit upset but also ten times more excited. "That's good enough for me!" I said "And also, what did I say about the outskirts?" She mentioned "No going until I'm ten. But I bet seven is good enough..." I said. She chuckled. "Maybe! But let's not try our luck." I nodded."Ok! Bye mom!" She smiled and stepped off the doorstep. Everyone's house is in some kind of tree and they can just step off and fall to fly. If people can't fly then there's always a hole in the tree where they can run up the stairs into the house. Our house is in one of the main trees that's farther from the square and outskirts. I hate not being able to fly. It takes much longer to get around. My mother's, brother's, and sister's wings are all green like mine but I feel like I have more of a glow so I always manage to feel better. I went to the staircase and rushed down it too fast. My foot clipped a stray root that I was always careful to step over. I fell forward and tumbled down the steps. At the last second, something caught me under the arms and I was lifted up so I wouldn't fall anymore. There was a tsk behind me, so I turned around to see Mrs.Goldeen had saved me from falling. Mrs.Goldeen has flown before but she had an accident and got caught in tons of roots in the outskirts so one of her beautiful purple wings was twisted and she couldn't use it anymore. I giggled. "Hi Mrs.Goldeen." She smiled. "What have I told you about how dangerous these steps are if you go too fast?" She set me down. "I'm sorry." I said. "It's alright. Now, go slower but run along." She was only 14 when she twisted her wing. She's 25 now and she's a big help with the town people who can't fly either. She quickly put her gold blonde hair in a ponytail. "Thank you Mrs.Goldeen!" I rushed down as she waved and continued at her pace as she walked down the steps. I almost tripped on the last stair but slowed down so she wouldn't have to see me face planting into the ground in front of her. I rushed off to the square and I knew I should've told mom I was leaving but hey, she wouldn't be back until nightfall. I looked around and looked for Dark. I knew I should wait but I saw him sitting around drawing in a small pile of sand. I rushed up to him. "Can we just go now? I'm too impatient." I said. Dark smiled and got up and rushed in the direction of our secret place. I ran after him and we ran for forever until we reached to wall of trees. Dark jumped up and began flying in place. He smiled at me from above and outstretched his hands. I grabbed them and he flew up, carrying me with him. When he reached near the top he swung me forward. I landed gracefully on the branch and he landed next to me. I sat on my knees and he sat next to me. I pointed to the statue that stood tall over the trees. It was a huge statue that looked like a flighter warrior but not quite, it was tall and rectangular with a circle on the top with a hole in the middle. It had it's wings outstretched andit's bottom was littered with vines. "Look at it! It's just so grand and amazing!" I smiled. "It definitely is." We sat and talked about anything we could think of at that moment. I told him my story with Mrs.Goldeen and he told me stories of how frustrating it was to learn to fly. I wish this day will never end.