Soul of Flames

Chapter 1-Robyn

I breathe deeply, inhaling the sweet scents that drift on the breeze around me. My hair flutters behind, the wind gently tugging it, teasing it. Clouds caress my body as I float lazily by, lost in my own world, in the peace that cradles my body.

Fluffy feathers brush my lower back and I rise, balancing on the balls of my feet. I stretch out every part of my body-from the ends of my toes to the very tip of my outspread wings. Revelling in the peace of the moment, I slowly lean forward until I am perched on the edge of a cloud, teetering on the horizon of reality. Then, taking one last, deep breath in, I dive.

I plummet through layers of cloud, free falling, somersaulting through the air. The ground rushes up to meet me and, at the last possible moment, I snap open my wings an-

'Robyn! Will you answer the question!' A loud angry voice breaks through my dream world. I feel a pang of disappointment, longing for the joy that comes with soaring through the skies, without a care in the world...

'Robyn Oakbow, stop daydreaming for long enough to pay attention and answer one little question!' Now the voice has risen to a shriek that could rival a tortured owl.

I prise my eyes open and peel my face off the cold, hard desk in front of me. Glancing up, I see the faces of my classmates staring back at me, amused smirks covering their faces. Great. I sit up fully, letting out a big sigh. Miss Canelly glares at me, cold eyes piercing through my flesh to gain access to the deepest reaches of my ever-turning mind.

'Sorry Miss Canelly, but I’m afraid I didn't quite catch the question as I was contemplating the vast mysteries of the universe. Would you please repeat it for me?' I asked in a sweet, high voice, tipping my head slightly to one side as I did.

Honestly, I don't know why I said it. It was so unlike me to speak back to a teacher, to anyone, that there was complete and utter silence for a full minute. And, in a classroom of unruly fifteen year olds, that was quite a miracle.

Then again, it was also very rare to see Miss Canelly give me a disapproving look, let alone shriek at me like an agitated cat that had just had its tail stepped on.

Eventually she recovered, still staring at me with disbelief in her clear grey eyes, but able to send me out to the headmaster's office, demanding as I left that I 'report to her at lunch for a little chat about my actions'. I nodded my head and tried to look like I was sorry, but underneath I was still in shock.

This wasn't the first thing I had done today that was completely different to my usual action. This morning, I had slept late, only waking up when my ginger cat, Kitti (Kit for short), jumped on my soft, warm bed and dug her claws into my arm, yowling all the while, dragging me from my peaceful dreams.

Okay, that might not be unusual for most teenagers, but I was usually up as soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, spreading its soft, warm glow across the lush countryside over which it watches.

I savour the moments when the rest of the world slumbers on, unaware of the magic that seeps through unseen boundaries in these mysterious seconds, where time itself seems to cease and anything can happen. They make me think that my dreams, however farfetched or unreachable, may come true.

But of course, that's utter nonsense. Just a young girl's imaginings, wishing for a world that can never be real, dreaming her life away. Which is what I seem to be doing more and more at the minute. I need to focus and bring myself back down to Earth, even if it is a turbulent tumble, just like that dive in my dream...

I'm drifting again. I shake my head to try and clear my thoughts, making my long, slightly wavy hair swish around me. The sun streaming through the dusty windows that line the school corridors catches it, highlights appearing before my eyes. I sigh and tuck it back behind my ear, as I do every day.