The Sky's The Limit

Chapter Two

I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. When I got into the room my dad was there reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, as dads do in the morning. The warm sun shines through the large windows, lighting up the room in a golden glow. Plants on the windowsill reach out towards the light, flowers open. The family dog, an old golden retriever with grey hairs around her muzzle, got up from her bed and slowly walked up to me.

"Sunny! Hi old girl, how was your sleep?" I said, patting her. She gave me a doggy smile and ran around my legs a couple of times.

My dad looked up from his news paper. "Morning Lily! I-" suddenly he jumped in his chair, almost spilling his coffee.

I laughed. "Oh, do you like my Halloween costume?" I do a twirl for him.

"I- yeah it's... it's nice." He stared at me with a strange expression on his face that I couldn't read.

I stared back, trying to figure out what he was thinking from his face.

Suddenly Layla came down the stairs and appeared in the doorway. "Hi dad! Did you see-" She noticed our staring. "Uh, is everything ok?"

My dad tore his gaze away from mine. "Yeah, yeah of course. Why didn't you dress up, Layla?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, I just didn't feel like wearing a costume this year."

"Oh, ok. Have you guys had breakfast? The bus will be here soon."

I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed an apple from a bowl on the counter. Taking a bite out of it, I realized that the wings were quite heavy, if was like wearing a heavy backpack. I wonder if I would feel weightless when I flew. I still wasn't sure if I could fly, but I mean I had wings! What else would they be used for? I realized I was shaking slightly, probably from the shock of suddenly waking up and having wings growing out of my back. Gripping the counter, I took a deep breath and tried to stop shaking.

"Actually, I have something that could go with your costume, Lily." My dad said. "Come with me, it's in the basement." He started walking towards the door that lead to the stairs into the basement.

I followed him to the door. The doorway was quite small and my dad hit his head on the top of the frame.

"Oww." He said, wincing and rubbing his forehead.

I passed through the doorway easily, nowhere near hitting my head. Both Layla and I were really short for our age, but Layla was about an inch taller, which was the only non-identical thing about us. Our dad always said we got it from our mum, she was short as well. I didn't remember anything about her, she passed away from cancer when I was four. My dad missed her a lot though.

We went down the stairs into the basement. My dad looked through some old boxes, stirring up dust into the air.

"Come on dad, I'm gonna be late for school." I said, looking at my watch. The bus would be here in five minutes.

"Yeah, I'm sure its here somewhere- ah ha! Here it is!" He pulled something from the box. It was a locket.

He passed it to me and I held it in my hands, looking at it. It was made of a gold metal with a long chain. Engraved on the front there was a staff with a snake coiled around it, the symbol of healing, and a feather.

"It was your mother's. I thought you might like it." He smiled. "I'm not sure if theres anything in it though, I havent been able to open it."

"Aw, thanks. The gold will go with my outfit nicely." I gave him a hug.

"Now come on, you don't want to miss the bus." He started walking up the stairs.

I followed him. As I walked I put the locket on. The second the locket hit my chest I was back in the village I had dreamt about.

I was standing in a crowd of people, all of them smiling. The sun shone down into the crowd, warming me up. I could see I was in the middle of a small village surrounded by forest. Suddenly one of them stepped forwards towards me. It was a beautiful black woman with the kindest face I'd ever seen. She spoke, only two words. "Welcome home."

Suddenly I was back on the basement stairs, my hands braced against the walls. I realized I hadn't gone to the village, just saw it in my head. Like... a vision? I grabbed the locket around my neck and stared at it. Had the locket caused it?

My dad looked back down the stairs at me. "You coming?"

"I- yeah, I'm coming." I ran up the stairs after him, thinking about what had juat happened.

Layla was waiting in the kitchen when we got back up. "What was it?"

"Oh, just this cool locket that goes with my costume." I showed it to her. I didn't tell her it used to be out mother's, not wanting her to feel left out.

"Ooh nice! It goes with the whole angel look." She gestured to my costume.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see my dad, staring intently at my wings. I shifted uncomfortably. Does he know? No, surely not. There was no reason for him to suspect I had real wings... right?

I looked out the window. "Oh look, the bus is here. Bye dad!" I quickly walked out the door before he could stare at my wings a second longer. Layla followed.

The bus was parked a few houses away from ours and we had to jog to get there in time. I reached the bus before Layla and hopping on I was relieved to see I wasn't the only one dressed up. One of the boys on the bus whistled when he saw my outfit, but I just gave him the finger and walked passed him to my usual seat near the back of the bus. Layla followed and sat beside me. At school Layla and I mostly hung out together with a couple of other friends, but none of them went on the same bus as we did.

I rested my head against the window and watched the houses and trees go by, imagining what it would be like to fly the speed the bus was going. I pictured myself flying alongside the bus, looking inside to and waving to the awed children. No, I can't do that. No one can know about my wings. Layla was the only other person that knew about them, and it would stay that way. Who knows what would happen if everyone found out about them. I would probably be locked up and tested on by the rest of my life. No one else can find out.

Stay secret, stay safe.

Stay alone...

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Hi guys! Another chapter, yay! I've finished with exams, and for some reason I'm sad about it? I know it sounds crazy, but I kinda enjoy exams. It's just something about testing how much I remember that makes me happy... idk, it's weird.

Published 18th September 2020

Word count: 1230 words