Are We Angels?

Chapter One: Frozen River

Are We Angels?

Chapter One: Frozen River

A shiver ripped through her spine, pencil resting on the paper of her memoir. Or, what she calls a memoir, seeing as it was only a page at the moment. When her wings came through, it was the worst pain she ever experienced and she was happy she only had to experience it once. Skyler shook her head, closing the leather bound book and raised her arms over her head, her white wings flaring out as she did so. It was nice to be able to let them be free after a day of keeping them wrapped up in a bandage that kept them folded and held against her back. 

Some attempt to be normal is what she told herself, but she might as well strap her arms to her sides. It would be as uncomfortable as keeping her wings tied up. 

But, even if they were still noticeable at a second glance, it did keep the less observant people from staring, or doing worse things. Skyler rubbed the side of her head where some children threw rocks at her earlier that day, calling her a freak. Freak isn't that strong of an insult, but the rocks did a good job at adding to the harshness of their words. 

With a small sigh, Skyler turned to look at her alarm clock. It was just a little past one at night, her parents would be in a deep enough sleep that she could go for some fun. She stood, walking over to her closet and pulled out a jacket with the two tares in the back, as all her shirts and tops did. She slipped her wings through first, pulling on the rest of the jacket and zipping it up, pulling on some boots and some mittens that she had stolen up to her room since the snow had fallen. 

It was cold and snowing outside, but at least it wasn't windy. She grabbed her music player, a crappy mp3 that skipped a lot of songs but it was the best she had at the moment. She tucked it into an inside pocket of her jacket, making sure it was secure so that it wouldn't fall to its death. Not that she would mind if it did. 

Skyler pulled open her bedroom window, the cold air hitting her face and made her smile. She carefully placed one foot on the roof, taking note of the ice as she gripped the top of the window, lifting herself up and glanced around her to make sure people weren't watching. 

She jumped, the flap from her wings giving her an extra boost, and landed on the highest point of the house. The Runway, as she called it. It wasn't too sloped, so she wouldn't trip and fall off the house when she ran down it. She always worried that her parents would hear her, knowing that her mother would be worried about people seeing her, and her father more worried about the fact that she might fall to her death. 

But, due to the time, she might get away with a quick running start. She let out a breath, her heart beating wildly with excitement. If she were ever to lose her wings, the one, and probably only, thing she would miss about them is the flying. 

She was blessed that she lived in a small town, surrounded by forest. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she flew into the air space of some major city. Skyler plugged her ear buds in, starting up a song. 

She counted to three, taking off across the roof as her wings flared out. She could see the approaching end of the roof, Skyler pumping her legs faster and got ready to leap. Memories flashed across her head of the first couple times she tried this, crashing onto the ground just outside the porch, and getting caught in the tree that stood so tall in her front yard. 

She planted one leg, bending at the knee as the memories were pushed out of her mind as she leaped off the roof. She started to flap her wings, letting the jump and the rush of air carry her higher. Soon enough she was gliding through the cold air above the sleeping town, heading towards her favorite spot in the woods. The music was nice to listen to, flight was somewhat of a second nature to her and she was able to enjoy the ride instead of always worrying about dropping onto someone's house, like she almost did once, or crashing into trees, which was a bit more common for her.