Runaway
Prologue
Galaxy sat on the edge of a cliff preening her feathers, her wing wrapped around her and sat on her lap. Her black hair —tips dyed a deep purple— pulled into a curly bun in the back of her hair. Bright purple eyes contrasting against her dark skin and a bright yellow necklace hanging loosely around her neck. Yawning, she peeked over the edge of the cliff. Clouds rimmed the edge. Thoughts of jumping down, and just seeing how long it would take to hit the next realm littered her mind. Running her fingers through her black wings again she moved to another feather and started to lightly tug it loose. Flapping it to shake it out.
Galaxy leaned back with a sigh. A voice in the back of her mind sang to her, go down, go down. Go. Find it. Galaxy groaned with annoyance. She still didn’t know what ‘it’ was. She remembered when she was younger hearing the voice she had almost fallen down the stairs searching for ‘hidden treasures’.
That voice kept interrupting any peaceful moment she had, telling her to ‘go to Earth’. Looking down she wondered, is Earth really where she wanted to go? The dreams she had were of Earth but she was several realms away from it. It happened to be on the very bottom of every sky island. She halfheartedly wondered if she ever died there before. It was possible. A cold breeze picked up, Galaxy spread both of her wings to catch it.
It would be so easy to just jump down and fly away. But what about her home? It didn’t really feel like a home anymore anyway. Galaxy couldn’t find it in herself to trust her caretaker anymore. Ever since that conversation she overheard with that stranger…
Galaxy shook herself out of her trance. Pushing the memories to the back of her mind, she picked herself up and made her way back home.
“I’m back!” Galaxy announced, walking through the door. There was a thudding noise in the kitchen, her caretaker running into the room, cupping Galaxy’s face in her hands.
“Where were you? I was so worried!”
Galaxy shook off the uncomfortable feeling and smiled, leaning into the touch, “High up. I was preening.” Galaxy’s wings fluttered subconsciously.
“Oh.” Her caretaker released a breath, “Oh, I was so worried… oh don’t ever do that again. Just preen here next time.” Her caretaker was a rather young girl, black wings that resembled a dragon, like most of the people there tucked neatly behind her back. Brown eyes and hair with pale skin. The song in the back of Galaxy’s head increased tenfold, Go down to Earth. Leave.
“I’ll be fine!” Galaxy giggled, pulling away from her caretaker’s hands, “I’m a fledgling now! I can handle myself. Don’t worry.”
“Hardly.” Her caretaker scoffed, “Come on, I made dinner.”
Galaxy woke up in a dark room, mist pooling at her feet. When did she go to bed? More importantly… where was she? Galaxy looked around, anxiety creeping inside of her. The woman appearing in front of her wasn’t helping the dread pooling in her stomach. The woman in front of her had dark gray hair that faded into a deeper black in a long, tight braid that was swung over her shoulder. And beautiful black wings curling around her figure.
“Why do you stay?” The woman asked, catching Galaxy off guard.
“What do you mean?” She asked weary. She still didn’t know where she was.
“Why do you stay?” The woman repeated, “She shouldn’t be trusted. You know this.”
Galaxy’s wings unfurled flapping anxiously, “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” She said, hand reaching up to fiddle with the charm on her necklace, only to find nothing there. She reached for her wing instead, and twirled her fingers around her feathers.
“Cora.” The woman stated simply. Cora… that was the name of her caretaker.
Galaxy stayed silent, she didn’t trust herself to speak, nor did she trust the woman in front of her.
“Go.” The woman whispered, “Go home. Find your way home. Go… to Earth.”
Galaxy stopped playing with her feathers, something about the woman’s tone sent her through a moment of euphoria, “What?”
The woman smiled, and gently shushed her, “Don’t stay.” The woman reached under her shirt that unfastened a necklace, laced with purple jewels and the middle holding a glowing gray diamond and walked forward. Bending down, the woman fastened the necklace around Galaxy’s neck, the diamond suddenly glowed a brilliant yellow, fading into blue, into green, before swirling into a purple, the colors of the galaxy constantly spinning in the diamond.
“It’s yours.”
“…what?”
“It’s yours. It’s yours and it’s on Earth. Find it.”
The woman walked off. The mist flying around the woman made her already translucent body to seem invisible. Galaxy felt herself falling.
“Wait..!” She yelled out, the woman paused and turned to look at her one last time, “Who are you!?” Galaxy asked.
This time. The woman’s mouth didn’t open, instead she heard the voice echo in her mind.
“I’m your mother.”
The scene swirled in front of her. Leaving flashes of memories, her memories, in her mind. Voices yelling at her to go. To leave. To go to Earth, and find the necklace. Galaxy’s wings curled around her body and she felt herself falling. She was seconds away from crashing to the ground.
Then she woke up.
Escape
I woke up screaming, sitting up quickly I wiped the tears off my face and looked around. I was in a grass field, It seemed to be about noon. There were no clouds in sight and though the sun was beaming down there was a cold breeze that made it a comfortable temperature. I tried recalling the last thing that had happened to me. I wish I didn’t. The last thing I remember was flying off the highway with my mom and two younger sisters into a tree. I felt myself beginning to cry again. This must mean I had died. I called out for my mom, then my sisters. Nothing. I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to be with my mom, with my family. I curled up into a ball and began wailing. I wasn’t sure how long I had been there before I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Hello? Are you okay?” The voice said. I looked up at a girl who looked a few years older than me, maybe 15 was looking down at me before leaning down, putting her hand on my shoulder once more. I wiped my eyes and shook my head, “What’s wrong?”
I sniffed, “I-I don’t know where I am… and I wanna go home!” I knew I sounded overwhelmingly childish but the girl didn’t seem to mind. Instead she wrapped her arms around me and let me cry into her chest. When I stopped crying again and pulled away from her arms she brushed my hair away from my face. I took in a shaky breath before speaking again, “I think I might’ve died,” to my surprise the girl just smiled and shook her head.
“You aren’t dead just yet, sweetie. You know the car crash you had gotten into?” I nodded my head and she continued, “Right now you are hovering between life and death where you’re in a world completely made just for you.”
I looked around again. The sun was starting to set, making the sky swirl into purples and pinks and greens, “So I can make whatever I want happen here?”
The girl shook her head, “Not exactly. It takes your dreams and wishes and makes them into your ideal dreamworld. Does that make sense?” I looked blankly at her and she laughed, “It’s like a normal dream, but more clear– or consistent.”
“I kinda get it,” I said, even though I didn’t, “So what exactly is this kind of world?”
“You like coming of age fantasy, correct?” I nodded again and she took my hands and they began to glow a soft pink before expanding over the field. Fireflies roze out of the grass and one perched on my nose before flying away again. The sky was filled with glowing stars and I saw a snake-like dragon fly past. I mouthed a quiet ‘wow’ and looked back at the girl as she smiled.
“How did you do that?” I breathed, she said nothing. I had remembered what she had said earlier and hesitated, “How… did you know how I died?” her smile faltered.
“Well I’m what you’d call your ‘guardian’,” she smiled at me before placing a still glowing finger on my forehead, “Are you ready to start your adventure?” I bit my lower lip and nodded, “Then before we begin would you like me to conceal your past memories? Be aware that this will not erase them, instead it will tuck them away where you’ll only remember if you truly want to, if only for a moment.” I thought for a while before shaking my head, “Then I’ll make it so you are aware of your past in the back of your mind, is that alright?” Another nod. She smiled, “Then let us begin.”
Light surrounded my vision before I felt myself falling backwards. I realized I had never gotten her name.
authorjayla.com 