Sophia’s skin pulled tighter over her shoulders and the
first tears formed along either side of her spine. It was time. She threw off
her pajamas and climbed onto the tree outside her window, making her way to the
limb that would give her back the most exposure to the full moon’s light. Finding
the branch that held her teeth marks from full moons past, she bit down. Her emerging
wings pushed through, widening the tears into gashes. She bit down harder,
until a pair of amethyst colored wings fully unfurled themselves.
Relaxing her jaw, Sophia pulled her mouth away from the
branch and rested. She opened and closed her wings slowly and let them drink in
healing moonlight while her heightened senses picked up the perfume of every flower
in her backyard. Once her wings were strong enough, she pushed away from the
branches and flew.
Sophia
soared over her street, the feel of the wind on her skin wiping away any
lingering aches she had. She flew high enough to take in most of her small town
in a glance. Her high school was easy to get to, but Sophia decided she didn’t
want to waste her time on pranks again. Tonight she wanted to spend every
moment in the air. So she did, flying until the moon had gone down behind the
hills of the next town over.
Her
grin disappeared as soon as her feet touched down at home. Sophia ran her
fingers along the edge of a wing. The longest she had kept them was three days,
when her parents were away. But tomorrow was a school day. And they grew back
every month. So she went to the shed, just as she always did, and grabbed garden
sheers to cut her wings off in small enough pieces to bury them in the compost bin.
This short story is part of Magaly Guerrero's and Emily Yardis' Beautiful Freak Fest 2017. Follow the link to meet some more beautifully freaky fun.
