NOTE: I have decided to rewrite this story, please enjoy.
The setting sun was beautiful, fall was coming. My hands reached up as if to grasp the plush clouds that were scattered across the evening sky. My steps fumbled as I ran to a tree, my gaze always on the sky. It was so beautiful, the pink fading into purple and bright bright orange and yellow. The leaves on the oak tree that I clung to were turned golden, the remaining green making the sight more magnificent.
"Rin? What are you staring at?" Myra, my closest friend in the first grade, asked right beside me. I grinned, turning to see her puzzled face.
"It's just so pretty don't you think so?" I asked, my small hands already pulling me up the strong trunk of the tree.
She nodded, but didn't follow. Myra looked nervously back at the large house, frowning. "Rin? Should you be climbing that? Your mom wouldn't like that..." She murmured, watching me continue.
I laughed, "It's too much fun to not to! Join me up here Myra!" I giggled, easily climbing with my small body. The sky was closer I could tell, purple and indigo streaked across the sky, and the first star was out.
I gasped as I got to the top, the world around me seemingly falling away. It was so perfect. So much more perfect than from the ground. "Myra please come up here! It's so beautiful!" I exclaimed, begging my only friend to join me.
She shook her head, a small smile tugging on her face. "I'm afraid of heights. What does it look like?" She asked from the base of the tree.
"It's like nothing I've ever seen, the sky is everywhere. Myra, the world is open to me!" I giggled. I stared back at the sky, watching as the sun was sinking lower and lower. "I could stay here forever. Myra, would you be afraid of heights if you could fly?" I asked, glancing down at her small face peaking up at me.
"I'm not sure, I don't think so..." She replied, eyes on the sky.
"I think you're more afraid of falling than anything else." I giggled. Seeing her hurt face though, I stopped. "But there's nothing wrong with being afraid of falling! Falling can cause you to get hurt. You're afraid of the pain right?" I asked, smiling.
She nodded, uncertain anyway. "It would be so cool to have wings though, flying around places sounds so much easier than walking. What kind of wings would you want to have Rin?" Myra asked, leaning against the trunk.
I thought for a moment, "I'm not sure... maybe wings like a-"
"RIN!" My mother's shriek interrupted, her voice coming from the house. I started, eyes wide and looking around. "Get down from there young lady! It's too dangerous to be climbing trees!" She exclaimed, rushing out towards me.
"But the sky is so pretty Mama! It's all open before me and I feel as though I could fly!" I cried back to her, not taking my gaze away from the setting sun. Any second now and it would disappear over the horizon, then I would go back down.
"Rin get down here!" She shouted, her voice now at the base of the tree. This time though, when I started, I felt my body shift too much. Suddenly I was falling, my small head cracking on a branch on the way down.
My hands were grasping, trying to hold on to something. The world was moving too fast around me, yet it was slowed down so that I could see every branch, every leaf. I felt my other limbs slamming into branches. It didn't hurt. I was afraid of that, these kinds of things were supposed to hurt.
An instant before I was positive that I would hit the ground and really hurt myself, a glow surrounded me, waves of light that radiated love and concern enveloping my small broken body.
I could feel the pain now. It hurt, it hurt so badly I whimpered, flinching into the embrace. The arms that held me were gentle, and they held me tighter. It was supposed to hurt more, but instead a soft furry tail was wrapped around me, and the light made the hurting to go away.
I was relaxing into strong arms, eyes fluttering closed.
"My Rin, you are so clumsy. It is endearing." A voice flit through my mind, an amused chuckle following.
My body was on the ground now, and I could feel my mother shaking me, trying to get me to respond. But the pain that had gone away, now came back with full force. "It hurts My Lord…" I felt myself reply, whimpering.
"Do not worry, all will be well."
…
My body was stiff, and cold. It hurt to breathe sometimes, but I could tell I was alive.
"Dr. Coulsen… you really think she won't wake up?" I could hear my mother talking nearby, her voice strained and mournful. There was something off about it.
"I never said that Mrs. Arai, she could wake in a number of hours or days. Her body didn't go into the normal shock, and she was very lucky to not have broken her neck when she landed. I think she just needs more time to heal." the doctor replied, seeming a little confused.
I groaned at the soreness I felt deep in my bones. Footsteps hurried over, and I felt a hand on my cheek. "Miss Arai? Can you hear me?" I heard my mother gasp and rush over to my side. Again I caught the sense that something was wrong with her reaction.
I slowly opened my eyes, light swirling before me. The doctor was leaning over my head. I stared at him, then my mother. "What happened?" I asked, fully aware of everything.
"You lost your footing on the way down from climbing that tree and fell the rest of the way down. You were very lucky to not have been killed." The doctor told me, checking me over as I was helped into an upright sitting position.
"But there was a light, it was so soft and warm. The light caught me Mama." I said, a little confused. Had mother really not seen it?
The doctor looked concerned, while Mama looked scary. Her features were taught, and her eyes narrow.
"You saw a light? Miss Arai, this is serious. I think you almost did die child." He murmured, taking my mother out into the hallway. After a little bit I heard them both shouting, and still later Mama came storming back in.
Her face was scarier than ever, and she loomed over me. "You will be coming home with me in an hour and that is final!"
I shrank into my bed, confused as to why she was angry at me. "But Mama, of course I want to go home." I told her, tears pricking my eyes.
"You disobeyed me once, I will not tolerate you doing it again." She warned, sitting down on the chair next to my bed.
"I won't Mama…" I promised.
"Silence, I'm tired of hearing your voice Rin. Just stop talking." Mama lashed out, glowering as she sat back in her chair.
I nodded quickly, fearful that she might do something for the first time in my life. What was wrong with Mama?
A/N: Okay, so I am rewriting this, because the way things were going, I hated it. SO, I made some major changes to the plot, among other things. This was the least changed part of the story, I just went in and tweaked it a bit. Hopefully I can update this one with more success.
Please review, I feed on them like vampires feed on blood.
