Chapter 5: Life Has Its Ups and Downs...Mostly Downs
I sat there, finally full after eating more than half of what I had caught.
They don't trust me at all, which is fine with me. I just want my computer back, I thought to myself as I absentmindedly doodled in my notebook. I heard the dark-haired boy say, "OK, guys. Time for bed." I stole a glance at them and saw that they were stacking their fists together, like a mini tower, before they curled up in their spots. I was a bit confused, but I went back to my drawing.
They seem really close . . . like a family . . . I thought to myself, allowing my mind to wander. Minutes later, I snapped back into reality, looking at my dying campfire. I glanced down at my drawing, only to catch my breath in my throat. On the page was a detailed picture of a growing flame; below that were musical notes.
Ember and Melody . . . my sister . . . I thought to myself in misery. I closed my book and looked up at the stars until my vision became blurry. Tears were quietly streaming down my face, but inside, I was having a mental breakdown, screaming inside.
Everything that I had to live for . . . everything that made me happy . . . she's gone because of me . . . because I had to be Ms. Butterfingers at the worst possible time . . . I told myself. I made sure that none of the others heard me during my random pity-fest . . . or at least I tried to.
After what seemed like eternity and a half, I think I fell asleep, because when I opened my eyes, the stars were gone and were being replaced by the sounds of chirping birds in the early morning. I looked around and saw that the others were still sleeping. The little girl, Angel, looked a bit troubled. I stood up, feeling really stiff from sleeping upright against the tree. My eyes felt puffy, as if I had truly been crying for hours on end.
That's pathetic . . . hopefully no one witnessed that . . . I thought to myself as I stretched my limbs. And that's when I heard my stomach growl. I rolled my eyes.
Fine time for me to get hungry. What if they wake up, decide to leave, and take my computer with them? I thought to myself. I looked around quickly; even though it was really dark, I could see perfectly with my enhanced bird-kid vision. They seemed as if they wouldn't wake up for another couple of hours . . . even I was surprised at myself that I was up so early. I went into my bag and grabbed the wallet that held several credit cards that I had obtained.
I guess it wouldn't hurt to get something to eat . . . I thought as I spread my wings out quietly and shot up into the sky, loving the way the air felt under my wings as I flew toward food.
O::O::O::O::O::O
I woke up to someone shaking me very hard. I shot up from the ground, my eyes alert, my muscles tense, only to lay my eyes on Iggy.
"What?" I asked, only wishing he could actually see the death glare that I was giving him for waking me up.
He smiled at me, as if he hadn't done anything wrong at all. "Thought you might be hungry" he said as he pushed three bags of McDonalds at me. I blinked once, really surprised, before taking them.
"Where did you get these . . . ?" I said, looking in each bag.
"They were just sitting there when we woke up" said Iggy as he stuffed another handful of french fries in his mouth and walked over to Gazzy and Total. I looked around quickly, seeing that the flock was already enjoying their three bags or more of their breakfast. I brought my gaze toward the tree that the girl was sleeping under and instantly realized that she was in the tree branch, her back facing us, eating three bags of food herself.
"Fang?" I heard a small voice call to me. I glanced down at Angel, my mind working a mile a minute.
"Yeah, Angel?" I asked, putting the bags of food down, even though the smell was so enticing.
"She stopped trying to protect her mind; she thinks it's too much of a hassle to keep it up forever" Angel said.
I was slightly surprised, but tense. I could tell that there was more that she wanted to say; there was a slight frown on her face. "What is it?" I asked. Angel bit her bottom lip and hesitated, but she spoke.
"When she sleeps . . . when she dreams . . . I can feel all of her pain, and it hurts . . . " she whispered, drawing in a staggered breath.
My hand clenched beside me; we've been through a lot in our short lifetimes; betrayal, witnessing death, broken bones, mostly ribs and arms . . . it takes a lot to make us cry, especially Angel. But for her to go through this . . . for her to almost breakdown crying . . . it must be really bad. I bent down to her level, my eyes meeting hers, and put my hand on the top of her head.
"You can stop. I just needed to know if she was a threat to us" I said. She nodded and gave me a small smile before walking away toward Nudge, who had gone back to tinkering with the laptop. Why does everything have to be so difficult?! I growled to myself as I stood up again and went back to my food.
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