Character Stories

8/2/2019 Character Stories

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Valley Birds (Sela 16, Aur 8)

I want a story!Sela swallowed a yawn as she leaned in the doorway, Do you really need one?

Aur tilted her head, Why wouldnt I?

She leaned back against her headboard and wielded a smile. Sela knew herweakness and this was it. She combed fingers through her ponytail. She sat herselfnext to Aur, leaning with her. Aur nestled at her side, crossing a leg over Selas andfolding her wings over her shoulders.

Once upon a time. Sela started.Makeit an action story!Okay. Sela rolled her eyes, starting again, Once upon a time, there were two

brave knights.Girl knights?Sure.Are they or not?

They are. Once upon a time there were two girl knights.Are there girl knights? Aur asked. Sela shrugged.I dont even know if there are knights anymore. She said.Oh. Aur chewed on it, Well, I want a different story. Sela look down, Youre so picky! Youre lucky youre getting a story at all.Aur locked eyes with her big sister. Sela lost any argument to her baleful green

stare. She huffed and looked up at the ceiling.Once upon a timeDont start it like that.Sela took a deep breath. She looked up and out the bedroom window. The

moon had come up over the valley walls to flood it with a dim pearl white. She again

ran fingers through her ponytail.Two birds once got lost, flying home from the South. They were the prettiest ofvalley birds, both bright red and so homesick that they could cry. But they didnt crybecause they were always flying and the wind in the sky was too cold. They flewsunrise to sunset each day and slept in whatever tall thing they could find at night.

Like trees?No, giant skeletons. Sela quickly hushed away any questions with a finger,

Anyway, so one morning they woke up and decided together to fly as fast as they canand try to get home as quick as possible. So they flapped their wings as hard as theycould and flew so fast that they went through time. When they got to their valley it wasa thousand years later and everybody they knew was gone and the valley was flooded.So, the two birds cried and cried, so hard that they both became stars and used theirwishes to dry the valley and bring everybody back. The end.

Aur had her eyes narrowed and her mouth agape. She raised a palm inconfusion. Sela grinned.

I Aur said.Sela leaned to kiss her the top of her head. Aur caught her by the back of the

shirt as she tried to get off the bed.Wait, wait, wait. She said, sitting up on her knees, Im really confused.


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About what?Why were there giant skeletons?Giants died.Why could the bird go through time?Magic.

Why could they become stars?Theyre birds.That doesnt make any sense! Aur shook her head, And why did they get

wishes?Because they became stars!

A silence came across the room. Aur let go of her sisters shirt and sat back onher legs. She ruffled her hair and as she lifted her arms, Sela broke into laughter andscooped her up at the midsection. Aur laughed with her. Together they fell and lay onthe bed.

I like your stories. Aur said.Thanks. Sela said, Im thinking about writing a book.

Arrival(Sela 25, Aur 17)Aur sat on the banister of the veranda, her feet bare and kicking outward into

the wind. Her wings were lax down her back and she kept her stare constant at thelong, winding path that snaked up from the valley to the front door twenty feet below.Shedbeen waiting since shed gotten home from school, unusually anxious at thelateness of her sister. Normally Sela got out of work right as Aur got out of school andthe two would walk home together along the valley floor, but today she was nowhere tobe seen and Aur flew home, thinking that maybe Sela was already there and if notshed be able to spot her from the air. She wasnt home and she wasnt spotted fromthe air.

So, after her homework and some this-and-that around the house, she settled onthe banister and waited.

The flood of after-schoolers and workers came soon after, filling the valleysairspace with young and middle-aged all fluttering to their homes. Sela, obviously,wasnt one of those faces and it wasnt until the very edge of tw ilight did Aur see herwalking the path. She kicked up off the veranda and glided down to her, catching a tinyupdraft at the end to plant her feet squarely in Selas path.

Where have you been? She asked. Sela stopped, looked up and bared herteeth.

Work. She snarled, Nexa kept us late.Aw. Aur reached out a hand to comfort her and Sela ducked it, twisting around

to keep walking. Aur rolled her eyes.Oh, its grouchy Sela. She said, I owe much for this pleasure.Quiet. Sela snapped, Im tired.

Aur jogged to catch up, So go home and go to sleep. Drink a whole bottle ofhot milk if you have to. Take a bath. Read a bookdo whatever, but dont be grouchy.

I have a right to be grouchy.To Ol Man Nexa, maybe. To the office, maybe, but not to me.


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Sela looked from the corners of her eyes. Aur smiled broadly.Do we even have milk? She asked, Or did you drink it all? How could I drink that much milk. Aur answered, Im not you.Thats for sure. Otherwise youdbe wearing shoes.Its grass. Its fine.

Youll have to wash your feet.Aur slapped her sisters back, Maybe Ill get you to wash them for me. Sela clicked her tongue, Youre too old for that.And youre too young to be a grouchy ol hag.Sela stopped walking. She turned defiantly to Aur.What do you want. She asked, hands at her hips. Aur extended her arms.A hug.Sela limply put her arms over Aurs shoulders and gave her a half-assed

embrace. Aur would have none of it and pulled her tighter, flapping her wings once tolift both of them a half-foot off the ground. Sela yelped and Aur squealed with laughter.They both toppled backwards and rolled twice in the grass. Sela fought free and lay

starfish. Aur propped herself up on her arms and the two of them set in the dying lightof day. Purples and blues meshed at the horizon. The pale moon haunted the sky.Stars started to come out of hiding. The wind blew warmly.

Aur. Sela said.Yes?Sela lifted a hand to pat her sisters knee, Sorry.All is forgiven. Aur said, Oh, and by the way What?Were out of milk.

Fight (Aur 3, Sela 11)

After straightening her desk and gathering the few books pertinent to herhomework, Sela left the classroom. She walked the halls for a bit, taking the long wayaround the to the foyer. She meandered at the top floors big windows for a bit, leaningagainst the frame to look out at the far lip of the valley. People walked the bridges andplatforms, going in and around the many houses built into the thick rock wall. Someflew about between the levels and the tall elevator was in constant motion with eitherpassenger or big stacks of boxes tied to pallets.

Once she grew bored of watching, she found off again, spiraling down the backstairs to the ground floor. She cracked the door at the bottom and peered from thestairwell. She saw the foyer, empty and the big double-doors beyond it. She tilted herhead this way and that to make sure and once confident pushed out into the hall. Shemade a beeline to the front door and out on the walkways, to the elevator. The car wasat the bottom of the valley and the door closed. Unfortunate. Sela pulled the call switchand hugged the right side of the box, leaning in wait.

Sela! A boy yelled.Selas went rigid and she made fists at her founded fears. Two children, a boy

and girl, came down from the level above, fluttering softly on young wings.Carvy. Sela greeted the yelling boy flatly. He rustled sandy hair and smiled.


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We were waiting for you. He said.Yeah, we wanted to see you ride with the old people! The girl said, grinning like

she was a carrion bird upon a fresh kill.Poor Sela. Carvy said, Born too stupid to fly. Im not stupid! Sela yelled, instantly losing control of her volume, It has nothing

to dowith being stupid! Youre stupid for thinking that!At least I can fly. Carvy said back, We all can. Her wings arent even cool looking! The girl said. She tenderly ran her fingers

down Carvys wings.Sela looked to her wings from the corners of her eyes. She saw their red tips

bobbing behind her shoulders. She fluttered them slightly.You trying to fly? The girl said. Both her and Carvy laughed.Shut up! Sela yelled, Just leave me alone!Shes going to cry! The girl continued. She shouldered past Carvy and with her

wingtips out past her elbows, used the heel of her palm to push Sela at the shoulder.She staggered back and nearly fell, saved by grabbing onto the grating of the elevator

shaft. She did feel tears form in the pits of her eyes and anger flushed through her.The buzz of the elevator alarm went off and the car came up just in time for theoccupants to see Sela grab the girl by both shoulders and, using her weight to catch heroff-guard, push the child up and over the banister. The girl screamed as she fell andtwo adults swooped from the elevator to go after her. Carvy stood speechless watchingthe incident.

Hands came down over Selas shoulders and turned her around. Her fatherseyes met hers and he kneeled.

Young lady. He said, unapologetically.He had a firm expression on. Sela felt her lip bobbing and she looked past him

to the elevator full of cargo and workers from the Shipping Fields. Bad timing, shefigured.

She said I was stupid! She said. Her voice cracked on both Ss. Wings flappedand fluttered and Sela looked over her shoulder to see the two rescuers come back upto the platform. One was carrying the girl, visibly shaken. The man lowered her downand she at once pointed a finger.

She tried to kill me! She yelled.Sela felt anger burn again, I thought maybe you could fly!IILooks like youre too stupid to fly. Sela finished. The girl grit her teeth and in

the next moments both Selas father and his coworkers had to separate the fight.Were going home. Selas father said, Harvey, could you take these kids to the

ground?Yeah.Ill be back in twenty.Selas father lifted her up at the waist and in a two-step, was in the air from the

banister. His wings flapped powerfully as they flew. Sela dug her face into his shirt andheld with claws. The glided down the valley and across the bottom, stopping at thebase of the path leading home.


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Sela. Her father said, setting her down, What you did was wrong. You couldvereally hurt that girl.

She said she could fly. She couldve. Sela choked out the words, crossing herarms defiantly.

Shes too young to know how to pull out of a fall. I think you knew that.

She said I was stupid! Stupid for not being able to fly.Well, that wasnt right to say. But what you did was worse.Daddy?Yes?Im not stupid, am I?Of course not.I wish I could fly.Oh come on. Her father lifted her up and hugged her, You know that your

wings make you special. Theyre very pretty and besides, do you know how rare aGround-Born is?

Very rare. Sela said.

Right.But I...I Sela felt the tiny dam burst and she began sobbing into her fathersshirt, I just wish people wouldnt make fun of me!

I know. Tomorrow you and me will go to this girls house and well talk to her.Youll apologize, shell apologize and everything will be alright.

Shell keep making fun of me.You tried to kill her today. Her father laughed, I dont think she will.Sela laughed through her tears. She snorted into his shirt and looked up at him.Am I in trouble? She said.Yes. Her father answered, Ill let your mother decide what, though.Sela smiled, Thanks, dad.

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