A Wild Sort of Curiosity

The wind glided around the great bird as it’s majestic wings cut through the air. The monstrous dinosaur flew, almost invisible to the naked eye, it’s feathery coat white as snow, blended almost perfectly with the white powder covering the surface of the earth. Over shadowy trees that creaked and wept in the wind, the owl flew towards the city, a very peculiar place in deed for such a bird.

At the edge of the woods, near the entrance to the city, sat a lone house. It was quite spectacular in size and grander, with magnificent white pillars and large windows decorating the front. The back of the house was not nearly as grand. The paint was chipped from years under the weather and the roof had loose shingles dangling at all corners.

Maybe it was the pointed roof that was pinched just right for the owl to land, or maybe it was a wild sort of curiosity as the bird spotted a girl, sitting unprotected from the harsh cold, upon the back of the roof next to the bird’s resting spot. The girl in question didn’t look odd, she had brown hair that went down to her shoulder blades,the thin locks of hair falling in loose curls portraying innocence and vulnerability. Her face was round and flushed from the cold, her eyes held tightly to something far away, a deep longing for something, she did not know. The owl landed silently on it’s post, staring at the girl with an unnerving look, as though even though it was but a creature of survival, it could see her every thought and feel her deepest emotions. She must have sensed the presence of the wise, all knowing eyes of the great snowy owl, because she was soon broken out of her trance and glanced at the bird.

“ Well, hello there,” she spoke, her voice soft. The beautiful bird had seemed to capture her attention away from whatever she had been previously staring at. She slowly turned to angle her body towards it and held out her arm, her palm facing the heavens. She tried to hold still as long as possible, but the simple act of staying still was more than her body could take and she soon started twitching so much that the poor bird didn’t know what to do with her. She sighed deeply before angling her body back away to stare longingly into the distance.

“ How does it feel, to be able to . . . go?” She asked the bird almost in vain. Why ask when the answer would never be given. She had long envied the great bird. It was magnificent and beautiful, confident, something the girl had never been. It carried a calm aurora with it, and had a presence in the world that nobody could ignore for long. She envied these things, but most of all she envied it’s freedom.

“ I’m officially going crazy, aren’t I?” She muttered to the bird laying back so that she was staring at the sky now, with it’s brilliant stars.

“ I’m talking to a bird, sitting on the roof in the middle of December, and I’m not even cold. Isn’t that like, what happens to people on Mt. Everest when they run out of oxygen.” She waved her hand through the air, startling the bird as she rambled on about herself, self pity going through the roof that cold winter night. She felt the wind from its wings as it took off into the sky, seconds later being caught by a gust of wind and carried away from her into the darkness of the forest. Another sigh slipped through her lips as she watched yet another leave her behind.

The feeling of freedom was intoxicating, those who had it never let it go. Or at least, no one would give it up for her. She stretched her arms over her head and prepared to stand and go inside when she felt another presence, watching her. She froze and her eyes scanned over the roof. A shiver ran down her spine but she chose to blame it on the cold of the night.

The girl turned her attention back to the window leading to her room but there before her was a person, who had definitely not been there a minute ago, Her arms flew back and she started falling when something from behind caught her. She looked up again, sure she was dreaming, but before her stood a girl covered in white sporting a dress that seemed to belong to a Greek goddess.

A chuckle behind her startled her and she yelped, turning around only to see that the “ something “ that had stopped her from falling before, had in fact not been a something, but a someone. A boy who seemed to be her age stood behind her. His dark hair was spurred in all directions and he was wearing a black beanie, black basketball shorts, and a simple black T-shirt. She was definitely going crazy now.

“ I- you. .. how di- . . .wait.” The girl held her hands out as if stopping someone from crossing traffic. It was like somebody switched something in her mind, and she had gone from a stuttering mess of a human to a defiant and arrogant teenager so fast the boy, who was moving out from behind her to join the Mediterranean girl, laughed out loud. The girl next to him, who decidedly looked really similar to him, glared at him and flinched at the suddenness of his laugh. She must not be good with loud things, the poor girl thought as she watched the two’s exchange.

“ Welcome child, what’s your name?” the majestic looking girl asked with a voice as smooth as honey

“Remy, and um, not to be rude or anything, but you look just the same age as me.” Remy pointed out giving the two a confused glance as if making sure she wasn't seeing things. The boy smirked and nudged the girl beside him saying something in a language Remy could not understand, all the while the girl simply smiled patiently and spoke, her voice smooth but assertive.

“ We technically are, but you are a child at mind. While we-” she paused giving her companion in black a small glare as he played with a strange mist in his fingertips, making Remy stare in awe, “-well I am very wise, with knowledge far beyond what should be capable of understanding for someone my age,” she continued in an almost bragging tone, but at this point Remy couldn’t care less.

“ So, how . . . w-why. . yo-you?” she stumbled over her words, trying to scrape together enough of them to form a question. Where would she even start, she had too many questions, no way to put them into words. She pointed her finger in between the two almost accusingly as if they were the reason she had lost the ability to communicate like a normal human.

“ Right, you want to know what in the world we are doing here, how we got here, and why we came to you. Right?”The boy said though it was clear to anyone who was listening that he was not asking, he was telling. The boy's voice was not as smooth as the girl’s, but all the same beautiful and seemed like a song to Remy’s ears. He had a strange accent that made listening to the sound of his voice as interesting as listening to music. She didn’t answer his question, though she didn’t really need to. Chewing on her bottom lip expectantly she looked towards them with a new found interest. Not that she hadn’t been interested in them before, but then she was more scared than interested.

“Well love, my name is Apolla. No not like that silly god the mortals made up, his name has a “O “ not an “A “ at the end. This is my little sister-” “- you and I both know we were born at the exact same time,” she cut off with a grunt. "- Rantie. We are the spirits of the wild.``

“That. . .that actually kinda makes sense,” Remy admitted looking between the twins. Her eyes searched over the two, slowly putting everything together. “There’s two kinds of wild. There’s the beauty and grace of it. The dew in the morning, the singing of the birds at twilight. There’s fluffy clouds and light snow falls that make everything look delicate and nice. The beauty of nature is one side, in all its glory. Then there’s the chaotic side, the thunderstorms that shake the ground. Lightning that seems to thrill you to the core. Jagged cliffs and waves the size of mountains. That must be you too,” Remy explained, her thoughts drawing together more and more as she spoke. Rantie looked shocked. Maybe nobody had ever put it together so fast before. Apolla on the other hand looked proud, and excited. His eyes flashed dangerously, lightening, storms, howling wind. In that moment it was astonishing how anyone could see that he was the very essence of wild, chaotic, nature. His eyes were raw with wild untamable madness that Remy wanted nothing more than to be a part of. She blamed it on the fact that she was a hard core adrenaline junkie.

“You're a writer, aren’t you. I can practically feel it coming off of you,” his grin was filled with emotion brimming over his power, the mere sight of him could cause an adrenaline rush to wash over your body. He resembled everything an adrenaline rush called for. “You also talk like a poet or something.”

“Not published, but yeah. I enjoy writing.” she shrugged nonchalantly. As if it was a normal occurrence to be talking to the spirits of the wild about her hobbies.

“We need you, we need someone to tell our story,” Rantie cut in, her voice was soft and loving but desperate. Like the song of the wind off the treacherous Cliffs of Moher “ If we don’t find someone to tell our story we will be no longer and then nature will tear itself apart, we need your help.”

“Ya,” she said without even a moment's hesitation. She didn’t necessarily know why the answer came so easily to her. Maybe it was because she didn’t really have anything to stay for, or maybe it was the adrenaline she felt rushing through her veins. It flew through her veins and filled her head with a chaotic fuzz, clouding her thoughts. “I’m in. Can’t have nature tearing itself apart now can we.” she chuckled at her own lame attempt at lightening the mood that had gone from amusing to urgent really quickly. As the spirit looked between each other.

They were both sporting smiles, though each of a different kind. Apolla’s smile was one of excitement, as though this was the moment we had been waiting for, for a long time and he couldn’t wait. Rantie possessed a smile of absolute relief and she looked as though the weight of the world had just been lifted from her shoulders. Remy cleared her throat and awkwardly scratched the back of her leg.

“So. . . what now?”

“ How do you feel about flying, love?” Apolla asked with a mischievous grin as he grabbed her wrist and started walking towards the edge of the roof.

“Hey, whoa killing me is not going to get your story written,” she said frantically trying to back away from it, but it was too against one and the odds were not in her favor.” I don’t know if everyone can fly where you come from, but here humans can’t fly. We fall. It’s called gravity.”

“ Don’t struggle Remy, you gotta trust me, love.” Apolla clung tightly to her arm and she could feel an anarchic buzz coming from him, but somehow that only seemed to calm her. So shutting her eyes tight and taking a deep breath, Remy walked forward as Apolla pulled her closer and closer to the ledge. She didn’t open her eyes, not when she felt Apolla stop her, and not when she felt a strong gust of wind wrap around her, not even when she felt her hair whipping around and her clothes threatening to rip right off her body. Her heartbeat quickened as she realized that she could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet nor the firm grip of Apolla on her arm, yet she still did not open her eyes. Her heart was beating madly in her chest and a strong pressure pressed against her head, causing her thoughts to be fuzzy and slow.

“ Don’t struggle Remy, you gotta trust me, love.” That’s what he said, to trust him. Trust, trust, trust. Slowly, very slowly, Remy cracked her eyes open. As soon as they were open her heart dropped to her throat. Thousands of feet below her were tiny green trees and houses, city lights polluting the air, that was crisp and harsh from how high she was. She looked around to see the sun rising off in the distance, a brilliant explosion of bright reds and golden rays of light. The sky was slowly turning pink and the clouds that surrounded her looked as though they were painted there. Taking another deep breath Remy flipped onto her back so that she was facing the sky above, she held her arms out and layed on her back with her eyes closed, enjoying this new experience she was feeling. Freedom.

With one last sigh of contentment Remy let herself relax into the supporting air underneath her, and she drifted off into a much needed rest, the only thought in her head was of the song lyrics to her favorite song and the constant reassurance that she was finally free from the world she had once new.