The Sparrow

If it had been any other day, she would have missed it. Today was the day, the day the sparrow was caught.

On a bright sunny day in August, the little sparrow was living in Lantern Lake. Lantern Lake is an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is a place where it hardly ever rains; the lake has crystal clear water and a wooden house stands tall and proud. Two young deer trot nearby and dive into the trees; birds sing to one another, and wolves howl in the distance. Trees surround the lake and house; a field of yellow rudbeckia live behind the house; hawks circle the lake watching for any sort of animal to pounce on, and mice scuttle in the long grass near the lake, cowering away from their attackers.

In the Lantern House, in a single bedroom lies the sparrow. The Sparrow is a young girl, a girl around the age of 23; she wears a brown torn t-shirt, brown scraggy trousers, and brown trainers, one size too small for her. She lies on the bed face down, lying on her back causes severe back ache. Facing the door, she tries to shut her eyes to relax. It is hard for her knowing the police are after her. She constantly lives with the fear of being caught at any second. At the age of 18, after stealing three packs of cigarettes and a bottle of coke, she started being on the run. Five years of being on the run hurt her. When she was 15, she learned she had magical abilities. She could use her hands to levitate objects. It was an incredible moment. Her parents thought she was different and handed her over to doctors. The girl was locked away in a building away from human life and never saw her parents again. She was abandoned, neglected and forgotten by her parents. She spent years trying to find them, but her home was ransacked and left for good. The sparrow had no idea where else to look. No food, no money, no clothes were left in the house; the police came by and she was immediately on the run. She ran to the corner shop for the cigarettes and a bottle of coke, and then ran; she ran and ran until she found Lantern Lake. Her life changed forever.

Every time she broke the law, she left a yellow rudbeckia every time at a crime scene so the police would know it was her. The Sparrow was quick, smart and cunning. She only ever stole from shops to survive. Her face was everywhere, on the news, social media and television; everyone knew what she looked like; she couldn't hide her face anymore. The police named her The Sparrow. It was a name no one would ever forget. But then that day came.

Lying on her bed, trying to relax, the sparrow finally manages to fall asleep deep into her dream world. Standing in the middle of a poppy field, she spreads her arms, stretching her muscles, and lets the wind blow her hair behind her back and tickle her ears. White butterflies chase each other; birds sing to one another in the trees, and deer run up ahead and trot deep into the forest. A little bird lands on her shoulder, a sparrow. Some fly above while some chase one another in the long grass. The girl looks towards the sparrow on her shoulder; it sings, and then flies high into the sky. Dark clouds lumber ahead. A storm is coming. A bad storm. Lightning pierces the sky with loud cracking thunder three seconds later. All good feelings leave the girl in an instant. She knows something bad is about to happen, and she has to run.

Turning around quickly, she forces herself into a sprint. The sparrows and the butterflies have disappeared. The noise of the singing birds is masked by the cracking thunder in the distance. The girl sprints deep into the trees. She looks over her shoulder to see the clouds following her, threatening to suck her up into the sky. Bright blue cloudless skies lie ahead, the paradise haven. Another crack of thunder. She starts to pick up the pace.

"I've got her!" a woman's voice screams in the distance. The girl immediately snaps out of her dream trance. Her body lunges up and she quickly senses people in the room. She turns to see something swinging towards her face. A police officer stands in front of her, and the thing flying towards her face is a baton. Six other officers stand in the room, all pointing guns towards her. The baton connects with her head sending her back down towards the bed. Hands grab her and force handcuffs onto her wrists. The officers drag her off the bed and out of the room. Bad thoughts of being locked in a prison cell swim through her mind. If this was any other day, she would have missed the baton, barged her way out of the room and flown away from the police. But it wasn't. The sparrow was finally caught and was about to be locked into a cage for the rest of her life.