SHARDS

Chapter Four

I was reminded of the time I went skydiving with Cassie. It was such a chaotic day, with half the family getting sick, but Cass offered to take me to the place we planned to go anyway. I rarely see my family, so days like that one are few.

But though that memory is special to me... I certainly did not enjoy the skydiving part. Like, who willingly jumps out of a plane and free-falls? The place we went to was super chill, so they let me, a ten-year-old at the time, go from the same place as most adults.

I almost died.

We couldn't open the parachute, and my instructor was like, 'THERE'S AN EMERGENCY PARACHUTE!' but he ended up forgetting that one on the plane. So we had to air-waddle over to Cassie and her guide like flying chickens and grab on to their parachute. It's a long story, but let me tell you—that place was not up to standard.

That was how I felt. Panicked, as the birds fluttered around me, as we rushed faster than my eyes could make out the surroundings.

Little cold blades peppered my spirit self for a millisecond– then sweltering heat, then storming rain that slid around me.

Before I knew it, we had arrived. The wispy birds dropped me onto a marble pathway and whisked away with the wind.

I stood before a giant, towering, magnificent...

...tree.

A really big tree with a marble pathway.

Next to me, a wisp suddenly grew and became Professor Ilane, who I realized had been traveling beside me. She looked just as curious. "So it's a tree today, huh? Seems fitting." She placed her hand against the trunk and spoke her name, eyes closed.

A glowing golden outline of a door traced itself, and she removed her hand and watched it swing open.

Inside the tree was a spiral staircase that looked too big to fit inside the trunk. Nevertheless, Ilane led me up the elegant swirl.

There were windows, I noticed, that could not be seen from outside. When I looked out one of them, I realized they were not portraying the tree's surroundings, but rather, different worlds. One that I saw had a black, sharp-looking mansion tucked in the woods. I could tell it was somewhere else because the whole thing was upside down. The sky was at the bottom of the window, the ground at the top. A fish gracefully flitted through the air, twirling. I laughed.

The professor grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the window as if I weighed nothing. "I understand it's interesting to see all of this for the first time, but for your sake, please hurry onwards. As I said, we are late. They'll throw you back with the humans if you don't show proper qualities."

'Back with the humans...' like I wasn't one. I'd have to get used to that. But was going back really that bad?

"Asha! Did you hear me? Let's GO!" Ilane waved her hand in my face.

We ascended the staircase, which seemed to go on forever... and then suddenly it stopped at a sheer cliff.

"Uh, is there supposed to be something here?" I started to turn around.

Professor Ilane grabbed my shoulders and turned me towards the drop. "Just trust me on this." She tightened her grip and bent her elbows.

"Oh no you don- AAAAAAAAA!" I was falling—but not. My stomach was flying in my throat, and air was blowing around me, but I wasn't going anywhere.

Ilane leaped gracefully and hovered just above me. "Now you swim. Follow the light."

"Swim? You know what, nothing makes sense today. I'll swim in the air." I waved my hands in a freestyle motion. Sure enough, I glided through the winds. After a few seconds, I was forced back into a standing position by the strong gusts.