Flight For Freedom

Chapter One - School

11th November 2015

"Okay, Maisie, this one's for you - why has there, in the past, been a general hatred towards alatum humana?" Miss Johnson's horribly patronising voice rings out clearly, making me feel sick to the stomach. Maisie, one of Miss Johnson's favourites - and conveniently one of the most two-faced cows I have ever encountered - smiles sweetly to miss Johnson, then shoots a quick glance at me with a smug smile playing on her lips. I inwardly sigh and wait for her response.

"Alatum humana, the Latin name for 'winged human', have been hated pretty much from the day the Earth was formed. This is due to many religious beliefs that they are Satan's evil minions and are put on earth in an attempt to lure humans into Hell. Obviously I'm talking from the point of view of a past religious person." Being the skeptical person I am, I very much doubt that last sentence. Despite my constant glares in her direction, daring her to say anything else that even remotely implies her disgust towards my kind, she carries on -

"As centuries went by people started up rumours of 'fallen angels'. They now believed that alatum humana" - Maisie smirks in my direction - "were angels that did something bad whilst in heaven and therefore were banished by God and roamed the Earth causing evil things to happen to innocent people for their own amusement. So, if bad things happened they were always blamed - illness, accidents, deaths, epidemics, the list goes on - and were punished by death. After a while of simply killing the 'fallen angels' that they believed had caused disasters, a massive hunt to get rid of every 'fallen angel' once and for all was organised. Alatum humana went almost extinct, only a few survived. In 1900, many years later, the discrimination against alatum humana was abolished and it was agreed that every alatum humana would be treated as equals to humans. So, if you ever wonder why alatum humana are so rare there is your answer; contrary to popular belief - they aren't simply some amazing rarity that they sometimes believe themselves to be, but just an average being who's ancestors were almost eradicated back in the fifteenth century."

I cannot believe what just left Maisie's mouth. The last sentence, obviously directed at me (despite the fact I've never thought of myself as an 'amazing rarity') leaves me with my mouth hung open, my face burning with sheer embarrassment and the angry twitch of my unusually large and powerful wings perhaps giving away the fact that I am only just able to stop myself from strangling her there and then.

"Well done, Maisie! Good, detailed descriptions such as that are bound to get you a good grade, very well done." I roll my eyes - either Miss Johnson completely ignored Maisie's blatantly racist comment or became so bored by the end of her description that she zoned out. I hope the latter is correct.

As soon as the bell rings I storm from the classroom, pushing impatiently past a large crowd of students, and make a beeline for outside. As soon as the fresh air hits me I steady my breathing whilst thinking about the likelihood of getting away with decent revenge on Maisie. I turn a corner and almost run into a small group of twelve-year-olds who abruptly cease their conversation mid-sentence and look up at me whilst passing with a mixture of awe, shock and embarrassment. Judging by the way they looked at me they were either petrified by the anger reflected in my face and body language or were previously talking about my kind, saw me coming and dropped the conversation. Due to me being one of the very few alatum humana in the school the latter seems more plausible. It seems that I am treated either like some rare, majestic goddess or like Satan himself.

I remove the single strap of my bag from my shoulder, carefully pulling it over one of my wings, trying hard not to snag it, and then fumble inside the bag. I rummage through my bag for my planner, in a panicked frenzy so as to not miss my next lesson. Finally, I retrieve the planner from the depths of my bag and check the timetable: