Mathew's Story

Part One

MATHEW'S STORY

My name is Mathew Johnson and I can fly. I'm not talking about flying an airplane or a hang glider or flying a toy model plane or any of that sort of stuff. I was born normal and appeared normal until about the age of ten when my wings started to grow in. My back hurt all the time and it made it rough on me as I had to stay home so much as my wings came in. Both my parents had wings so I thought it was normal for me to grow wings as well. When I was 12 my wings had grown in fully and my mother sat me down and and tried to explain that I must keep my wings and ability to fly a secret from everyone but her and father.

I was home schooled until the age of 13 when both my parents vanished from our home. I came home from hunting for dinner and found the house we had built was trashed. There were feathers and blood everywhere and a lot of broken furniture as well. I did not know where my parents had gone or what had happened but I knew I had to fly off and take only what I needed and could easily carry.

My parents had always insisted I learn how to survive on my own in the woods in case something happened to them. My father taught me how to shoot a bow and how to hunt as well as how to move quietly in the woods. I learned how to tan a hide from my mother and how to sew as well as first aid. I learned how to stitch shut wounds and how to set bones.

My father taught me how to make arrows, knives, spears and bows. I learned to track and to identify an animal by the way it sounded. My mother showed me how to make fire with what I could find and these skills would come in handy all too soon. I grabbed the bow, the arrows and a few other items and vanished from the house. I flew low through the trees to avoid being easily seen, or shot.

I had set up a couple of other hiding places in the woods for myself to use when I would go out on extended hunting trips with my father and had stocked them with all sorts of provisions in case of emergency. Each one was up high off the ground in the biggest trees and very well camouflaged to make it tough for anyone to spot them.

I went to the nearest one of these and landed a few trees over from it in another tree. I stayed silent and watched as someone tore through the place looking for me. When they found out I was not there they took everything and destroyed the place. I did not stick around and see what they did next. I found the next three in a similar state and did not bother with the rest of the shelters my parents knew about.

I had two more that were built up and well hidden that I had not told my parents about since I had a collection of stolen playboy magazines and some beer at each of them. The best one was in a cave and offered good shelter from the weather and the cold during the winter. I had stored food, clothes, blankets and enough wood for the winter. I had stolen things from in town late at night and hidden them here so my parents would not know and get mad since they did not want me to go into town.

The floor had been smoothed with cement that I had stolen and made use of to make a smooth and level floor. I had a small fire pit in the center of the place and it worked nicely to give me heat and light. There was a small stream flowing through a deeper part of the cave and I had a rope rigged up so I could climb up and down the narrow passage with a bucket. The big room was all I used and I had the rest closed off as best I could except for a makeshift door going into the deeper parts of the cave for water.