Sister's Flight

Very short story.

 A small woman awoke one dark night from a nightmare, a swirling mic of shouting and fire. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the window, threw open the curtains and blinked twic. The streets were quiet, no fires to be seen, no screams to be heard. The dark woman closed the curtains and dragged herself back to wait to fall asleep again. She lay there, small and thin under the light down covers in her tiny room. In the next room she could hear her sisters quietly sleepy and the roaring snores of her brothers below. Relaxed, the oldest child finally closed her eyes, hoping Papa would make it home safely.

Not moments after closing her eyes she heard yelling again, faint and distant, as though the nightmare that awoke her was calling onve more. Her eyes flew open and she stared through the darkness at the window, the curtains gently blowing in a breeze, watching for any sign of trouble. Through the curtains she could see light, slowly brightening She rose, slowly at first, then with a hurried panic. Noise came from below as people gathered in the square around the house. Papa had made it home, but he was being carried and he jerked about limply as the crowd carried him.

Sister flung her door open and ran to the next room, gathering her two sisters. Staying quiet as mice, they ran down the stars and collected their brothers. Scurrying towards the back door the oldest child, Sister, looked over her shoulder. The wall paper near their front door was starting to peel off of the wall and dark spots began to appear before her eyes as she slammed the back door behind her. The rats of the alleyway fled as the children dumped into the small roadway. Sewage gathered in the center of the small alleyway behind the large house.

“Sister, where will we go?” the children asked.

“Somewhere safe, Little Ones.” After Mother had left, Sister was all they had.

“Where is Safe?”

“Mama always used to say that across the ocean there's another island like ours, only biger. But there, there is no shouting and no fires.”

“Is that where Mama went?” Sister nodded to the children around her. “We want to go to Safe.” Ducking behind the outcropping of the house down the street from their own kept them out of sight.

“Little Ones, we can cross the ocean like birds. Mama always told me that we're part bird, that's why our arms are so long.” True enough, all of the children shared the same thin arms and legs. “Quiet as a mouse now, no peeping, and don't let anyone see you.”

Sidestepping the lights, trying to stay as far away from the yelling as possible, Sister leads her siblings through the alley. Holding hands, Sister practically dragged the tired children through the darkened streets until fire caught in her chest and she paused for a few minutes to let everyone rest. Sitting in the muck, they tried to avoid the river of excrement flowing down the cobbled path. Sister gave a start when she realized how close they were to their goal. Hurrying the little ones to their feet, she started dragging them again through the dark night as the lights and yelling slowly started to close them in.

After a few quick corners, they came to the edge of the little city, perched high on a cliff overlooking the sea. Somewhere across that sea was Mama, safe and sound. At the edge of her vision Sister could see the white cross she had made years ago marking the spot where Mama grew wings and flew far away. Running faster with excitement, suddenly Sister's arm felt light. She stopped and turned to find her siblings stopped a pace back.

”What's wrong Little Ones?”

“This is where Mama fell. We don't wanna fall.”

“No Little Ones, you're remembering it all wrong, this is where Mama learned to fly.”

“Mama jumped when the men were chasing her, when they called her a witch. Are you a witch, Sister?”

Sister's face fell a little, she looked behind her, turned, and ran as fast as she could. Suddenly, Sister was flying. Flying straight out off of the cliff, then quickly, she plummeted towards the ocean below. The Little Ones watched in horror, eyes welling up with tears as the yelling started to catch up to them.

A thin blackbird with massive wings slowly glided to the mainland.