αɴ ιɴѕιɢɴιғιcαɴт wrιтιɴɢ coɴтeѕт ENTRY

[Soriams]

Entry for αɴ ιɴѕιɢɴιғιcαɴт wrιтιɴɢ coɴтeѕт
Based on Picture One

To Fly on Feathered Wings

Autumn in Boston was warm and wet, the changing season still clinging to the summer’s muggy heat and grey skies with the threat of rain hanging heavily in the air. The trees stubbornly clung to their green leaves, and the only hit of winter was the cold Atlantic wind that rolled in off of the harbor that tortured pedestrians, and shook the heavy windows of store fronts and sky scrapers. Those used to a sunnier climoate found this weather insufferably dreary, but it suited Lena just fine. Growing up as a country kid in the little rural town of Townsend, she had seen more than her share of damp weather and had learned to love it. Even her short stature, mousey brown hair and doe-like eyes seemed to be suited to the temperamental New England weather. Even so, she can’t help but look up when a particularly strong gust rattles the conference room windows. Seeing a group of pigeons huddled up on the sill, her heart goes out to he poor birds. Lena had always loved birds, and even owned a few homing pigeons when she was a teenager; so seeing them stuck out there in the elements saddens her. However, being on the fifteenth floor of the Baker building and absolutely no way of getting to them, she has to turn her mind away from the birds and back to her work.

As an ambitious but rather shy girl with an eye on Harvard, Lena was thrilled to land a prestigious internship at Trelawney and Rice. The affluent law firm ran a scholarship program where every fall they took in about ten of the best students from the state who were interested in law and put them through a rigorous unpaid internship, in return, they would pay a full ride scholarship to Harvard for the top two students as well as a conditional offer of employment assuming they successfully complete the program. Lena’s family didn’t have anywhere near the amount of money it cost to send her to an ivy league school, so this was just the sort of opportunity she needed to achieve her dreams.

Looking over the sea of papers and reference materials in front of her, Lena can’t help but feel a little lost. There is so much to learn and there is so much pressure to do well that the stress of it all is starting to weigh on her. She is supposed to be writing the opening arguments in a wrongful death case, along with all ten other candidates, and whomever does the best will get to accompany the lead into court to hear their argument read. No matter how she tries though, Lena just keep drawing a blank, and her thoughts seem as lost as the notebook in front of her is devoid of writing. Tapping her pencil on the paper, Lena watches as it leaves little spots of grey on the white, like the egg of a wren. That one stray thought alone is enough to draw her mind completely away from the task at hand and into a daydream.

There in her hands Is a tiny nest with four tiny little speckled eggs in it, warmer than the summer’s sun on the back of her neck, their mother must not be long gone. Such a precious thing, she cradles it close to her breast and takes it to the one person in the world who ever understood just how important little eggs were: Nana. Lena’s grandmother had died when she was very young, yet in the short time she knew her, she had imparted upon her a love of gardening, the great outdoors and most of all, birds. Running through Nana’s garden, rows of peonies and buttercup flowing past her in a sweet-scented carpet, she finds her bent over a flowerbed. Yet as she draws near, the image fades and she realizes it is not Nana that is there waiting for her, but her childhood imaginary friend, Raj. All of Lena’s dearest memories of Nana seem to blend seamlessly into daydreams with Raj. For some reason her young mind has intertwined to two so that that they are nearly one in the same. What once was a blue dress is now coat of iridescent feathers, a long wedge shaped tail like a hawk trails down behind him to where it nearly touches the ground behind his clawed feet. As he turns to look at her, she can tell that he smiles at her even though his raven-beaked face seems frozen in expression, his black eyes are warm and welcoming. He reaches out to take the nest from her and his wings fold neatly behind his arms, and his scaled hands cradle the fragile nest tenderly.

Just as they are about to exchange words, the conference room door opens and startles Lena out of her thoughts. She jumps half out of her skin, and turning to look behind her she sees one of the other interns enter. It takes her a moment, but Lena eventually recognizes him as Jim, one of the few students there who had actually taken the time to talk to her. Looking a little sheepish under her scrutiny, he rubs the back of his head, “Oh, hey Lena. I didn’t realize there was anyone else in here.”

That was one of the drawbacks of being a student, they didn’t get an office and had to just take whatever empty space they could find. That was how Lena ended up in the conference room, and probably Jim’s reason for being there as well. Feeling a bit guilty for staring, she turns back to her papers before he can see her blush. “Oh well, there’s plenty of room if you want to join me. Not like I’m really doing anything anyway,” she says in a bit of a defeatist tone. Normally Lena would have been far too self-conscious to admit something like that, but Jim seemed to be able to bring her out of her shell. Many of the others were too self-absorbed, competitive or just plain mean to even bother talking to her, but not Jim. He was a lanky blond with grayish-blue eyes and was on the shy side too, but he had an easy smile and willingness to help others that set him apart.

“Ok, great! I think you have half of the books that I wanted to reference anyway,” Jim says in a cherry voice, and takes a seat across the table from Lena. He seems awfully happy about sharing a room with her, and Lena glances up at him with a puzzled expression and he quickly looks away. With a heavy sigh, she rolls her shoulders and looks back down at her empty notebook. Trying to look productive, or at least like she is doing some sort of work, she scribbles notes down and flips pages back and forth in one of the journals. It’s all for show though, and she has no more inspiration now than she did before. After a few long moments of her fruitless struggles, Jim clears his throat, “Uh, Lena? Can I ask you something?”

Lena looks up at Jim, a small, worried frown crossing her face. She is afraid he is going to ask her something about the case they have been assigned, or worse yet, ask her for help. She would have no idea what to tell him, and the last thing she needs is to look like an idiot, but she can’t really say no. Who would do that? Does anyone actually say no to that question? “Yeah, sure I guess… What’s up?” she answers hesitantly, not sure she wants to hear what comes next.

For his part, Jim looks utterly embarrassed, and Lena’s scowl doesn’t seem to be helping things. He looks away, and picks at his sleeve, not able to meet her eyes, “So, umm, Lena, I was thinking that maybe we could like… Grab a bite to eat sometime? Or coffee or something?” he says, practically stuttering to a halt at the end as he trails off.

Lena just stares at him in disbelief for a long moment, feeling rather like a fish as she gapes at him, but then the irony of the whole situation hits her and she bursts out laughing. It’s not that his question is particularly funny; it’s just that it is so far what she was expecting, that she simply must laugh in relief. Poor Jim has no idea what is going on and blushes a nice shade of crimson, probably thinking that she is laughing at him. Not able to take it anymore, he pushes his chair back and stands up, preparing to leave and hide his shame. Gasping for breath, Lena manages to wave him down and stop him from leaving. “No, Jim… Don’t go… I’m not laughing at you, I promise! I was just so worried you were going to ask me about the project and I’m so lost, that I don’t even have a clue what I’m doing. Then you… Well,” it is her turn to stumble over her words and she stops to take a deep breath to calm her nerves before continuing. “Well yeah, I guess I would love to!”

It is Jim’s turn to laugh now, and he seems much relieved by Lena’s answer. “Oh good! Well, then maybe tomorrow night? Maybe we can help you with this argument, and we can figure it out together before it is due on Monday,” he says with a bright smile.

“Sure thing,” Lena says, returning his smile, still feeling a bit of her previous mirth bubbling up in her chest, and they both share a hearty laugh. After a hour or so of working together Jim takes his leave, still smiling and promising to meet her in the library tomorrow afternoon to continue their work. Eventually, Lena too gives up on the research, and leaves the building to catch a bus out to Marine Park. It is one of her favorite spots, and since moving to Boston for the internship it has become one of her regular places to come and relax after work or to think when she has something on her mind. Nestled in a strip of land between city and harbor, it offers a great view of the brackish waters of the river mouth, and beyond that the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean.

When she arrives, it is only a few hours before dusk, and the cold wind and grey skies have chased away many other would-be visitors, leaving it looking deserted and forlorn, exactly the way Lena likes it. She walks the paths in silence, watching the first of the fall leaves as they skitter across her path. Above her, the ones still clinging to the trees tussle with one another, creating a lovely quaking sound that fills her ears and relaxes her mind. All manner of city birds take refuge here, pigeons and house sparrows walk the sidewalks, competing with one another for the scraps of picnickers. Crows, starlings, robins and grackles are also frequent visitors, though they tend to keep their distance, preferring to pick through the grass looking for worms and other treats. Of course, the shoreline park is also inhabited by flocks of seagulls who ride the wind with enviable skill, seeming to float effortlessly on the sea breeze, soaring high into the sky without moving a wing, just letting the air lift them up. Taking a seat on a cold metal bench not dart from the spray of the waves, Lena Watches them turn and dive through the sky. She can imagine Raj up there with them, his wings outstretched to catch the wind as it crashes to shore, flying up so high that he is merely a speck against the sky. Surely a creature so kind and intelligent as he would have just as much mastery of the sky as the gulls, and she can almost see his form amongst the clouds.

Slowly, Raj’s form grows larger as he spirals downward, a lazy descent out over the water until he is skimming over the water, his wing tips nearly touching the cold ocean. He turns towards Lena, and with wings spread wide he arcs up into a stall, and gently touches down in a graceful landing without one lick of backwash. Smiling to her, he tilts his head to the side a bit as though looking at her curiously, before walking forward and leaping up to perch on the back of the bench. Happy to see him, Lena scoots up to sit on the back with him, putting her feet on the seat. “So, how are the skies today?” she asks.

Raj chuckles in response, a purring sort of warble that bubbles forth from his throat. “It is lovely as the breath of the sea ever was, my Lena,” he replies in his smooth voice, tilting his head back to look at the gulls still wheeling overhead. With his keen eyes, he can probably pick out individuals even from this distance, and Lena wonders what he sees. Does he judge them, as she would a human? Knowing boys and girls, young and old, where they all look the same to her? She ponders the question in silence for a few moments, before she realizes Raj’s attention has turned back to her. She turns to look at him questioningly, and he speaks again, “Tell me Lena, why is it you never join me?”

Lena would have laughed, had his voice not held such a concerned tone. It is almost as if Raj is worried he has offended her somehow. “Oh Raj, I would love to, I really would! I just don’t have wings,” she says in as gentle of a tone as she can, not wanting to seem patronizing. The look she receives in response surprises her, he just seems confused, as though the thought of not having wings is as impossible as speaking on being mute.

Before Raj can answer, a soccer ball goes whizzing past Lena’s head, startling her out of her thoughts. Blinking in an attempt to reorientate herself, she comes back to herself to see a sheepish looking kid on the beach who waves an apology to her and kicks the ball back to his friends. With a sigh she realizes she must let the dream go, no matter how much she wanted to hear Raj’s response. It is getting late and she really should be heading home if she is to be to work tomorrow, so she heads back to the bus stop and makes the trip back into town. His words stay with her, and throughout the entire trip and well into the evening, she can’t help but think of him, and just what he had meant. Though Raj has been her constant companion since she was a child, the little fantasy has seemed different recently, somehow more real, their conversations more pointed. Almost as though he is lonely without her. Yet, it is not concerning for Lena, as she enjoys his company, and her night is untroubled despite her thoughts.

The next day finds her well enough, and she is excited to meet Jim at work to continue their collaboration. So she is up early and into the office well before her normal time, and waits for him in the library. Trelawney and Rice is almost deserted at this time, and the peaceful quiet is a welcome change from the normal hustle and bustle of the office. Settled at a table amongst the stale stacks, Lena has already pulled many of the books they will need for their research, and has finally made a bit of progress on the argument, having taken down nearly a full page of notes and case studies. It should make the writing much easier, as she has been able to establish precedence and all that is left is to pull everything together for presentation to the jury.

When the door clicks, Lena looks up expecting to see Jim, but is surprised instead to find Raj standing there. “Oh, umm… Hi,” she stutters, not sure what to say to him. This is the first time he has ever shown up unbidden, without her actively turning her thoughts towards him. This is different; more like he is following her and is actually there, more so than some flight of fantasy, and his sudden appearance has shaken her.

Raj looks a bit embarrassed, and more than a little apologetic. “Oh Lena, I’m so sorry if I’ve interrupted you. I have just been thinking about our conversation yesterday, and wanted to talk to you,” he says softly, and steps closer to stand across the table from her. He seems obviously concerned, and Lena wonders just what could have troubled him so.

“It’s ok Raj, you just took me by surprise is all. I’m always happy to talk to you,” Lena says, and gets up to stand next to him.

He seems a bit relieved that she isn’t angry with him and continues, “It is just that you said… You said you didn’t have wings and I was shocked. I had always thought you were like me,” Raj says in a soft voice, trailing off when he looks to her, almost as though he still doesn’t believe her words.

Lena is just plain confused now, and feels a bit guilty for distressing him even though she doesn’t understand why. “But can’t you see that I’m just… human?” she asks, and receives another confused look from him. Before he can reply though, the door opens again and Jim steps into the library.

“Hey Lena! I didn’t expect to see you here so early. I was sure I would have beat you in today,” Jim says, looking about the library. “Who were you talking to?” he asks, a bit of a smile crossing his face.

Startled, and no doubt looking a bit like a deer stuck in headlights, Lena looks around, but Raj is nowhere to be found. Feeling unsettled, she just shakes her head. “Oh, just myself I guess…” she replies, looking down at her shoes. Her sullen answer isn't what Jim had hoped for, but she just can't help feeling interrupted even if she was only talking to herself. Raj seemed like he had something important to speak with her about, and she is upset with herself for not being there for him.

The smile falls from Jim’s face, and he clears his throat, feeling suddenly awkward in the face of Lena’s glum greeting. “Well then, I guess we should get to work,” he says after a moment’s consideration. He has no idea why Lena seems so upset, but whatever the issue he can’t be certain he is not the cause, as she offers no elaboration on the subject. Not sure what else to do, he takes a seat at the table, and Lena returns to hers without further discussion and hands over her notes. As he reads them over, his eyebrows slowly rise and upon finishing he looks up to Lena who is looking absently at an open book. “Did you write all this today?” he asks, sounding impressed.

“Yeah,” Lena answers without looking up, her mind clearly elsewhere.

“Lena, come on, don’t pretend this is nothing! What you’ve got here is amazing!” Jim exclaims, prompting her to finally look up. “I mean, look at this, you’ve found everything we need, we could actually finish this thing today an be done a whole two days before everyone else,” he says energetically, hoping that she will pick up on his enthusiasm and perk up a bit.

“Really? Do you think so?” Lena answers, looking a little flustered under the flattery as she cranes her neck to look at her own papers. In the conversation with Raj, she had forgotten all about the research she had been doing beforehand, and how excited she had been to show Jim. She tries to smile a bit, even though she now feels worse for neglecting him as well.

“Absolutely,” Jim replies, beaming triumphantly. To see her smile, something Lena doesn’t seem to do nearly enough, even if it is a half-hearted attempt, is more than enough victory for him. Scooting his chair in, he begins to go over the notes with her, pointing out their strong points and elaborating how they can be used to argue the current case. Lena’s interest grows, and after awhile she is able to let her previous thoughts go, and really apply herself. They work together throughout the afternoon, discussing their finding, compiling and writing their papers and helping each other proof read. It is not until well after the sun has gone down that they bring things to a close.

Jim’s persistence and seemingly endless optimism has really won Lena over, and she is more than happy to take him up on his offer of dinner from yesterday. They gather up their finished papers, laughing and joking together, and head for the elevator. “I can tell you one thing, the rest of the interns better bring their game on Monday, because we nailed this thing,” Jim says, and Lena chuckles in response.

“Thank you again for your help though, I couldn’t have done half of this without you,” Lena says earnestly, meaning every word of it as she reaches over to squeeze his shoulder. It has been a long time since she felt so accomplished, and it is all thanks to him. Reaching the elevators, he pushes the button, and Lena shifts her bag onto her shoulders and suddenly realizes that she has left her coat behind. “Oh shoot, I forgot my jacket. I’ll be right back,” she says, dropping her bag on the floor. “Watch my bag for a second?”

Jim nods his agreement, and Lena heads back to the library, but just as she is about to go in, she hears the stairway door open behind her and turns to look. Somehow, she is not surprised to see Raj standing in the doorway. "Oh, there you are! I'm so sorry we got interrupted before," she says as she walks up to him, still feeling uplifted from her day working with Jim.

Raj looks relieved to find Lena still there, and he holds his hands out to her in greeting. She takes them, and he gives her fingers a gentle squeeze before answering. "That is quite alright, my friend. I know how important this is to you, and I would not want to do anything to jeopardize that," he says softly. Dropping his hands and seems to regard Lena for a moment, creating a long pause that stretches between them awkwardly before he continues, “Perhaps it is wrong of me to say, but Lena, when is the last time you truly looked at yourself?” It is Lena’s turn to look confused, and Raj quickly tries to explain, “It is just that you told me earlier that you are human, but I have never seen you that way,” he says in a wistful tone, reaching up to gently stroke her face with the back of his scaled hand. “And I have always loved your ebon feathers, so it is hard for me to hear you deny your wings…”

As Raj trails off, Lena pulls back from him, feeling shaken and uncertain what to think. She had always thought of Raj as her imaginary friend, a fantasy with enviable abilities and possessing all the qualities she didn’t seem to own, the greatest of which had always been his ability to fly. All her life, she had considered herself human, after all, her parents were human, she had gone to school with them and even to look at herself in the mirror this morning, she was certain that was what she was, but now she is afraid to look. It is with that high esteem she holds his opinion, that she would doubt everything she thinks she knows, even If what he is telling her seems impossible. She squeezes her eyes shut, backing away further until she stumbles against the other side of the hallway. “Raj, how could that be true?” she says, her voice full of the painful sort of hope that kindles when one glimpses a dream they had long ago given up on.

Lena feels Raj step closer, steadying her when her legs feel weak. Though concerned, he knows that he has finally reached her, and he too sounds hopeful when he speaks: “Open your eyes.”

Lena refuses at first, keeping her eyes glued shut, but his quiet insistence eventually leaves her no choice. She slowly lets them open, and Raj’s face comes into focus in front of her, somehow clearer, more real than it has ever been before. Hesitantly, she looks down at herself and gasps as she finds herself covered with black feathers. Thrusting her hands out in front of her, she finds them to be scaled, with a long talon at the tip of each of her four fingers. The fifth has become the last joint of her wing, and is now hidden beneath the long primaries that fold against the back of her arms. Spreading her arms wide, she can feel the tug of the feathers against her skin as they pull tight, locking together into broad wings. Elation rushes into her, and with a little cry of happiness she turns to Raj and throws her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispers to him, looking up at his smiling face.

"It is not my gift, but yours, my Lena. You can finally fly with me," Raj replies gently, seeming to be both happy and deeply moved. Separating himself from her, he turns back and opens the door to the stairway, "Come. The sky is this way."

Without a second thought, Lena follows Raj up the stairs towards the roof, having forgotten all about Jim who is still waiting for her by the elevators. After what seems to be an eternity of waiting, he finally becomes worried and decides to go looking for her, not wanting to believe that she would be the kind of person to just ditch him after working together all day. Besides which, he still has her bag that contains all her papers, and even if she were going to leave without him, she would not have left it behind. Heading back to the library, he finds the door, closed and Lena's jacket still inside. Utterly confused, he retrieves it and walks back out into the corridor, wonder where she could have gone. It's almost as though she simply vanished into thin air. Just standing there with her coat in his hand and a puzzled look on his face, he jumps when the sound of a door slamming startles him out of his thoughts. Nothing has moved in the hallway, and it takes him a moment to realize that the sound came from behind the stairway door. Hesitantly, he opens the door and calls out Lena’s name. Listening for a moment, he receives no response, and his heart sinks. It seems as though his only lead had disappeared before he even knew what it was.

Stepping into the stairwell, Jim looks down the dizzying spiral, finding nothing but thousands of stairs. As he looks up through, he can see a ray of light spilling across the ceiling from an open door leading to the roof. With noting else to go on, he runs up the stairs, not sure what he will find when he gets there. A sense of dread grows in him when he hears Lena’s voice, and he fears that she has been abducted, or worse. Steeling himself to the possibilities, Jim throws open the door and stops dead in his tracks.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Lena was saying as the door was opened, speaking to Raj who had been giving her tips for her first flight. As the day turned to night, so too the clouds have cleared and the pale moon looks down, adding its cool light to the rooftop. The city lights have chased away many of the stars, and the sky gapes wide and dark above them. Wind tears through the buildings, buffeting them, but as Lena steps up onto the ledge, she feels no fear. Feeling the air pull at her wings, she knows beyond a doubt that they will hold her.

“Lena, stop! Come back!” Jim calls out to her, terrified and confused, imploring her to come back to a safe distance.

Hearing Jim, Lena turns to look over her shoulder and standing rock-steady against the wind she smiles to him, seeming happier than he has ever seen her. “Oh, hey Jim. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back,” she says matter-of-factly, as though she were taking a quick trip to the store, not standing on the ledge of a building. Before he can move or say another word, Lena turns back, and spreading her arms wide, she leaps out into the cool night.

Sailing out into the darkness, Lena is flooded with joy as se feels herself rise up into the sky, Raj soaring effortlessly next to her. Together, they leave the city lights far behind and turning northward, she can see the aurora glowing on the horizon, red and blue light swirling around one another in an eternal dance. Somewhere far away, as though she hears it only in her mind’s eye, Lena hears a distant voice speak, “Do you know why? Did something happen?”

Jim’s trembling voice responds, fading out as Lena wheels away through the sky, “No, she just seemed… Happy.”

[Soriams]

Yea! I've finished this, though it still needs some editing. I'm going to open it up for comments and things, and give this a bump. Of course, critique of all kinds is welcome.

[Resin]

This is a lovely story, Soriams. Sad, but lovely. I was drawn into the story instantly and stayed interested all the way to the end. The description of Raj was perfect. I'm actually sad that the story was so short.
You write incredibly well. I can't wait to read more from you in the future. (: