Jessica's Misadventures
in High School
Chapter 1
An Island Getaway
'My wings never felt so sore in my life,' she thinks while trying to regain some altitude. It has only been a few hours since Jessica left the island. This is the first time it is out of sight, and now all she sees is water in all directions. The compass in her hand keeps her on the a straight path. All she can do now is hope that this will eventually lead to land.
She feels like she can't fly any further. She needs a place to rest and use her healing power to refresh her muscles. Healing while in flight is too dangerous. The concentration needed to heal would take away from her focus on staying aloft. She considers just landing in the water and resting, but that could just as dangerous in the open ocean.
Another hour later and, finally, Jessica sees something other than water. It isn't the mainland and she knows it. As she flies in she could tell that it is an island. An island far bigger than the one she grew up in, but an island none the less.
'Land! I almost can't believe it.' Seeing land brings her renewed vigor. She makes straight for it like an arrow just let loose from the bow. She locates a nice flat spot to land and collapses to the ground.
"Oh, thank you Land." She says laying face down, moving her hands across the dirt as if trying to hug it. "Thank you! THANK YOU! You showed up at just the right time."
The midday Sun beats heavily upon her. She would raise her wings to increase the shade, but they are too sore to move. That burst of adrenaline has worn off and now she just feels the crash of exhaustion.
"Perhaps I should have taken Henry's boat when he offered" she whispers. She chuckles at herself, feeling very silly in hindsight.
*******
She rests for a few minutes before working up the strength to push herself up and take a seated position. She can hear the sound of the waves beating the cliff face of the western shore and dense vegetation to the east blocks her view inland.
She wraps her wings around her and starts to massage each one, working some healing energy into each. Her hands let out a soft glow like that of a weak candle, only barely visible in the daylight. Once she is done tending to her wings she notices her once pristine white robes are stained brown with dirt.
"Looks like the island hugged me back," Jessica laughs to herself. "I appreciate the show of affection Mr. Island, but I want to make a good impression when I make it to the mainland."
She stands up and stretches her arms, legs, and wings in one big full body stretch. She unties her robe and pulls out a small bag from its inner lining. She sets the bag on a large flat rock nearby, almost tall enough to make for a functional table, and then disrobes the soiled garment.
She searches deep into the small bag. The bag itself contains a pocket dimension about the size of a small bedroom. The only limit on what it can hold is what you can fit into the opening. It now holds many things that were given to her by friends to help her journey.
Jessica packed a couple of changes of clothing, white robes that wrap around her neck drape over her front and connect into a skirt the end between her knees and feet. They leave her back bare for her wings. A spare set of shoes, leather sandals with straps that wrap high around her heels.
Henry gave her a small collection of books. She actually only accepted one, but it would seem that he sneaked some more in without her knowing.
Her father gave her some food, mostly dried fruits and nuts, fresh water in a watertight skin, a map of the world and a compass. The map is useless for now, since she doesn't have any clue of where her home island is located. She finds this exciting, though. Being lost is part of the adventure for her.
Father also insisted that she take mother's old jewelry box. He told her that if she needed money that she should sell some of the jewelry. The notion of selling the only memento of her mother, who died the same day she was born, is nauseating to her, to say the least. Along with the jewelry though is one piece that Father told her to keep.
Mother's engagement ring. Dad crafted it himself. He told the story of its creation several times. He wanted to make sure it was truly special. He went to a white dwarf star and took a fragment from the surface and shaped it into a heart. He made the ring from gold collected from nearby asteroids. He then cast several enchantments on it to make it light enough to carry and to pacify the radiation.
When he told the story he pointed straight up, right at a single star and said, "That is the star that gave birth to this ring." That is the most beautiful story Jessica ever heard.
"There is no way I'm selling this ring, dad!" Jessica shouts, caught up in the memory. She hesitates for a moment. Her Father has the power to remotely view other locations, and he regularly checks in on her. Not from a lack of trust, but just because he worries. If he is listening in at this moment he might respond. When no answer returns she lets out a sigh of relief.
When Dad gave her the ring he told her that he added some new enchantments to it just for her. When she wears the ring it will make her wings seem to disappear. No one will be able to see or touch them, though they are still there. He warned her that she won't be able to fly with the ring on.
She is not interested in losing her wings even temporarily. Her Dad seems to think that the humans of the mainland will react negatively to her wings. That she will be treated like a scary monster. She thinks that is just her Dad overly concerned as normal.
She pulls out the fresh robe from her bag and quickly ties it on. After throwing the dirty robes into her bag she tucks it away into the inner lining of her clean robes and then checks her compass. As she looks at the compass her smile fades, the excitement of the adventure giving way to reason.
"Maybe, I should set up camp and wait until dawn. Wouldn't want to be flying over the open ocean in the middle of the night." her voice low and sullen. She then hears some noise coming from inland. Leaves rustling and branches breaking.
"Who's out there? No use in hiding. I heard your voice" a deep masculine voice comes from the foliage. A tall muscular man in green clothes with patches on the shoulders emerges from the brush. His skin tanned dark and eyes covered by tinted glasses and shaded by a brimmed hat.
"Good day to you, sir." Jessica bows politely as he emerges, a genuine smile beams from her face.
"What are you doing here, and how did you get here?" The man says with authority, although briefly taken aback by here physical appearance.
"I flew here" she answered plainly pointing at her wings with left hand.
"Very cute." The man answers. "However you got here you need to leave. This island is a protected national park, and this area is not permitted to tourists."
"Oh, that reminds me" hearing the island reminded her of the map in her bag. She quickly sticks her hand in her robe to pull it out.
"Whoa, hold on there." The man panics, he raises his left hand in a defensive posture from instinct as he starts to move his right hand towards his waist.
"Could you tell me where I am, please?" She asks politely while holding up the map.
The man immediately calms down. "Did you even listen to what I just ..." he begins, but then lets out a sigh and says, "This is San Miguel Island. My name is Sam and I am with the Island Authority. How did you get here without knowing where you are? Are you shipwrecked?"
"No, I flew." She responds plainly while unfolding the map. "Could you point it out on the map, please?"
Sam puts his face in the palm of his hand and shakes his head back and forth. "Alright, here. Let me see." He holds the right side of the map while Jessica holds the left. With his left hand he points along the western edge and says, "Here is San Miguel."
"So, if I fly straight east I will arrive in California. Thank you so much, sir." She exclaims. She jumps up and gives the man a big hug. Sam is taken off guard by this and goes quiet and still, unsure how to respond.
Jessica runs off towards the coast and spreads her wings. She turns around briefly to wave goodbye and gives one last heartfelt thank you. She then falls backwards off the cliff face. Sam watches this with his mouth ajar in terror. His terror turned to surprise when he sees her rise back up and fly away.
"I swear to God, I will never drink again." For some reason, the vow has more impact this time.