Fledged

Chapter Two: The Skybound

Sleek and smooth, with gold propellers whirling, windows twinkling, and shiny, curled gold letters, the image presented it self to her: the Skybound.

            Details flooded her mind. It is an experimental ship, with more stealth technology and less weaponry. It was built for speed and adaptability. A little over a hundred men will make up the crew, with Captain Quincey Gibbs and Commander James Foster as the chief officers. The engines travel faster than any others in the Air Navy. The whole ship can ascend to an amazing altitude.

            But none of those details were quite as important as the last one: The Skybound was recruiting.

       Faster than she usually moved, she leaped from her bed to her desk in the corner.

            It was covered in books and newspapers, notes and pens, but the clumsy mess was comfortable. Or so Emmeline had always thought.

            The books she loved, which she usually treated so lovingly, were hurled far a cross the room. The newspapers were ripped and scattered, floating through the air like injured birds. Everything was off of her desk.

            …And when it was bare, she moved to the drawers.

            “Where are they, where are they?” Emmeline cried, digging through a bag of old knickknacks. Once-treasured shells which had been smoothed by the waves and collected carefully were tossed over her shoulder, barely landing on the bed. One particularly odd rock with both jagged and smooth edges nearly shattered a delicate china figurine.

            Finally, after much shuffling and scurrying and cursing under her breath, Emmeline found them.

            She held them in the palm of her hand, the shining silver glinting in the light of the half moon.

            They were so small, so delicate, just something she’d used to make paper dolls when she was so much younger, so much more innocent and content.

            Emmeline stared wistfully at them. That seemed so long ago now. And now these silver things symbolized much more than just childhood memories.

            They were her freedom.

            She pulled her chair towards the window, twisting the latch and letting the night breeze play with her curls.

            With the moon shining down, the city was so beautiful. The moonlight glinted off the chimneys of the city, making them gleam. The night was clear and bright, and the full moon was glowing prettily, reflecting in the shining rooftops. The sea rippled in the distance, and Emmeline inhaled deeply, smelling the ocean.

            Looking out at this breathtaking night, Emmeline wondered what exactly had possessed her to do this.

            This was her dream, of course, but wasn’t she taking it to extremes?

            There were other ways to see the world than this, after all. Couldn’t she just board a train or a pleasure cruise and see the sights like other refined young women of society? Wouldn’t that be easier?

            Emmeline bit her lip, staring into the cool night air. Doubt flashed through her mind as she shifted her piercing gray-blue gaze from the rooftops of the city to the object in her hands. Should I do this? Do I really want this?

            She shoved the flickering doubt aside. She had to do this. Sightseeing with an old pervert of a husband wasn’t the life she had always wanted.