Special Wings

Written for:

"The Writer's Cramp"  13+: Write the best story or poem in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPs!

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The day had come, I was the last in my class but finally I would get my wings. I had watched on in jealousy as the others began to sprout. Beautiful colorful wings. Lots of blues, greens, pinks and reds. Some were exactly like those of the butterflies. Beautiful shapes and angles. I barely slept that night, wondering what my wings would look like once they began to grow and sprout from my back. I had finally drifted off and dreamt about what my wings would look like. I so badly wanted a set of butterfly or dragonfly wings. Then I could go out and play with the others.

I woke and ran to the mirror, I stared at myself and then frowned, and my shoulders slumped forward as I stared at my wings. They were iridescent and quite see through, similar looking to the surface of a bubble. But they were also frilly, like a lacey ruffle shirt. I knew everyone would laugh at their silliness. Maybe I could fake being sick and stay home. I stared at my reflection and sighed, defeated. I couldn’t fake it for that long. Here they were, already growing and non returnable. That’s just how mine would be.

Even My family’s own wings weren’t this fancy or pretty. I could hear my mother coming down the hallway, she was humming happily, she was just as excited as I was to have my own wings. She knocked on my door and opened it without waiting for an answer. She let out a joyous happy yell and pulled me into her arms.

“Mom, I can’t go to school like this. All the others will laugh at me.” I whined and grimaced at my reflection again. “Why couldn’t I have gotten butterfly wings like you, or dragonfly like dad, I would even settle for moth wings like Cousin Jack. But these? They’re horrible.” I started to cry. “I don’t like them and now I am stuck with them.”

My mother laughed and smiled at me. “They are not horrible; you have very special wings. They have a great deal of magical power to them. Your friends may pick on you to start off with but once they realize your potential they will start to respect you.” My mother said and smoothed back my hair away from my face, wiping my tears from my cheeks. “I know how terrible children can be but you must remain strong.”

I sniffed back the tears and looked at myself again. “What if my friends stop being my friends? What if they think they’re stupid?” I said to her and began to tear back up again. I tested the wings, fluttering them to see how they felt to move. After all they were my first set of wings and would only grow stronger as I grow up and age. I would never lose them completely but I would shed, like skin or hair sheds. I wondered how my frilly wings would look or at least what the shedded pieces would look like.

“Don’t be silly. If they disown you then they weren’t your friends to begin with. And like I said your wings hold a lot more power than those of your friends and even me and your father, any of your family. But you must not get a big head over this. You must remain level headed and fair.” She explained.

I nodded. It made me feel a little better about my wings that they are special and would be stronger and more magical than those of my friends and family. But I frowned at my reflection. I couldn’t let it go to my head though. I had to remain calm and collected, cool under the pressure of the kids in school being mean to me. My day would come and I would stay neutral and not let myself become consumed with knowledge and power. I looked at my mother again.

“Alright kiddo, I’ll let you get ready for school, your new shirts are in the cupboard, ready for your wings to fit through instead of being trapped underneath.” She ran a hand through my hair again and let my room. I changed quickly and ran down for breakfast. My siblings giggled and sniggered to each other about my wings, I just stuck out my tongue at them and my mother hushed them quickly. My older siblings gave me a punch in the shoulder and congratulated me on the new wings.

I smiled a big smile as we climbed into the cabin. My mom hummed to herself at us kids chatted and giggled with each other. I felt one of my sister’s tug my left wing and I turned and friend at her. She was just jealous. She hadn’t gotten her wings yet, she wasn’t old enough. I fluttered them in her face and she let out a high pitch giggle and smiled at me. I was starting to get nervous about letting my school mates seeing my wings. But we were almost there. This was no time to be nervous. I had to be happy that I had finally reached the age to receive my wings.

Mom finally dropped us off at the school gate. She leant against the cabin and watched us unload, grabbing our bags and books and anything else we brought with us for school. I looked up at her she had a big smile on her face as she looked at me, she actually looked quite proud of my wings and me. My siblings darted through the gate to find their friends. My mother walked up to me and gave me one last hug and a kiss on the top of my head. “If you need anything, talk to your teachers, they will help you. They know what you will be capable of in the future. But they will treat you the same as everyone else. Now have a good day at school, son.”