It was cold on the ground, even with the sun out. Bee hugged herself, shivering. The cold seemed to be coming from inside of her. Deep in her bones. Shadows chased each other around her.

​

Above her, the others floated, wings shining in the light. She wanted to be like them, she wanted to fly. She has tried once – but never made it very far. Bee looked up, watching the others float about like clouds. Laughter floated down to her, and she choked back a sob. Her wings were bent – almost broken. She couldn’t fly, no matter how much she wanted. The shadows laughed, mocking her.

​

“Hey.”

 

Bee looked up, eyes blurring from tears. Someone was standing just outside of the shadows. She rubbed her eyes.

 

“Hi.”

 

They smiled, and with a wave of their hand, pushed through the shadows. It was a boy, green wings spread wide against his back. One of them was bent at the corner – just like hers.  He took a seat in front of her, resting his chin on his hands. Curly blond hair fell in his eyes.

 

“Who are you?” she asked.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Bee.”

 

“Skye.”

 

A tense pause.

 

“Why aren’t you flying?” he asked.

 

“Why aren’t you?”

 

Skye snorted, rolling his eyes before pointing at his bent wing, and then, the mass of shadows around them. It was darker now. So he was trapped down here too.

​

Bee hesitated, then unfurled her own wings. Skye’s eyes widened, and he sat up straight, studying her. Bee ducked her face back down into her knees.

 

“I know. It’s pathetic-”

 

“No.” Skye said firmly. “Come here. I can fix it.”

 

Fix it? Broken wings couldn’t be fixed. Yet Bee found herself lifting her head, turning so Skye could look at her wings. His fingers were cold, and Bee gasped, biting down on her hand as he bent her wing back into the right position. He rubbed them gently until the ache went away. She turned back around, crossing her legs and folding her wings back.

​

“Thank you.”

​

Skye pointed to his own wing again. “Could you return the favor? Just do exactly what I did.”

 

Bee nodded, and Skye turned. The bend is his wing was farther down than hers. It would be much more painful. Taking a deep breath, Bee bent the wing back. Skye hissed through his teeth, but made no other moves. Bee gently rubbed the wing until his shoulders relaxed.

 

“Thanks.” He got to his feet and held a hand out to her. Bee looked up at the sky, then back at his hand.

 

“I still can’t fly.” She said.

 

“Why not?”

 

Bee pointed to the shadows circling around them, and Skye’s mouth formed a perfectly round ‘o’. For a moment, he said nothing, and Bee shivered again.

 

“Well, we can hover.”

 

“Hover?”

 

“Yeah.” He said, smiling gently. “I have shadows, too. But they can’t stop me.”

 

Bee, stared at him. Dark bags sat under his eyes, but his smile was genuine. He had been more than dragged down by shadows – he had been beaten. So why was he still smiling.

 

Skye offered his hand again. “Come on. Hover with me.”

 

Bee took his hand and got off of the ground. Already, she was warmer, though her feet were still cold. Stretching her wings, she smiled at Skye.

 

“Ready?”

 

Bee nodded.

 

They took off at the same time, Bee’s hand still enclosed in Skye’s. Her stomach did flips as they flew higher. A smile began to stretch across her face. She was really flying again-

​

A cold wing blasted by her, and she screamed, her wings stilling. She started to fall.

 

“No, no, no!” Skye grabbed her other hand, beating his wings to keep them in the air. “It’s okay! Calm down.”

 

Bee tried to steady her breathing. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to fly today, remember? Today, we hover.”

 

Hover. Hover. She could do that, right? Swallowing thickly, she beat her own wings until she was side by side with Skye again. Above them, the shadows blocked them off from the others. The air was chilled, but still warmer than the ground.

 

“Will we get to fly one day?” she asked.

 

Skye shrugged. “I don’t know. But let’s not worry about that. For now, we hover.”

 

Bee looked down, and the ground seemed so much farther than before. She looked up, and smiled. She was closer to the others than she’d ever been in a long time.

​

“For now, we hover.” She echoed. Skye pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms around him. She was warmer than she’d ever been before.

By: Laci Dagger

Rating: T

For NOw, We Hover