• I had once gone camping with my family in the most boring place in the middle of nowhere. my father decided, before we moved away from home, that we should "build some character". dad's idea of character building is to drag us into the center of a forest and expect us to survive for a couple of days. not exactly my idea of fun. so what do i do to keep myself from dying of boredom? i get myself lost in the woods in hopes to eventually find civilization.

    picking a stick up off of the ground, i swing it around like a sword. pointing it to a tree, i shout "en garde" and strike it until there is nothing left of the branch. i look around.
    "well, I'm officially lost." i think to myself.

    just then, a girl walks out from behind the tree, but it was no ordinary girl. this girl had wings. i fall down out of sheer shock by just looking at the glittering white feathers outstretched from her back.

    "I'm sorry if i scared you. do you know where i can get home?" she said in a very gentle voice.

    "a-are you an angel?" i asked, barely able to speak.

    "what?" she tilts her head sideways. its as though she has no idea that wings sprouted from he back.

    "why do you have wings?"

    she gasps. "you can see them?"

    "of course" i would've made a sarcastic comment, but decided not to. i began to recover and stood up.

    the girl's eyes shone brightly and she had a smile so beautiful, i was absolutely sure she was an angel. "I'm so glad. everyone says that i have no wings. i thought i was imagining things".

    "can you fly?" i asked, quite curious.

    her smile dissapeared. she looked at the ground rather shyly. "I'm afraid if i do, people might think I'm weird, so i never tried."

    "Are you kidding?" i exclaimed. i might have shocked her because she looked back up at me rather quickly. "i think that would be the coolest thing ever".

    her beautiful smile returned. "you really think so?"

    "of course. who wouldn't?"

    suddenly, she gave me a hug. it came to such a surprise to me, i almost pushed her away, but instead, i hugged her back. i didn't think hugs were awkward when i was twelve.

    "thank you." she said, letting go of me.

    "what for?"

    "for being my friend." she hunched her head into her shoulders. "my parents are always moving, so i usually don't have a chance to make friends."

    i smiled. "i have to move away from here in a couple of days too".

    she giggled.

    "whats so funny?"

    "nothing," she looked down, smiling this time. "its just that we're kinda the same, you and me".

    i laughed. "yeah. i guess so. except you have wings."

    her wings hovered back and forth majestically. "your right."

    "whats your name?"

    "Melanie."

    "I'm Zack."

    "nice to meet you Zack." Melanie curtsied.

    "so do you want me to help you find your parents?"

    "okay!"

    We never really looked for her parents. instead, we ran through the forest playing games such as tag and hide-and-seek. it had been the most fun I've ever had. i never saw her wings as a deformation,but rather an advantage. her wings gave her really good balance and they could give her a small boost of speed when she flapped them. i tried to get her to fly, but either her wings were too small, or she never propelled them hard enough to fly.
    I never cared.

    by the time the sun started setting, we found Melanie's camper quietly parked nearby a small swamp.

    "do you wanna play tomorrow?" i asked.

    "sure! meet me here in the morning." Melanie smiled.

    This time, i hugged her."best friends?"

    "best friends." she said. i felt a tear hit my shoulder. As i let go, Melanie turned away as to keep me from seeing her cry.

    while she walked back, i shouted "see you tomorrow!" i turned around and looked down. A white feather sat calmly in the dirt. i picked it up. the sunset shone on the feather, making it gleam a bright, shiny white. i turned around to see her run happily in her camper.


    i never saw he the next day.


    Maybe she didn't know she was leaving the next day. it must have slipped her mind. i sat in the woods crying all day. i had no way of contacting her and i moved several days later.

    I'm 17 now and came to terms that i will never see the winged angel again.

    ... or so i thought.