Young Writers Society

Prologue

As I stared out at the dark, star filled sky, a small memory of my mother came to mind. She had always loved to bring me and my sister, Laura, out with her to the balcony of our home and show us the bright, beautiful stars that filled the night sky. We’d watch them for hours, pointing out constellations and stars that sparkled brighter than the others. Every now and then, we’d catch a glimpse of a shooting star and make our wishes. While my sister would make whatever childish wish she could make up, I would wish for my mother’s happiness. When my father had left us to fend for ourselves, there were few times when my mother would smile. In fact, the only times I remember seeing her truly smile was out there on that balcony, under the stars. Though it was hard to see during the night, her smile was one of the most beautiful things in the world. I’d give anything to see that smile again.

I’d give anything just to see her again.

I glanced down at my silver watch, noticing how much time had passed. My sister would be home soon, meaning I would have to go downstairs to greet her and make sure she’s fed. I turned to walk back into my apartment, but just as I was about to go in something peculiar caught my eye. A bright, orange light floated freely across the sky. For a moment, I thought it was just another star. But after seeing the way it danced wildly from one direction to the next, I thought, stars can’t move around like that…can they?

I took a closer look at the light and realized that it was not a star, but a flame. A ball of fire swirled and turned at its own will. That couldn’t be possible…it’s not like you see random fire floating around every night, not unless it was from a firework and it was just floating down until it completely diminished. But this flame wasn’t dying. No…in fact, it seemed like with every passing minute it grew even bigger with life. And the bigger it grew, the more beautiful it became.

I watched in amazement as the element suddenly took form of some sort of reptile looking creature, complete with claws, a tail, and two majestic wings. It continued its wonderful dance, flying in circles, loops, and straight lines. It was so hard to believe what I was watching, that the only explanation I could think of was that the flame was some type of magic trick. I didn’t think I would be right, however, when I saw the creature finish its performance and slowly float down until it rested in the hands of a young woman only a few rooftops away from where I stood. The flame swirled around her fingertips for a moment before she clasped her hand into a gentle fist, destroying the beautiful thing in her palm. She ran the fingers of her other hand over the place where the element once was and looked up at the night sky, probably lost in her thoughts.

I should have taken that opportunity to go back inside and pretend that I was never there. But, for some odd reason, I found that I couldn’t look away from her. I don’t know why, but looking at her was a great comfort. It created a gentle warmth in my chest that I didn’t want to stop feeling. I didn’t know who this girl was or where she came from…but…I felt happy standing out there, watching her, with no worry in the world. She…made me feel complete.

That is until she finally noticed me.

The moment the girl’s eyes met with mine, my entire body went completely still. I even thought my heart had stopped for a moment. She had the most unique eyes I had ever seen. Her left eye was some shade of violet-I couldn’t exactly tell since of how dark out it was-and her left eye was, strangely, a golden yellow that shined almost as bright as the stars above us. Her right eye was what made me freeze like ice. The way she stared at me, with that cold and hostile expression, created a chill that ran down my spine and back up again. Why she looked at me like this, I didn’t know. Maybe I angered her by watching her performance with the fire. Maybe she didn’t expect to get a small audience during what might have been a private moment for her. I tried to make my face look as apologetic as possible, but that didn’t lighten up her mood even in the slightest. It may have even angered her a bit worse. I just wanted to look away and forget I ever saw her, but my body still felt frozen by her eyes. Please, I thought, please something happen so I can leave…

“Jason?” The calling of my name somehow, thankfully, broke the spell the girl had on me and I immediately turned to face my younger, thirteen-year-old sister. She still had her pack on her back and she looked at me with interested eyes.

“Hey, sis,” I responded, relieved to have control over my body back, “How’d it go?”

“Good. Um…” She tried to look over my shoulder, “What were you looking at?”

“Oh…uh…” Do I dare look back? “I was just – huh?” I hesitantly looked back to find the girl again, but she had vanished as soon as my back was turned. “Where’d…she go…?”

“Who?” I glanced at my sister and back at the area the girl once was, as if she’d come back if I looked long enough. She never did.

“Uh…it’s not important." I turned back to my sister with a smile. "You hungry?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Come on, then. I’ll take you to your favorite taco place.” Laura smiled and ran off downstairs to wait for me by the car, throwing her bag off carelessly somewhere in my room. As I stepped inside and slid the balcony door shut. I stared out at that rooftop one last time. Something inside me told me that I would see that girl again and that, somehow, my life would change when I did. I shook my head, setting the thought aside in the very back of my mind, and left, completely unaware that those mesmerizing eyes had still been watching me, hidden, from afar.

(Author's Note: I don't know if these notes are allowed or not. If they aren't, please forgive me. I just had something a bit important I needed to point out and I will remove this little section if I have to later on. This is the second site I have posted this work on, the first site being FanFiction.net. I wasn't originally going to put it here, but I really wanted to get some helpful reviews and tips on this and I don't feel I'll get that through FanFiction. I had to point this out just in case someone saw it on the other site and thought it was plagiarism. (even if I have the same user name on both sites, you never know). Again, I apologize if these author's notes aren't allowed. Thank You)