UNTITLED

Mica Zandstra

7th Grade • Daystar Academy

I hugged my mom and dad goodbye, I had just been admitted into Lionheart School two months earlier, where we would learn how to control and train our special abilities. Of course, there were other subjects, history, language acquisition and the study of creatures (the one I was most excited for along with unifly lessons where I heard you would get to have your very own unifly or pegasi).

I triggered Lorion while I was in Frogcroak, the ability to lift and control objects. Frogcroak is a school for humans on earth and from the Land Above the Clouds that haven’t triggered their power. The Land Above the Clouds is literally above the clouds, this special home is for humans who have triggered an ability and live, it is beautiful, but probably not how you are picturing it, your picturing fluffy cloud streets and houses made of white puff. Nope. What you should be picturing are huge houses, not made out of clouds, usually stone or wood, and stone streets.

Scouts are sent to earth to find children that are suitable and look like they may trigger an ability. They will be flown to the Above every year for five years until they trigger, if they happen to not trigger an ability they and their family will be brainwashed. If they do trigger they get to live in the Above along with their family. My mom had been admitted into Horsesong, and triggered animaly, the ability to talk and control animals. My dad triggered the same as me, Lorion and went to Lionheart.

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My mom kissed my cheeks. “Be safe Paige,” she whispered.

“I will mom,” I replied hugging her back.

“Remember to call us,” her dad said, grabbing her bags and hugging her.

“I will, every night,” she promised, grabbing her bags.

“Don’t forget Tinsel,” her mom reminded, using her ability, animaly to call the caramel colored puff to her side.

“How could I forget her,” Paige said, picking up the fat guinea pig and placing her into her large pocket on her petite green colored dress, leaving only a lump. I hugged them one last time before climbing into the large carriage pulled by two large white pegasi. I took the seat closest to the back and waved to my parents as my small (for the Above) mossy house surrounded by wildflowers drew out of sight.

Our first stop was about a thirty minute flight and we landed softly on the mossy ground and not far from the main house was the Dreamwood forest. It was beautiful and was told to hold all sorts of mythical creatures. A girl with long blond hair rippling in the wind sprinted down the stone pathway from the large stone house. She wore a sweatshirt that looked three sizes too big and jeans and she carried an overly-stuffed duffel bag. She marched up the carriage steps, shaking the whole carriage when she sat down. I caught myself staring and when the girl looked up, I became very interested in my tall brown boots. She scooted closer. “Hi! I’m Ashya, but you can call me Ash! What’s your name?” The blond girl, Ash said so fast it took a couple seconds for the words to process.

“I’m P-P-Paige,” I mumbled, giving her a weak smile, I can be very shy and don’t bother starting conversations.

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“Sorry, didn’t catch that,” the girl said through her huge smile.

“I’m P-paige,” I repeated a little louder.

“Oh, hey Paige! Excited about Lionheart?”

“Uh...yeah I g-g-guess,” I said studying my small pearl buttons on my dress. I really have no trouble in school, except with making friends. I’ve never really had a friend, I mean one you can tell everything to, and have sleepovers with. I just never have. I much prefer making friends with animals, putting my hand over the small lump in my pocket. Until, I caught Ash staring. It felt like the awkward silence would never end until Ash leapt into another speed round of talking. Honestly, how could anyone speak so fast, knowing what they were saying. She babbled on and on about what classes she was most excited to take and how she was going to make a gazillion friends. It felt like hours until the coachman shouted.

“Hang on tight!” As the pegasi dipped into a dive, plummeting to the ground. This was the last stop they would be making. On every carriage they only picked up three or four passengers to take to Lionheart, this made everything go a lot quicker and they could start their sessions the very next day. The white-winged horses stretched out their wings only milla-seconds before hitting the ground and padded their hoofs on the fresh green grass. Minutes later a girl in a long red dress flowing gently in the wind appeared, her waist-long strawberry blond hair billowing behind her. She looked...like a princess. This obviously made me even more nervous. The girl entered the carriage dipping into the most graceful courtesy I have ever seen. She glided through the isle and took her seat next to Ash.

“Hi! I’m Ashya, but you can call me Ash!” Ash said gleaming.

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“A pleasure to meet you Ash, I’m Scarlet Oak,” The girl said smiling her gleaming white teeth at Ash. I just kept staring at the ground, wishing I could sink into the floor.

“And you are...” Scarlet asked, eyeing me up and down.

“Uh, P-P...” I started.

“This is Paige! She loves animals and is excited to meet all the creatures at Lionheart!” Ash answered for me.

“You like animals, do you have any?” Scarlet asked cheerfully.

“W-well uh...” I started.

“She doesn’t talk much, which is why I answer for her!” Ash said, acting as if she was helping me, well, in a way she was, I didn’t need to talk much then at least.

“Oh okay, I have a griffin,” Scarlet said, still looking at me. My eyes shot up off the floor.

“Really?!” I asked excitedly, then turning red at the surprised look on Scarlet's face.

“Yup, his name is Jer.”

I gave a shy smile, these girls were nice. Maybe there was hope for this school yet. Ash made a gasping sound and Scarlet and I looked to find her face plastered against the glass. “What is it A....” Scarlet’s voice trailed off. “Oh, wow,” she breathed.

I followed their gaze out the windows of the carriage and found BLANK huge shimmering castles surrounded by forest. It was...breathtaking. We kept looking at the magnificent castles until the pegasi dropped swiftly on the ground. Ash was first, shooting out of her seat like her bottom was on fire and rushed out of the door like a dragon was chasing her. “She’s a goofy one,

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am I right?” Scarlet asked, and it took me a second to realize that she was talking to me.

“Yes,” I said, proud of my voice to not sound too shaky.

Scarlet led the way out of the carriage and we found Ash standing in a huge line of kids, waving us over. There was a huge statue of a lion in the center of the huge courtyard leading up to the stunning castle...Lionheart. Our bags were already in our rooms, said the coachman after we thanked him. I patted the pegasi on their soft muzzles thanking them as well. Scarlet was already with Ash when I hurried over to them. We stood directly behind a boy who had way too much gel in his blond hair. “From what I can tell, they are asking for our names and parents' names,” Scarlet half-whispered.

“Ooooooo! I hope they ask for our favorite candy! Course, I’m not sure I could pick just one, I mean seriously, There are soooooo many incredible candies out there!!” Ash said in rapid speech. Scarlet and I just stared at her blakely.

“What?” Ash asked. “From what I've heard, there is a huge candy shop called Wandemanders in the back courtyard! Mmmm, heaven...” Ash said dreamily. We couldn’t answer because it was our turn.

“One at a time, please,” the old lady at the desk growled.

“Nice to meet you too!” Ash said happily. The old lady rolled her eyes and said “Let’s get you over with,” motioning for Ash to step forward.

“Name?” The lady glowered at her.

“Ashya Storm! But, you can call me Ash!”

“Parents?”

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“Sia Storm and Callum Storm!” Ash sounded as if she practiced this. Which did not give confidence.

“Next,” the lady said motioning Scarlet forward.

Scarlet dipped into another of her graceful curtsy and said “I am Scarlet Oaks, and my parents are Brayden Oaks and Helaine Oaks.” She gave a smile with every word.

“Thank you Miss Scarlet, next,” She motioned me to move forward, but I didn’t budge.

“Ok...name?” The old lady looked smug.

“P-p-paige...” I started but the lady cut me off, “you gotta speak up hun, can’t hear ya when ya mumble,” she said impatiently, the kids behind me started to mumble under their breaths.

“P-paige H-hawk,” I said hurriedly.

“Parents?”

“P-pat H-awk, and P-patricia H-hawk,” I said and when the lady nodded and said “next,” I ran off to find Scarlet and Ash waiting for me.

“Come on Paige! Let’s go find the grand hall!” Ash said excitedly pointing to the right hallway.

“Are you sure that's the way?” Scarlet asked, crossing her arms.

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing!” Ash said crossing her arms right back at Scarlet.

“Why do I find it hard to trust people who always say ‘trust me’?” Scarlet asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh come on Scarlet,” Ash said, grabbing hold of Scarlet and

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I and pulling us to the right. Ash was definitely wrong with her hallway choice. It took a far longer time to find the grand hall than it was supposed to. Because when we got there we were at the back of the crowd.

“SILENCE!!” yelled a man with jet black hair and bright blue eyes, the crowd of kids went quiet. “Welcome to Lionheart School, I am your headmaster. You will call me Sir Rubin from this point forward. A few things before we send you off to your rooms. First of all, when classes aren’t in session the classrooms will be off limits unless a professor is inside. Second, before leaving the school grounds you must inform a teacher and get their permission of course. These are the two main things that you will have to worry about. Oh, and one more thing, Wandemanders, our magnificent candy store is only open on the weekends.” Sir Rubin announced. There was a lot of grumbling and groaning from the crowd, especially from Ash.

“You have got to be kidding me!!” Ash yelled, “Candy only on the weekends, this is absurd! I have to stock up!” Scarlet rolled her eyes at Ash.

Sir Rubin waited for the grumbling to settle before announcing. “You will all get your share of candy, but for the time being you will all make your way to your rooms.” He waved his hand in the air and a scroll appeared in each of their hands. The kids gasped. I opened the scroll. “These contain your room number, roommates and your schedule,” said Sir Rubin.

“Yes!” Scarlet yelled. “You're both my roommates!” I smiled and Ash high fived each of us.

“Most of your roommates are the kids you shared your carriage with and two others. Boys and girls are separated though,” Sir Rubin made clear.

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“Yeah, there is a girl named...Jasmine and Alissa in our room also.” Ash said, eyeing her scroll.

“Well, guess we’ll find out who they are soon enough,” Scarlet said shrugging.

“As you may have known, all of your belongings have been delivered to your rooms already. Thank you and enjoy your year here at Lionheart.” Sir Rubin raised his hands while he left and small flakes of...stuff floated down. They looked like...snowflakes but all the colors of the rainbow.

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,” Ash said her tongue out of her mouth. “Delicious,” Ash sighed dreamily.

“Are you...eating those??” Scarlet asked dumbfounded.

“Uh, YEAH!!” Ash yelled. “They’re called rainblokes,” Ash said, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. “Sorry, they're called rainflakes, try them!” Ash said excitedly. I cautiously stuck my tongue out of my mouth.

“Mmm, they are g-good,” I said happily. I let the delicious flakes of color land on my tongue. The best part was they all tasted a different flavor each according to their color.

“Please start making your way to your rooms!” A lady with black hair and bright orange lip gloss called to the students.

“Come on, we should probably get going,” Scarlet said, grabbing Ash’s arm, pulling her away from the rainflakes, making Ash groan. We followed the directions to room 313.“So who is Alissa?” Scarlet asked, pointing to the name on their scrolls.

“That would be me.” We all spun around to find a girl with elbow length light brown hair and glassy brown eyes staring back at them.

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“Hello I’m Ashya, but you can call me Ash!!” Ash yelled.

“Nice to meet you Alissa, I’m Scarlet and this here is Paige,” Scarlet said with an elegant courtesy. I smiled at the girl.

“Nice to meet you all too!” Alissa said excitedly. “Jasmine and I already chose our beds,” Alissa said, opening the oak door to find a girl with waist length black hair sitting on a bed at the far side of the room.

“Hey, I’m Jasmine, but you can call me Jassa,” The girl smiled.

We said hello and took our choice of beds. I chose the bed furthest to the left side of the wall. I laid all of my clothes neatly in the oak wood drawers. And left one of the drawers especially for Tinsel to stay in. I looked over and saw Scarlet laying her clothes neatly in the drawers, makeup and stacks of books on her nightstand. Ash dumped all of her unfolded clothes in the drawers and was sprawled out on her bed. This was going to be a very interesting year....

This story connects to family because my sister Meghan who represents Ash, my cousin Sadie who represents Scarlet and me who represents Paige made up the Land Above the Clouds when we were younger and have loved to talk and play it ever since. We came up with characters that look like us. Some characteristics that we all have connecting to our characters would be Meghan loves candy just like her character Ash (although maybe not as much) and Sadie loves books just like her character Scarlet and me I love animals just like my character Paige. This story connects us in so many ways and is why I chose to write this short story about it. This is why family is important to me.

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