Free Featherlight by Laura Fields

Peter.
Samantha’s face was set in a scowl, and John’s body was tense, his fists
clenched.
    Samantha spoke in a calm, clear voice that was at odds with her anger,
“We’ve lost her, Peter.”
    While she talked, my frantic heart began slowing down. Peter, below
me, snarled. Not even kidding. The noise sounded so animal-like, my fingers
itched to climb farther away from him, as fast as my body could go. I made
myself stay still.
    Peter sounded oddly awed and frustrated, “Did I see correctly? Were
those white eyes? It can’t be…” His voiced sharpened. “Why so hypocritical,
Sam? This is what your dear husband wanted your son to do.”
    Samantha’s eyes flickered to Marshal and back again. My arms and legs
began to burn from bear-hugging the tree. I took a deep breath and told myself, you’re no wimp. Tough it out.
    John yelled below me, “I would never have done what you just did! Now
the last of the folium is lost in these mountains, and she has never flown
before today, so she WON’T LAST THE NIGHT!”
    While they were all occupied, I moved to sit in the fork I had spotted
earlier. I was thankful they were all too angry at each other to notice me.
After his words registered, I couldn’t even sum up the energy to feel angry
that he didn’t think I would last long.
    Peter’s voice lost its calmness, “She has never flown before?”
    John was no longer yelling, “I thought you figured it out after she
just barely escaped falling to death. Luckily, she slowed down enough to land
without killing herself.”
    “I had assumed that she was just trying to get a bigger lead.” Peter’s
voice was soft, and he began cursing under his breath.
    “We need to find her,” Samantha suggested, and I noticed that Marshal’s
facial coloring had returned to normal.
    He told Peter, “Stop the Chase.” Peter hesitated, reluctant to do what
Marshal asked. “Now, Peter.”
    Suddenly, Peter’s near-black wings returned to their original dark
brown color. My pounding heart slowed a little, and my instincts finally calmed
down. I no longer felt the need to run and hide. It would have been a relief,
but with their focus off of each other, it meant they were now focused on
finding me. I was in trouble. The only thing that kept them from noticing me
earlier was their anger. I was now a sitting duck.
    John glanced around and took a deep breath of the woodsy air. Marshal,
Samantha, and Peter soon followed suit. They began to fan out in three different
directions while John strolled to the base of my tree and looked up its length.
Slowly, three pairs of eyes shifted to my hiding spot in the tree.
    My heart jumped and I wanted to hide. I was afraid, a feeling of which
I was too closely acquainted. By now I felt like a hunted rabbit. Before today,
I was just starting to get on the right track. I was finally able to manage my
past, all those painful memories. I had just stopped cutting.  Life was good. I
was finally strong, but then the cancer came along.
    I was now free of leukemia, but what good was freedom when I couldn’t
even control my own actions? Who was the one running back there? Who was that
jumping off the cliff? Surely that wasn’t me ! It felt instinctive,
normal. These people below me were frightening, but I was more scared of
myself. What crazy thing would I do next?
    I knew I should stay strong. I should do it for my mother and aunt.
Least of all, I should be strong for myself, but I couldn’t. The day’s events
caught up to me in my tree. I was in a new place. No. Scratch that. I was on a
new planet . I was tired. I had grown wings. I had almost died. I
couldn’t control my actions. Heck, something inside me made me jump off a
cliff. I just climbed part of a hundred foot tree with little to no handholds,
which should have been impossible for a person like me. A cute scary weird guy
was chasing me. Make that two guys.
    I could go on moping forever, but I summoned the remainder of my
courage and looked down at