Sweet times couldn't last forever.
In two days, the nights spent snuggled with Pretzel in the cave dawned into a day where it was no longer going to happen.
The time we spent telling each other stories under the spirits and bonding over broken pasts was over.
It was time for me to move on.
Pretzel didn't like it. She knew that my choice was to move on with my own family, but she couldn't accept it with dry eyes.
Her sobs sounded so painful. It felt like I was breaking her heart when I sat there embracing her for the last time.
I would visit again one day. Who knew when that would be, but it would be somewhere in the future.
She was too precious to just give up on. When I returned, I would have to bring River and Darcy along to see who had kept me company in their absence. I'd even have to introduce her to Sprig after all this time.
Goodbyes were hard. Especially for a girl who had lived a lifetime of them.
But the excitement of a new adventure was sweeter.
Sprig's car had been towed to save it from the long travel Mum and Dad had planned for them several hours away. All of my items had been packed into a box long ago; Sprig searching my room one last time then pausing to admire tha handiwork of her father who had turned my hole in the verandah into a set of stairs leading to the grass.
It looked like as if it always had been there. It led to somewhere beautiful and filled with memories.
Emotionally, i had never felt better. Physically, the hunger clawed at the sides of my stomach through the water i had tried to drown it with.
But, this was the moment i had been waiting for.
I paused to look back at River and Darcy's old home still as quiet as it had ever been. It had been that way for years; no-one was brave enough to buy a home that had been the cause of someone almost drowning, or that still had a demon lurking nearby.
Perhaps.... when we were gone?
It would be nice to see someone else enjoying the times we had here. The river, the winding roads, the hidden field of glowing flowers....
"Teddy" Sprig smiled "are you ready?"
I pulled myself from the memories to face my everything. She looked ready for a new adventure, but sad that this one was ending.
Who knew if we would ever return here once we left?
"I'm ready" i smiled back and followed Sprig around the verandah to where Mum and Dad were waiting out the front.
"Said your goodbyes to the house?" Dad joked and peered around at the beauty he had created "someone will be keen to enjoy this little place in no time."
"And what is left of the flowers" Mum laughed while she hugged a small pot of orange daisies close.
"Now, Teddy" Dad started as he came over to place a hand on my head "are you sure you want to join us? This is your last chance to decide for yourself now."
"Dad" Lavender groaned at him "of course he wants to come with us."
I could hear the pain and doubt in her voice. Now that we weren't tied, i could do whatever i wanted. I didn't have any obligation to follow them anymore. Mum and Dad weren't even my parents guiding me through life anymore. I was completely at the silent spirit's mercy now.
I knew what i wanted.
I pushed back on his hand and ruffled out my feathers to prepare them for flight.
I saw Lavender's face light up again before she cheekily jabbed her dad with her elbow and danced to the car to buckle herself into the back.
Dad's smile was sad but he accepted my decision. He remained there, thinking, while Mum took her place in the driver's seat.
"I just want what's best for you" he worried "you've always been my son since you came from there" he pointed to the overcast sky "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I know, Dad" i smiled back to him and nudged his head with mine "you aren't going to hurt me."
His smile was sincere at the contact, and he turned with me to the car.
"Just sing out if you need a break" Dad urged me when he opened the passenger door "and don't fly too high! Looks like its going to rain soon!"
Sprig stuck her head out the window when i walked up beside the car to prepare for our long journey. I licked her cheek to make her complain at the mess i left there.
"You ready, Teddy Bear?" Mum called out.
I let out a screech and jumped enthusiastically. I was more than ready to feel the air under my wings again. And with Sprig safely keeping my possessions close to her, she could dip into my account along our trip to finally destroy the hunger causing waves of nausea to gurgle through me.
I was looking forward to the moment she would have the chance to clean out a grocer of all their prepackaged meats. Not a single hoof or gross membrane would be in sight.
I was so ready.
Mum laughed and started the slow decent to the front of the property. I bolted past her to get the momentum i needed to clear the fencing and ascend into the sky to circle while i waited for them to crawl onto the road.
I had taken all of this for granted in the short time i had been airborne. All the flowers that remained on the property created a swirling river of colour from above. Each shape flowed and swirled around the ocean of green bending in the cold air. Each additional section formed its own little halo ringed with the flowers that formed an artwork only exclusive to this perspective.
It truly was a spectacle to see all of our hard work come together so seamlessly, the fragrance melding through the cold air warning of the oncoming rain.
The car finally pulled onto the road and sounded it's horn to drag me from my admiration. Not wanting to lose them for even a second, I turned my back on our home to follow the car making its journey along the cracked road.
The air was bitter and grew heavy with moisture the further the car travelled. I didn't want to disturb the momentum, so I held back my complaints and kept pushing myself until the next town.
Each town was a checkpoint. If I wasn't going to stop at this one, then it was the next. Then I convinced myself to just last one more after that. And another after that one. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPNBQECFCQ
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But that determination could only go so far. Once I felt the light shower gliding over my back and starting to snake into my feathers, I knew it was time to finally take that delayed break at the approaching town.
They had been driving for what felt like forever. I didn't recognize anything around me when the car heard my request and peeled down a side road to make its way towards a maze of roads and roundabouts leading to a stretching parking lot bordering a massive shopping centre.
I kept close to the car when it found a place on the edge with enough empty spaces for me to squeeze in. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYN1Y7FHo4
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I followed everyone while Lavender took my card to go and fetch some food. When I huddled under the cover stretching outside the front doors, I screeched out for as much as a trolley could carry; suggested as a joke by Mum who rushed off with them inside as more sheets of rain sprayed through the area.
People watched me from a safe distance as I shivered on the only dry patch I had kept safe beneath me. Some felt sorry, while others wanted me to be gone so they could brave the elements themselves and get back to thier cars.
I didn't care about thier fears; I just wanted my family to return so I could be fed. I wasnt going to miss that because someone couldn't wait a few more minutes.
I saw a man lingering, taking photos of me and hanging near the entrance. Others did the same but moved on. This one man didn't. It made me nervous, but he never approached.
Then I saw Lavender come rushing out of the store with a loaded trolley of groceries and bags of shopping. She rummaged through one to heave up a large ham leg excitedly, trying to tear open the plastic covering it as quickly as she could.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwZEM1i1tb
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Mum and Dad weren't far behind. They were ambushed by the man who pointed to me and Lavender.
"Is that your demon?" he demanded with a snort "you know you can't have ones that mutated out here."
Sprig kept her head low as she worked on the plastic. Mum and Dad handled the escalation the man was keen for.
I couldn't have my family being dragged down for me. To everyone, I was a wild demon. I should start playing the part.
I let out a screech that startled the man. Sprig even jumped, fumbling her grip on the ham that came rolling out into the trolley.
Food.
I snapped it up, making sure to throw my head back when I crushed the meat in my beak that tore at it noisily. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5H6OUiUau
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The messier, the better. Wild animals had no dignity about them.
"Teddy" Sprig whispered "what are you doing? You are making people stare."
Deny everything; at least for now. No-one needs to know you are mine.
"As you can see, he has no tags" Mum pointed out to the man "so, he can't be ours."
Mum was smart. She knew exactly what to do.
The man eyed my ears then jerked a thumb to me when I tore the second ham from Sprig to shred the plastic myself with my claws that gripped it, growling and snapping at Sprig to really sell the feral look.
I'd have to make it up to her for being so rude later. I felt disgusting even seeing her so shocked when she saw the sudden change in personality.
"It has a hole in its ear. It could have just torn it out."
"And we'd let our demon do something like that?" Mum laughed back "ours was sent to isolation. My poor daughter was almost attacked by ours. It was a horrific sight. We just take care of this one because it follows us everywhere. Completely wild."
The man looked me over while I tugged at the thick skin of the ham, then glared at Mum and Dad.
"A waste of time and money" he shook his head at them "You know you aren't supposed to feed wild animals. It just makes them keep coming back."
"We will take that risk" Dad smiled now "its been hanging around us for months now. We have control of the situation. Have a good day."
"It's a beast!" the man spluttered "it's not some wild dog you can just keep! It's a disgusting monster!"
"Have a good day" Dad repeated through gritted teeth now, wrapping his arm around Mum to lead her away "hopefully no poor demon finds thier way into your home anytime soon."
The man was stunned. He just stood there stupidly since he hadn't got the satisfaction of winning his verbal fight he wanted so badly. He was humiliated on raised phones and sniggering onlookers.
He stormed off, still shouting and ranting along the shopfronts while I snapped up my third ham Sprig offered me.
What an idiot. At least I had something to watch while I filled my stomach.
The gathering attracted the attention of security who also came rushing over at the sight of me, blurting into thier intercoms while racing towards us.
They weren't going to be having a pleasent chat. People parted to let them through and even scattered when they were ordered to do so.
I wasn't going to be looked on kindly by any of those scowling faces. And with them all gathered so closely together, they could easily overwhelm me if they targetted my soaked wings or glaring eyes with thier sprays or demon counterparts speckled in the crowd.
I snatched up the ham and shook off my wings before rushing out into the rain to peel into the sky, feeling a set of hands try to snatch onto my back leg when I lifted upwards.
Mum and Dad could handle humans. I was just a scavanging wild demon after all. They didn't know any better.
I was snapping up the thick fat encasing the ham when everyone finally returned to the car guiltily.
Dad held a yellow piece of paper he folded and stuffed into his pocket so his hands could be free to help with the bags.
Sprig slid around the side of the car to tear open a tray of steaks and hold a dripping one up for me.
"Dad got a fine for feeding you" she whispered when I took it from her "well, I did, technically; but they gave it to him anyway."
I picked up the second steak she offered, freezing when Dad poked his head around the side of the car.
"You should be doing that further away from here" he grumbled "we can't be fined again."
"Just finish it up quickly so we can keep going" Mum added as she scanned the surroundings.
Sprig laid the last two steaks on top of each other so I could throw them back easier. She giggled when they hung out the side of my beak like tongues that i slurped up eagerly.
I liked amusing her. Seeing her laugh made everything better. And she loved seeing me be silly for her; resting her head on the side of the window to smile up at me when i took my running start to track them from above again.
The next time we stopped, it was well into the night. We were out in the middle of nowhere; a single potholed road stretching through the fields as far as the eye could see. A few trees lined the horizon to create creeping silhouettes under the sparkling spirits peering between them.
Everyone ate from cans in the car under the soft light in the front. Sprig fed me more steaks from her window, running her fingers through a wipe before settling them in my feathers.
It was a cold night, quiet and biting. We had lost the rain in our travels that had bucketed down and almost forced me to the ground hours before this designated sleeping area. The water had dried during the travels, but had left a thick film over my body that i just couldn't shake.
Lavender was wrapped in a blanket when she slid out of the car to lead me around to the front of the car. Mum and Dad were still bathed in their light, watching us when i looked back to make sure it was fine to have Lavender braving such freezing temperatures.
I could see my breath floating with each exhale. She blew hers out to watch the fog disappear when it billowed upwards before resting her head against me as she looked up above.
"Must be wonderful to fly around up there" she gazed longingly "most people would do anything to have what you have, Teddy."
To fly? Did humans really want it that badly? Did they envy us; hate us because they would never have the freedom without help from their machines?
Did Sprig envy me too?
I checked on Mum and Dad again. They never liked Lavender making any movement that looked like it was going to result in her leaving the ground. She checked with me, sensing that i was trying not to make it obvious with what i was planning.
She had to experience it at least once. It would be cruel to keep this sensation to myself when she deserved it as much as i did.
I tilted my head up, and she nodded. Lavender got to her feet so she could waddle her way to the back of the car and reach in to grab my phone from the box there, almost tripping on her blanket when she rushed back to me.
I laid down on the ground, instantly raising our parents' suspicions.
Lavender inched closer to me. Her arm wrapped over my neck slowly while she maintained eye contact with Mum and Dad who narrowed their eyes back at her.
"Lavender Bree Griffin" Dad warned her "you will come back inside this car, this instant!"
"Sorry, didn't hear you, love you, bye!" Lavender blurted out with laughter as she threw herself onto my back and kicked my sides to get me to leap up and flap frantically to climb higher.
I hear the car horn scream through the silence and looked down to see Mum hanging her body out the window.
"Excuse me! What do you think you are doing?!"
"Having fun!" Lavender hung onto my neck as she leant over to yell down to them "its amazing up here!"
Her blanket was thrown from her body and sailed down to the ground to crumple in a heap beside the car.
"Higher, Teddy!" Lavender laughed and threw her hands out on either side of her when i obeyed. She soon gripped back around my neck when i hovered there, gasping when she peered over the edge again and swung her feet.
"The car is so small" she whispered in awe "Mum and Dad are going to kill me when i go back down."
"For sure" i added over their desperate shouts from below.
Lavender snapped a photo on my phone that blinded the darkness with its flash of light. She tapped my head and stunned me when she took another to admire.
"Too much of your head" she huffed "but it'll do."
I looked back to see her posing as she held the phone upwards, pointing it downwards.
I hoped she had caught just a glimpse of her furious parents now standing outside the car to threaten her to returning to the ground. That would have been priceless.
"Let's go for a fly" Lavender tapped my head "just in a circle around here. Pleeeease."
She really didn't need to beg. I was going to give her whatever she wanted without hesitation.
"Look Mum!" Lavender whooped when i veered through the air "no hands!"
"Lavender!" Mum gasped up at her; too rattled to say anything more.
"We don't want to be visiting a hospital on our way to our home!" Dad called out "come down and get some sleep!"
I heard her groan when i decided our parents had been shaken enough for one night. I was slow on my descent, making sure to not make any sudden movements so that it didn't cause Lavender to slip.
She would need a morgue from that height, not a hospital.
Lavender hadn't even touched the ground when she was marched back to the car with her grassy blanket. She giggled the whole way, admiring the photos she had taken in the car seat that she showed me when she hung out the window i sat beside.
"Thank you, Teddy" she whispered and kissed my beak "that was the most amazing thing ever."
My feathers fluffed up with pride before i rested my head on the window so i could watch her swipe through the shots happily, taking another when i was gazing up at her.
Lavender had a way of making me feel so bubbly inside. Even when she was just sitting there, i was infatuated with each movement.
Maybe, it would be best if she felt that way.... with someone else?
I couldn't physically tell her about the truth, but i didn't need to. I needed myself to understand rather than trying to force her to.
It would be cruel to lead her along for what could be years, only to finally be able to speak to tell her that she had waited for nothing. She deserved that warm smile she had now; with someone who could make sure it never shifted.
I needed to accept it. I had to do what was best for her, rather than trying to hold onto what i wanted more. As she giggled to herself over the happy memories, i saw that. I was her demon; i could still be there to guide her in a life more happier than one i could only dream of coming true.
She would be happier with someone other than me. I would make sure they were right for her; like i had overseen all of her decisions in her life so far.
It was time for me to step back and view it at a different angle. Somehow, i was truly content about this. As long as she was happy, then i was too; that was my purpose in this life.
I let out a satisfied sigh, only to have her hand run along my beak again.
This was right. It all felt like it was falling into place perfectly.
The peace of mind was blissful. It lulled me to sleep beside the car, and just beneath where Lavender rested herself. I felt her blanket nestle over my shoulders to cover only that part of my body. It would do nothing to keep me warm, but the pure gesture was enough to feel the love from it radiate through me.
Lavender was too kind. Her kindness had been misguided once, but i would be there to make sure the right person accepted it. I would make sure she never fell for another demon since i already knew how much anything a demon could offer would be limited by laws and regulations. It would have to be a human; and one i knew would treat her right.
It wouldn't be Darcy. I knew River was too demanding, and maybe scared, of letting Darcy share affection with someone other than him. Even with someone he also loved and trusted dearly, River just wouldn't be able to ignore his possessive nature screaming at him to keep Darcy safe from anything and everything.
I would feel sorry for the human Lavender would eventually pick. They would have such a shock when they realised that such a sweet-looking woman came tied to two demons and another human.
It would be funny to see his face though. River would definitely find it amusing, like he always did whenever something involved the misfortune of others he wasn't personally attached to.
The thought danced in my head throughout the night. They made my dreams comforting, knowing that I was seeing and speaking to the people I loved most. The happiness was fleeting, but it was the closest I could be to what had been.
I was keen to share my thoughts with Lavender when I woke the next morning to her blanket wet and crumpled beside me. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiOGKe3m8r
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She would be a good listener. She always was despite our barrier. I was sure she would be entertained just by watching how excited I got about the topic I was trying to explain.
However, when I peered upwards to the window, I didn't find her there.
The car was nowhere to be seen either. It was just me, laying in the slick grass and dirt with her blanket beside me.
I couldn't see the car anywhere when I got to my feet to circle around in rising panic. The ground where the car had been parked was damp with morning dew that glistened like spiders webs. The air was thick with mist that hung low, hovering and shrouding the dew from the sun trying to poke through the sheet of clouds above.
Where were they?
"SPRIG?" I shouted out into the silence "MUM? DAD?"
I snatched up the blanket to throw it across my shoulders as I followed the tracks flattened into the grass to the road where they disappeared.
"SPRIG?" I heard my voice wavour when I realised what had happened, rushing along the tar in the direction the tracks had gone.
I was airborne moments after sprinting across the tar. I snapped up the end of the blanket that whipped through the air in its threat to also abandon me, holding it close while I followed the winding road.
Panic jolted through me and rained tears into the air that whipped my face searching desperately for any sign of the familiar paint of the car I knew so well. I needed to find it so I could be with Sprig. I was her demon; I had to guide and protect her. My job wasn't done yet. It wasnt!
Maybe they didn't like the way I ignored them last night I that stunt I pulled with Sprig? Perhaps they were doing that thing parents did to thier kids when they misbehaved by making me want to belive they had left me so I would listen to them again out of fear of being left behind?
I would see thier car any moment rushing back past me to where I had been. It would be somewhere along this road with Mum and Dad worrying about how I would have taken thier empty threat. Sprig would be urging them to break speed limits to return to me so she could make the pain of it go away.
But there was no car. Others passed, but it was not thiers.
I kept going in blind panic until I hit my first cross in the road. It split to the left and right while still heading into the distance ahead.
I circled the road while trying to stop the hammering in my soul from interfering with my thoughts. I chose to keep going straight, praying desperately that I wasn't leading myself in the wrong direction.
It was hours of nothing but tears, frantic calling, and scanning of cars traveling below before I forced myself to the ground on the side of the road still stretching onwards.
It was a useless hunt. I had no idea where they had gone, and had been following the same direction with not even a hint of thier destination in sight. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12Sz8qw8ls
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I could keep following this road, but my muscles were already burning with exhaustion. The sun had pierced through the clouds that had since spread to make way for the light warming the earth and air around me. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMQuwo4TA4
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I could feel my throat clawing for water. It twisted any moisture from me each time I swallowed, until I was only being teased by the salty tears running down my face.
I was clueless, which is what terrified me the most. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing. Nothing that was Mum or Dad or Sprig. All I had was her blanket and a heaving heart that screamed desperately for them to come back.
But they didn't. And I had chased a hope until I didn't recognize anything around me anymore.
What was I going to do? If I turned back, I could be leaving when I was almost about to find them. But if I didn't, I could be following this road forever without any hope of finding them.
Was I close? Or wasn't I? Was this the right way? Or was it one of the other branching roads I had overlooked?
Where were they?
Cars passed when I screamed for them again. I could taste the metallic dryness constricting my throat into killing my anguish that I dragged with me as I heaved myself back the way I had come.
I didn't have the strength to fly anymore. I dragged my wings behind me as more people passed; the air buffered from the cars slamming against me as punishment allowing myself to chase optimism for this long.
Why?
Why did they just left me there? To force me into living my own life like they wanted?
I had just come to terms with my purpose too. I was going to do what I was put here to. We were going to be happy together now; I was Sprig's protector.
How could I do that if I didn't know where she was? She wouldn't be able to find me; she was never coming back.
My legs trembled then buckled at the heavy reality stinging them. I didn't try to fight it, and laid there on the side of the road with blinded eyes, sawing breaths, and the taste of dry blood strangling me.
I didn't do anything wrong. I was good. I trusted them, and they betrayed me when I was ready to follow them so blindly.
I love them.
I loved them.
No, I still love them.
Why?
It hurt so much. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was just a thing. I didn't even know what I was supposed to be without Sprig. She was my everything, and I was going to make her happy. She was going to smile like she did while I watched over her.
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They had been so proud of me. They had come when I pleeded for them at the demon tip, so why would they ignore me now when I needed them the most?
Was it me? Did they really not want me now that I was this thing?
Even if Mum and Dad had given up on me, Sprig still wanted me. She had never said anything about letting me go. She had to be looking for me right now. I had to go where she would find me.
Home. She would find me there. That's where she would look, for sure. She knew I always came back for her. She was probably in her little beetle speeding her way there right now.
I would go home. Then we would be reunited and happy again, and all of this would be some sort of misunderstanding. 100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJ2vWjVtBH
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There had to be some explanation behind it all.
I found my feet again, but not my wings. New hope fuelled me onwards until it finally gave me enough energy to haul myself back into the dying skies and sail over the cracked road leading the way.
I'm coming home, Sprig.
Please don't leave me again.
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