The smile on Lukas’ face widened, “I'll let my supervisors know!”
With a soft smile I pulled out one of my suitcases. Lily jumped onto my bed and watched as I started packing my clothes. A life where people tell me I'm not cursed. It sounds amazing. As I was packing a few sketchbooks, a half piece of paper slipped out of one. I picked it up and froze. It was a drawing of a person. A friend name Max, that I created a few months into being in the hospital. The paper was ripped in the middle. I covered my mouth, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. One of the new bipolar kids had quickly became the boss of our floor. She had found the page and had some of the older kids hold me down while she ripped it. With the fear and anger in me, a small shock wave forced the older kids to let go of my arms. The force made the girl drop my paper, but not before she ripped it in half. Managing to grab the top half of the paper, I ran to my room as fast as my legs would take me.
A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality. There were tear stains on the paper, mixing the colors slightly. I looked up at Lukas; there was something written across his face. Pain? Pity? I couldn’t tell. I looked back at the page and took a deep breath, sliding the page into a notebook. Shakily standing, I opened a drawer on my vanity and placed the notebook in it. After slowly closing the draw, whispering my goodbyes, I locked it with a small, brass key. Rummaging through my small collection of craft supplies, I pulled out a chain of an old necklace and put the key on it. I stood there for a moment, squeezing the key in my hand, thinking about how far I had come since being at the hospital. I wasn’t stubborn, like Max, but with the prospect of this new life, for the first time in my life I was excited about something other than drawing. Taking another deep breath, I turned, wiped my eyes, and tucked the key into my shirt.
“Let me finish packing, then we can leave.”
Lukas gave a little nod, his posture was tense, clearly confused over what just happened, “Sure thing.”
I took note of the way his demeanor changed once I had started crying. When he first entered my room he gave off a stubborn, cocky vibe. It had changed once I had started crying. I silently thanked him for not questioning it. Once I had thrown a few sketchbooks into my suitcase, I stood up and nodded.
“Lily can come with us, right?”
“Yes, of course. She would be a joy to have at HQ.”
Pulling on my jacket, I grabbed my suitcase, “Alright! Let’s go!”
Lukas nodded and held his hand out, “The airship is just outside.”
For a brief moment, I paused, “Airship?”
“Oh, yes. Since people at CG can create things by imagining them, we don’t need technological skills. Although, some engineers have used our creations to help with building safer planes and cars.”
I picked up Lily with my free arm and turned to Lukas, “Let’s do this.”
Lukas bowed and gestured toward the window, “After you.”
I walked over to my window and looked outside. In my backyard there was an airship. It looked almost like a small pirate ship. It had a single sail that was worn. The ship itself was brown and tan with a few red accents. I climbed out of the window, being careful not to slip on the shingles of the awning that was over out porch. A plank of wood landed on the awning, allowing passage to the ship. I carefully made my way across the plank and jumped down to the deck of the ship. The second my feet touched the floor, a girl with bright red hair and blue eyes started shaking my hand, enthusiastically.
“Hi there! I’m Liliana! I’m the captain of this ship! She’s called Warm Allure, Allure for short,” Liliana said happily.
Lukas jumped down behind me, “Let her be, Lil. She had a long afternoon.”
“Sorry, I’m just so excited to have a new person coming to CG,” Liliana said warmly before letting go of my hand.
“Well, I appreciate the warm welcome,” I said, rolling out my wrist.
“Come on, I’ll show you where you are going to sleep for the trip,” Lukas said, walking toward, what I assumed to be, the door to below deck.
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