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July 4th, 1883

Learning to Fly

by Maelie Arsenault

Maelie looks from the letter and to the key in her hand with a quizzical expression. With a smile spreading across her lips, she headed out the door of the manor into the mid-morning light to find the gift Victor had left for her. Blinking away the rays of the sun glinting off the machine, her eyes grow wide as she takes in the eletech powered bike. Her feet whisk her down the stairs and she pauses only a moment before running her hand along the handle bars and the seat.
 
“I…I need to change… I need my riding clothes.” She turns around and teleports herself back through the door inside before dashing through the house to her room. She’s barely through the door when she starts tossing off her blouse and skirt in exchange for breeches, shirt, and a light riding jacket.
 
When she gets back out, Mordecai is still facepalming about what insanity has been brought to the manor now, muttering something about how Mae requires no encouragement. She returns to the bike and carefully starts to pick at the controls. She finds the key ignition. She checks the fire-elemental capacitor. Sitting astride it, she turns the key and feels the machine come to life.
 
“Oh lá lá! C'est incroyable!” She says as she reaches for the controls. “Oh, Victor... you get me.”
 
She carefully finds the brake first, then the throttle, and after a few jerks forward she’s moving it smoothly around the driveway. Other staff members come outside or to the windows to watch, even Crocket pokes their head out of the garden at the rumbling noise from the bike.
 
“D’accord! I am off!” She says after stopping to give the manual a cursory read.
 
“Mistress, are you sure that’s a good idea? Miss Fowler could mount up one of the horses to accompany you…” Mordecai attempts to suggest until Maelie is waving her hand dismissively.
 
“I will be careful! I will take de highway out of de city, it will not be busy dis time of day.” She says, probably with less reassurance than she planned.
 
And before anyone can stop her, she’s out the gate of the manor, the cries of surprised pedestrians and indignant rich folk rising in protest at their eccentric neighbor.
 
The wind whipped her face, but it just made her mad grin wider as she flew down the street towards the open highway. She skidded a bit on a turn, dodged a cart, and cut off a carriage before finally getting the hang of the brake and turn.
 

Run and tell all of the angels
This could take all night
Think I need a devil to help me get things right
Hook me up a new revolution
Cause this one is a lie
We sat around laughin' and watched the last one die

 
Once she reached the highway, where only a stray carriage or rider would be in her way, she finally let out the throttle and started playing with the gears and clutch.
 
Now, I'm lookin' to the sky to save me
Lookin' for a sign of life
Lookin' for somethin' to help me burn out bright
And I'm lookin' for a complication
Lookin' cause I'm tired of lyin'
Make my way back home when I learn to fly high

 
The rumble of the engine, the muffled roar of the elemental powering it, the world speeding by as she flies down the highway all made her feel recklessly free. There was no horse to worry about, she could go anywhere with this on her own.
 
I think I'm dyin' nursing patience
It can wait one night
I'd give it all away if you give me one last try
We'll live happily ever trapped if you just save my life
Run and tell the angels that everything's alright

 
Moreso, it felt risky and dangerous, riding a machine powered by pure elemental forces tucked underneath her. The controls were new and strange, but just close enough to bicycles for her to be able to figure them out. The newness of them, the uncertainty of it all made her heart pound.
 
Now I'm lookin' to the sky to save me
Lookin' for a sign of life
Lookin' for somethin' to help me burn out bright
I'm lookin' for a complication
Lookin' cause I'm tired of tryin'
Make my way back home when I learn to fly high

 
It was freedom. Freedom to take this chance. To not know what comes next. To move so fast that all she had to rely on were her own reflexes and the little skill she managed. Freedom from overthinking every decision, word, and secret in her life. Out here, on the road, none of it could catch up with her.
 
Make my way back home when I learn to
Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own
Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own

 
Victor knew her, but he probably didn’t fully realize what he’d given her. An escape from her own tangled thoughts, in a mind that raced to find problems to solve. Out here, she was free from it all.
 
I'm lookin' to the sky to save me
Lookin' for a sign of life
Lookin' for somethin' to help me burn out bright
And I'm lookin' for a complication
Lookin' cause I'm tired of tryin'
Make my way back home when I learn to fly

Continue reading...

  1. The Last Rule
    November 27th, 1882, - Novandria
  2. The Den
  3. Am I losing?
  4. A Close Call
  5. Plans
  6. New Toys
  7. Mistakes were made
  8. Too close to home
  9. Not like you.
  10. This City is Mine.
    February 6th, 1883
  11. Aimless?
    March 5, 1883 - Novandria
  12. The Game Begins
    February 13th, 1883
  13. Too much like You
    March 13, 1883
  14. Safer in Shadows
    April 3, 1883
  15. New Beginnings
    April 7th, 1883
  16. Ready to Run
    April 17th, 1883
  17. Home
    April 25, 1883
  18. Can you steal a heart?
    May 8th, 1883
  19. Trouble
    11th of May, 1883
  20. Heartbreak
    14th of May, 1883
  21. Hunter or Prey?
    16th of May, 1883
  22. Guilt
    19th of May, 1883
  23. Untrustworthy
    21st of May, 1883
  24. Why am I like this?
    25th of May, 1883
  25. Worthy
    8th of June, 1883
  26. The One She Left Behind
    13th June, 1883
  27. Annnd it's back...
    July 1st, 1883
  28. Learning to Fly
    July 4th, 1883
  29. Thrill of the Hunt
    July 29th, 1883
  30. From the Embers
    21st of August, 1883 // 1867
  31. Mother Knows Best
    16th of September, 1883
  32. A Snake, a Star, and a Fox
    25th of September, 1883, Novandria
  33. It wasn't him.
    28th of September, 1883, Novandria
  34. The New Blade
    13th of September, 1883
  35. Something Good
    October 31, 1883 - Novandria
  36. The wound that won't close
    18th of December, 1883 - Novandria
  37. Promise
    25th of December, 1883 - Novandria
  38. Fallen through the cracks
    6th of January, 1884 - Novandria
  39. Day to Night
    7th of January, 1884
  40. What's Left to the Shadows
    22nd of January, 1884, Novandria
  41. The World without Colour
    18th of February, 1884, Bellancourt, Montaigne,
  42. Seventeen Roofs
    26th of February, Novandria, Eisen
  43. Crossing the Board
    4th of March, 1884, Novandria, Eisen
  44. New Freedom
    May 4th, 1884
  45. Saved
    5th of May, 1884/16th of July, 1858

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 00:58, Nov 15 2024