"Why, we're going to fly of course!"

My ugly depiction of the creature.

Sheffield, 1927

“Eleanor White! Where are you, child?”, shouted Miss Rose. Eleanor, who was pretty sure she was going to get another beating, hid quietly underneath Miss Rose’s big queen-size bed. She pulled the drapes of the bedpost closer together so that it would hide her silhouette. She was out of bed again and Miss Rose wasn’t happy about it.

Miss Rose has always been one for discipline and Eleanor, well, let’s just say she was as unruly as unruly could be. Her will to live on her own terms started at a very young age. She wonders at times why she is as she is, and not like the other girls are.

“There you are!” Miss Rose pulled Eleanor from under the bed and forced her to stand up. Here comes the expected beating. Eleanor looked into Miss Rose’s eyes valiantly and steadied herself for what was to come and that was when something flew from outside the huge balcony and landed gracefully in the middle of Miss Rose’s huge room.

Miss Rose who was off-put by the sudden invasion of the creature started walking backward in shock, mouth and eyes wide open, clutching at the cross on her chest. “The devil. The devil.”, she muttered before she disappeared down the hallway, running for her life.

“That did it. Didn’t it?” said the scary-looking creature in a high-pitched but weirdly cheerful voice. For the first time in her life, Eleanor was afraid. The creature’s black beak was as huge as Eleanor’s arm and curved downwards like a flamingo’s beak. Its wings resembled that of a bat and the hair on its tall and muscular body was short and bristly. The creature moved closer to Eleanor and stopped within an inch of her face and gazed at her for a moment with its penetrating eyes that had slits as pupils.

“You’re not deaf, are you?” Eleanor shook her head dumbfounded, eyes wide open as she took in every detail of the creature.

“You really must say something, child. We don’t have much time. I’m assuming you’re Eleanor?”

Eleanor nodded.

“Good. Eleanor, you need to leave this place. I shall take you somewhere where you will be looked after properly.”

“Leave?” asked Eleanor, uncertain that she heard the creature correctly.

“Yes. We need to go before the principal comes back.”

 “She won’t, at least not until the priest gets here”, replied Eleanor with quiet confidence, still staring unapologetically at the creature.

“Yes, yes. Whatever it is, we need to leave now.”

“But, how am I supposed to leave? My feet will not take me far from this place.”

The creature looked at Eleanor, irritated as if she had asked an incredulous question. “Why, we’re going to fly of course! Come on, climb onto my back, will you? We don’t have much time.”

Eleanor was staring at the creature as if it had asked her to do the most outrageous thing in her life and for the first time, she was actually happy to be told what to do. So as uncertain as she was at that time, she walked towards the creature who had now moved to the balcony and climbed atop its back, her hands around its neck, and off they went.

~

This is a flashback to Eleanor's childhood. Notice that she was called Eleanor White when she was younger and Eleanor Pinkerton in the present . Eleanor's childhood is very important in my opinion as the events that occurred during the time will shape her into who she is as an adult. 

The above picture depicts how the creature looks like in my own shitty drawing. I think it's very important to be able to visualise when you are describing a mythical creature. I had to draw it as I see it in my mind because I was having trouble describing it. This approach, surprisingly, helped! I know my drawing is ugly and it sure as hell doesn't show the creature exactly as it is in my mind but the idea is more or less there. Got to go. I'm sweating my arse off here. It's so bloody hot.

Still The Most Stubborn Woman,

SFK

My writing space today.