Once Upon A Night’s Sky

Ava Cunningham pulled the strap of her travel bag tighter across her shoulder as she continued to walk through the magnificent entrance of Victoria station. The photographs did not live up to the real life experience of walking through its towering doors. Sunlight beamed across every surface as glass windows covered every free inch of wall. Ava was glad the sun had come to see her off, it eased her anxiety slightly. Though she had spent most her life preparing for this moment it was never going to be easy. Shaking her head softly she watched as the light danced across the surface of the tilted flooring with a sad smile. You can never really appreciate the beauty of something until you know you may be losing it. And if it was one thing Ava knew she was going to miss it was the warmth of the sun gazing down upon her skin. The sun had always been her ally it had kept the nightmare of her future at bay even if it was only until she slept.

The station its self was a mass of commotion. Bodies moved in swarms as they pushed past each other rucksacks and travel bags swinging from shoulders as recruits made their way towards located shuttles. Manoeuvring her hands Ava looked towards her watch. It was just under an hour till her shuttle boarded. Joining the flow of bodies Ava made her way towards the centre of the station rounding the lines of stores to reach the heart of the station. She could feel her eyes widening with each step closer she took. If she had thought the number of recruits had been high within the entrance it was nothing compared to the mass of numbers now. Ava immediately felt lost, drowning in a wave of recruits all of which seemed to know some direction in which they needed to head towards. Was she the only one who felt completely overwhelmed here?

A mechanical screech filled the air as a voice filtered over the march of moving feet. At once Ava’s eyes looked up towards the sound only for her lips to part in silent awe. Above her towards the pure centre of the station were illuminated boards held high into the sky by a pair of towering posts. Another wave washed over her as she took in the numbers and times filling their screens only seeming to confuse her further. A sense of overwhelming panic rushed over Ava as her feet rooted suddenly to the ground. She could feel her breaths coming in short and fast sessions. She began to wonder if this was what a panic attack may have felt like until she was jolted violently forward her bag dropping roughly form her shoulder as it cascaded to floor, a strong hand reaching out to grip her arm barely saving her from the same fate.

Steadying her feet Ava used her free hand to brush her long strands of chocolate hair behind her ear before looking up into the eyes of her saviour. Words of gratitude and apology were lost upon her lips as she met a pair of cloudy blue eyes looking down at her with questioning concern.

“Are you ok?” Ava read more than heard memorized by the movement of his lips. They most definitely didn’t make guys like this in the small Scottish village she had grown up in. Feeling the heat from where his fingertips where still touching the bare of her arms rising to her cheeks Ava looked up taking in his impressive figure. She could just make out the blonde tips of his hair escaping the bounds of his red woollen hat complementing the softness of his cheeks and contrasting against the strength of his chin. She watched him silently as he smiled easing his tall yet structure frame down reaching for her bag with his free hand as his other gently released its grip upon her arm.

Snapping back into reality Ava’s hand impulsively reached out tugging her bag from between his fingertips before he barely had time to stand straight once more.

“I’m so sorry,” She breathed the full heat of her early actions consuming her cheeks. He smiled down at her causing any other apologies to fade on her parted lips. This boy was dangerous.

“No harm done,” he declared the soft notes of an Irish accent consuming his words. Ava nodded mutely to stunned to make a sound as he tilted his head towards her in parting stepping around her figure losing himself to sea of bodies once more.

Sighing Ava silently cursed herself as she secured her bag strap onto her shoulder once more. If she had been at all conscious of her actions when he had been around Ava would have asked him for his help. She needed directions and looking back up towards the information boards she knew she wasn’t going to get them by standing here any time soon. Searching the depths of the station her blue eyes landed on the sign marked in clear looping lettering spelling the words Information desk. A smile breeched her lips only to falter as she took in the full length of its queue. She could barely recognise the end of the line as fellow confused recruits back out into the entrance hall once more.

“As if this day couldn’t get any more complicated,” Ava thought silently.

Letting her long fingertips followed by her palms run along her freckle tinted cheeks she titled her head in the direction of the illuminated signs of the fast food restaurants. If she was going to have to face that queue she was going to at least do it on a full stomach. Letting her feet take charge once more she let her eyes wonder further across the station towards the outlines of the shuttles. A majestic smile breeched Ava’s lips, this station would always bring back memories of her father, ones she had thought were long forgotten. Though Ava only had a few selective memories of her parents this was always one of the most ordinary. She smiled softly to herself, trains it was all she could really remember about the memory. She couldn’t picture herself or her farther just his comforting voice as he told her all about his fascination with the creation that was the train. The memory had always made her laugh and as she let herself divulge in the view of Victoria station she could not begin to imagine this place full of trains. She shook her head in a small laugh at her father’s strange hobby. Though this station did indeed have a past with trains Victoria station would never be known for anything else but its passage way to the skies. Silently she wondered if in fact London would ever be known for anything more than that either.

Nearing the group of restaurants Ava chose an open planed one with the words Light Years branded at its opening. It had a reasonable short queue. Ava had never really liked queuing. Growing up in a small village in Scotland she had never had to be succumbed to its frustrating traits. In fact Ava had never really liked the city she preferred the quiet and stillness of her home. For spending most of her life in the company of very few people to now being surrounded by mass of numbers was a little more than daunting as was the noise. But it hardly compared to the fear of which was slowly rushing back to her. She had thought she had been ready she had spent most of her life preparing towards this day. Yet as she reached the counter to order her food she couldn’t stop her heart rate from increasing at thought of which was to come.

As the only child and last in the line of the Cunningham’s Ava had been set to join the skies since the moment of her parent’s death at a mere age of seven. With living in such a close nit community Ava had been quickly and kindly taken in by her neighbour. Yet Mrs Hatchery had never been young in Ava’s memories and had soon been taken into care. The same fate had been handed out to Ava and at the age of 10 she had moved into the space academy orphanage where she had spent the rest of her 21 years. The orphanage one of thousands around the country had been set up nearly hundreds years before her birth for children of the skies. Though Ava had cruelly lost her parents at such a young age she still thought herself as one of the lucky ones. Her parents had never really left her by choice unlike many of the abandoned children whose family felt it too much of a burden to love a child who belonged to the skies. At least Ava thought she had grown up knowing that her parents had always loved her, even if it was in haze of distant memories.

Taking her order her fingertips gripped her full tray shaking her mind of the past as she searched the fast food restaurant for a free seat. Nearing the end of her patients Ava spotted a free seat near the edge of the right wall. Taking off toward the seat she slowed slightly as she realised the other chair to the table was occupied. About to turn and search once more Ava realised with a shy smile that the individual who occupied the seat was none other than the recruit who had knocked into earlier. Her heart rate increasing further Ava took off towards him.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked a familiar shyness to her voice. At once he began to tear his eyes away from a tattered book gripped between his fingertips before looking up at her with an easy smile.

“It’s all yours” he stated politely straitening in his seat as he began to move his things to free half the table for her.

Feeling his eyes on her as she began to carefully placed her tray down upon the surface of the table Ava concentrated on fixing her food for a moment before settling into the free chair building the courage to meet his glance once more. Smiling to herself as she looked up It had been a wasted effort he had comfortably gone back to reading his book once more. Stealing one of her chips between her fingertips she took in the tattered cover of his novel. Aged with continued use it was covered in beautiful illustrationsof old historic aeroplanes. Ava smiled down at her food as the thought of her father’s love of trains jumped to her mind once more. She wondered if this boy was to be a pilot. He seemed to have the patience. There was a calmness surrounding him a trait all good pilots needed to work under such pressures.

Growing up in the space academy orphanage had given Ava an advantage over most of the fellow recruits. Into their late teens any children still living in the halls had been offered training lessons to improve their skills. Ava had accepted the offer immediately and had at once taken a shine to mechanics and technology studies. In a way she guessed it was just her way of trying to be closer to her father. After all his love had been the mechanics of the trains not the finished product.

Looking back up at the boy that sat oppisite her Ava’s eyes were drawn to his things spread out open within his side of the table . At once her eyes snapped towards a shutle ticket layed neatly on top of a pile of tattered papers. She felt the chip fall from between her fingtips where it had been griped as her throat dried. She felt a shy smile reach her lips as a slight tint of pink flooded to her cheeks, maybe this boy could help her after all.