Once Upon A Night’s Sky

Leah Howells had never been any good at turning up on time. Punctuality had never been her strong point but today was no day to be late.

The speed of her pace as she rushed through Victoria station send her unruly mass of blonde curls to race behind her as if caught in some kind of turmoil wind. The soles of her trainer clad feet raced across the tiled flooring as she tried to make up for the time she had lost.

Leah had woken in a haze of sleep, tired, cold and alone. Last night may have been the reason for each of these problems, resulting in her lateness, yet Leah never regretted a moment. It was the motto she lived by. Leah never regretted any of her actions however planned or spontaneous they were.

Last night may have been one of the most spontaneous nights of her life. Her father had always cautioned her to slow down to think through her actions, but she never had. And every time her actions would come back to haunt her, her mother’s arms would open and sooth the words

“Everything happens for a reason Leah, everything,” It had been the piece of advice Leah had always chose to remember. Through the bad times her mother’s words had always created some kind of comfort. In fact just the figure of her mother had brought a smile to her lips. It had been almost two years since her mother had said her goodbyes to this world and now Leah was alone.

She had always taken after her mother, a kindred sprit, free, always finding the fun in life, the complete opposite to her father. She knew this was the reason to his absents in her life for the last few years. The death of their mother had hit them all hard but none as much as their father. Leah was the spitting image of her mother in every way and she knew this had to hurt him. She understood. Leah chose not to look into her reflection yet her father had no choice.

Kaitlin her older sister of two years, the prefect image of calm and settled had told Leah to give him time, let him heal. Yet Leah knew he would never heal with herself around to constantly remind him of his lost.

So she had run. She had packed her essentials and left. She had walked from her father, her family and her home. Within the week she had joined the nearest recruitment centre and had never looked back. Her soft welsh accent was all there was to remind her of Cardiff now, of her home, to remind her of her father.

She had left behind no letter, no explanation. They knew where Leah had headed. She had always displayed interest in the sky. Leah had idolised her older brother growing up and had always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Though Adam had never been drafted into actual battle he was still every much involved within the skies. He helped to train recruits in the training centre and Leah could not wait see him and she would she’d make sure of it.

Leah took comfort in knowing she had not left her father alone. He still had the comfort of Kaitlin and her ever growing family. With two young grandchildren her father would never be by himself, he would never truly feel the pain of complete loneliness. In time he would heal.

In some ways Leah knew she was searching for a way to heal herself as well or maybe it was a distraction. She didn’t know but what she did was that either way Leah knew the skies would give her the escape she so desperately needed. Just as last night had been a distraction today was Leah’s escape.

Skilfully Leah weaved in and out of the thinning number of recruits as she neared her shuttle. She had spent most of her week walking through this dome of glass, she knew where she was headed. Shuttle nine had been mapped in her mind for life. She could never forget this moment, she could never forget the last week of her life. How could anyone forget this moment in their life chosen or not?

She really didn’t know why she hadn’t escaped to London sooner. Its name may have been shadowed with its links to the sky but its night life was still the stuff of every party girls dreams. Full of recruits wanting to spend their last days living the high life you were guaranteed to walk into any bar at any time to find a party in full swing. If Leah was going to leave this world she was going to do it in style and last night she had done just that. With brown eyes as deep as the chocolate she would so deeply miss he had sent her one mesmerising smile and Leah had been his for the night.

He hadn’t been Leah’s first one night stand, a fact she wasn’t completely ashamed of. Out of 21 years chocolate eyes had in fact been her third and on account of the sky her last. Fittingly he had also been her best. He had not questioned Leah or her actions, just the way she liked it to be. They had served as a distraction to each other and as much as the man had been taunt and sculpted underneath his casual clothing Leah didn’t want anything more from him then he had already given.

She had never really done relationships. Leah had watched her parents’ marriage in great detail growing up and it hadn’t been much to inspire to. Leah had watched her mother struggle to put roots down and knew she never wanted to experience it for her own. Leah was more than happy to have fun and only fun, no strings attached.

Approaching the empty barrier Leah pulled her crumpled ticket from her inside pocket as she hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder. Her feet continued to push against the tiled floor as she ran towards the extremely displeased female recruit stood patiently behind her desk.

“I’m so sorry I’m late I got confused with the gates,” Leah lied breathlessly as she came to a stop before the older women handing her ticket into her out stretched palm.

“Your flight was to departed 5 minutes ago, everyone is awaiting your arrive. Please hurry and give the flight attendants your luggage and board the shuttle.” The women instructed her free hand signalling towards the long walkway as the other roughly gave Leah back her ticket.

Taking the thin paper back between her fingertips Leah put her feet into stride walking purposely towards the long walkway. Sunlight shone from the end like her own light at the end of the tunnel. How she had dreamt of escape, of adventure and here it was. Leah was excited. She was leaving the pain of her mother’s death, the pain of her family behind her as she walked towards a future of new possibilities. The shuttle would take her to a sky where no one would know her past, where she would never have to be anyone other than herself.

Female recruits may not have been as common, or sort after then males but Leah was determined to prove her worth. For once in her life she was determined to succeed. The sky would not become one of Leah’s failures.

The sound of her feet travelling against the tiles started to quieten as she slowed approaching the magnificent sight of their shuttle. From the right a male recruit rushed up to Leah’s approaching form.

“Your bags?” he asked in a hasty manner. Unflustered Leah lowered her shoulder gripping the handle of her bag between her fingertips as she passed it towards the slightly older recruit. It wasn’t the first time Leah had, had to deal with angered or flustered personnel.

“Sorry,” Leah repeated only for the recruit to shake his head tilting it in the direction of the shuttles steps as he hurried away with her bags. Looking towards the top of the steps Leah took in the commanding figure of an officer. This man was no recruit.

“Lateness is not tolerated.” He declared as Leah came to a stop before him. She could see the staff watching them from beyond the shuttles entrance anticipating Leah’s answer nearly as much as the officer stood in front of her was.

“It will not happen again.” Leah finally answered. It was best not to make excuses, not that hers was much of one anyway.

“No it will not” the officer agreed stepping back into the shuttle as to make room for Leah’s form to pass. “Please take your seat. We will be departing shortly,” Carefully stepping around the officer Leah tilted her head in recognition of his words before disappearing into the cream corridor.

Leah kept her eyes trailed to the floor as she approached the passenger’s area of the shuttle. She could take the disappointed from higher authority but her own team members, that was a different matter altogether. How long had she kept them waiting, all because of her ability to not be able to wake up on time? It wasn’t a good first impression to make. She wondered how many of her team mates would judge her upon the first few minutes of her arrival? She guessed a good percentage.

Leah shrugged her shoulders rolling them back as she kept her eyes on the softly carpeted floor. She had never been any good at making first impressions anyway, on time or not. Counting six pairs of shoes in a blurred rush as she passed towards the back of the shuttle, Leah kept a natural expression on her face as she felt their eyes bore into her back. She took the furthest seat in the opposite corner from where she had entered. She had always felt more at ease at the back of the room then the front.

Leah didn’t dare to look up as she fiddled with her jacket attaching her safety harness in the way they had been so precisely taught within their recruitment centre a week before. She knew what their expressions would hold and it would only remind her more of what she was leaving behind, her father.

The sound of the engine roaring to life made Leah jump as anticipation rushed through her like an unexpected gush of wind. Like a ride of a theme park the bars above her began to lower across her form as she settle back further into her chosen seat. Though the bars obstructed most of her view Leah could still make out the structured hands of a male recruit sat beside her as he griped his own harness. Leah followed suit as a voice broadcasted across the shuttle.

“Brace for departure!”

Leah let a deep breath fill her lungs as she tried to calm her nerves, the only moving vehicle Leah had been within had, had wheels. It was the unexpected that scared Leah the most, yet it excited her as well. The sky would become the adventure she had always been sorting after. She had watched her own mother search to no hope but Leah was determined. She would not give in until she found that something that would stabilize her. Leah could not afford to become anything other than stable within the skies. For her it seemed the most logically root to follow. Leah would not become her mother, she would learn from her parent’s mistakes.