Across Carina by Kelsey Hall

the edge of the cliff. I couldn’t see how he was going to get off of it, unless he could fly.
    I thought about him calling me “one of the lucky ones.” Even Charlotte had said that the chariot drivers envied Earth, but that couldn’t be. Either I was blind or these people had been misinformed. My planet was so corrupt that my creator, if he existed, had allowed a shadow man to steal me from my bed, a place where I should have been safe.
    But, if I was so lucky, then maybe—just maybe—there was a way out of Carina.
    Eden looked ready to jump, and I realized that I had no way off the cliff without him—unless that bird came back for me. I couldn’t let him go.
    I grabbed his hand. “Please don’t leave me. I—”
    “Come with me,” he said, pulling me to my feet. “You can live with me on The Blue Planet. I am not like my sister.”
    I dropped his hand, stepping away. So this was why he had come.
    “Please,” he said. “I have no ill intentions. I do not desire you; I only seek the company of a friend.”
    “Just tell me how to get out of here!” I cried. “Please! I want to go home!”
    Eden sighed.
    “As you wish,” he said, and again he poised himself to leave. “To get off The Mango Sun you must summon a driver. In the meantime, be careful here. This may all be an illusion, but it is a powerful one. Charlotte can still hurt you.”
    “How do I summon a driver?”
    “Just ask,” he said simply, and he vanished.

C HAPTER VI
    I waited at the cliff’s edge, hoping that Charlotte would send something or someone to my rescue. I watched the clouds for so long that they began to animate and engage in conversation. One cloud kept telling me to shut up, and I almost lost it. I was enraged, exhausted, and hungry, far from any mango fog. I knew that Charlotte was getting back at me for the things that I had said.
    Eventually the bird from the day before returned, and this time I was able to watch it head-on. Its beak was long and pointed and opened into a mouth wide enough to swallow me whole.
    I looked down. The hairs on my arms were standing on end.
    Why am I afraid? This creature saved me. Maybe it will save me again.
    I waved my arms high in the air, and the bird soared in my direction. Up close I noticed its dark, beady eyes and its beak, lined with teeth. It could do more than swallow me whole; it could tear me to pieces.
    I let my arms fall, but it was too late. The bird, which was easily twenty times my size, traversed the last few yards and stopped in front of me. It stroked the air to keep at my level, pushing gusts of wind through me. I took a few steps back and looked around. My options were few.
    Exploring the cave was too risky, but I couldn’t just jump off the cliff. If I didn’t go with the bird, there was no telling how long I’d be trapped.
    I took a deep breath and mustered whatever courage was left in my heart and my hands. Then I began to walk toward the bird, keeping my lips straight and my eyes relaxed. I didn’t want to appear threatening or weak.
    The bird’s back was too high for me to mount. I looked at the bird and tried pointing down, but it just kept flying in place.
    Stupid bird .
    I slid my foot halfway over the edge, reasoning that now the bird should see my objective. It didn’t. It merely spewed its hot breath all over me. I scowled, and the bird huffed loudly.
    “You ignorant—”
    I stopped, wiping my face.
    “Look,” I said. “I just need to get off this mountain.”
    The bird cocked its head, as if listening. Then it moved down several feet and turned so that I could jump onto its back.
    I nearly laughed. “Why am I not surprised that you can understand me?”
    I looked over the edge of the cliff, gauging the drop to the bird. It had moved down lower than I would have expected, and I was wary to jump.
    “Can you please move up a little?” I asked.
    The bird flapped its wings, unmoving.
    I sighed. It was clear that I was going to have to be the one to