Winged: A Novella (Of Two Girls) by Joyce Chng Page A

sister. I hope she likes it. She loves lace.
     
    I have also met a fellow Pilot by the name
of Richard Eddington. Yes, he was the one who brought me to London.
If you have any ill will against him, I apologize on his behalf. I
really wanted to go to the Academy and study to become a Pilot. Now
Eddington is my close companion. He has not asked my hand in
marriage yet. I do not think I am ready for it. The sky is so wide
and free. I feel as if I can fly forever. It is just my leo-fin and
myself.
     
    I know that Dorset is exceedingly different
from London. London is a big city, filled with thousands of people.
Do you know we had a Golden Jubilee and there was a Great
Gathering? I hope you had heard about it. It was a grand event with
so many nations taking part. There is the Queen’s Aerial Fleet now.
I think I will be piloting one of the Sharks. It is a new design
and it is intended to protect Britannia from external harm. I have
to wait for Pilotmaster Lee and Commander Karlida Sagan to approve
my application.
     
    What is the same, I feel, is the sky.
Dorset’s sky is the same as London’s. You can simply soar in the
clouds. Everything is so small when you fly.
     
    I know that Richard shares my sentiments. He
is a Pilot like me. We live for the sky. We love flying. You need a
large heart for this sort of endeavor. A lioness’s heart. Once you
have tasted freedom, you will never be the same again. Something
changed me for the better. I am a different person. I used to be so
gripped by fear, even my extremities hurt and I could not move. A
wise woman once told me to remove that obstacle in my mind and I
did. I cannot let fear and terror rule my life forever. Being
afraid is not a good thing, not for the future.
     
    You must be overwhelmed by my overt
declarations about flying. I love flying and it is part of my
being. Please understand this, Father and Mother.
     
    Forgive me for dwelling too much on my own
life! How is Dorset? How is my little sister? Most of all, how are
you? Please visit London. It is a beautiful place with many things
to see. Just say the word and I will personally fetch you.
     
    Oh. Another thing. How is Miss Sharpton? I
have not seen her for many years now. I hope she is doing well.
     
    Your loving daughter ,
    Katherine
     
    List of Dramatis Personae
     
     
    Alethia Forrester is a blind girl. A child
prodigy and synaesthete. She is mature beyond her years. Born in
London. She is in the academy, not as a cadet pilot but as one of
the controllers/handlers – her extra-sensory gifts help her
perceive the positions of the leo-fins)
     
    Katherine Riley is the main
protagonist/character. Wants freedom. Loves flying and flight.
Best/good friend of Alethia. Born in Dorset – parents are
middle-class workers (mother a washerwoman and father a
dock-worker).
     
    Captain Karlida Sagan is partly inspired by
Carl Sagan. She is one of the original five female pilots and
teaches the Basics of Flight module at the academy. She is the
House Tutor for College Sable. A role model for Katherine. She is
about 35.
     
    Pilotmaster Lee is an Asian/Chinese man. He
is middle-aged but still very fit. He oversees the academy and
teaches one of the Engineering modules. [Note: This Victorian
England is less racist than our world’s Victorian England but
racism still exists in some pockets of society. He and Sagan are
lovers.
     
    Richard Eddington is Katherine’s friend and
then lover. One of the pilots. A dashing fellow with liberal
ideas.
     
    Paul Forrester is a minor inventor/tinker.
An eccentric but kind-hearted man. He has more unorthodox ideas
than his peers. One of his many projects is to construct a larger
sun-flier. Another project is to input human consciousness into a
flying contraption (ie, telepathy/thought-driven flight). How it is done is up to everyone else’s imagination.
Advocates growing of own food. Compared to the Rileys, the
Forresters are wealthier, though they are not as rich as the