The Young Girls With Tiny Wings

Evelyn’s small, delicate hand made its way out of her plaid skirt’s pocket, dragging a day’s old cherry candy wrapper with it, which gently floated down onto the street’s smooth pavement. The young child of six years patiently waited to see if her mother would notice the act she had just committed; however, her parent was standing at the edge of the street under the shade of the bus stop with a red roof whose color reflected onto her pale skin. Once realizing she was free from the influence of her mother, Evelyn cautiously stepped back with her right foot followed by her left. Both feet were enclosed with size thirteen white ballet flats from the kids’ section of Gap that left two centimeters of empty space between her big toe and the end of the shoe. Slowly Evelyn’s body turned away from the candy wrapper.

As Evelyn began to take another step away from the scene, a small creature measuring seven inches and a quarter resembling a young girl with sparkling white wings wearing a long white dress plummeted from the clouds, landing flat on the pavement exactly four inches away from the wrapper. Crimson droplets of her blood flew into the air, staining the edges of Evelyn’s pleated skirt. Excruciating pain exploded through my left arm as I made impact with the ground. Evelyn lowered her knees and placed both her hands underneath the creature’s tiny body and placed her on the frills of her white blouse that laid on her right shoulder. The ruffled cloth of the girl’s blouse provided a warm pillow for myself. From this height I was able to see the wrinkled cherry red candy wrapper laying on the pavement. Appalled by the sight I tugged at the white cloth, hoping to incite a reaction in the young girl. Evelyn’s body rotated 180 degrees and her knees sunk down to the cold pavement. Two of her fingers grasped the day’s old wrapper; the rest of her body followed her legs as they skipped to the black trash bin two feet away from the edge of the sidewalk. Her index and middle fingers let go of the wrapper and her dark brown eyes watched as it gently traveled into the bin, landing atop a bottle of soda that previously held a liter of liquid but was now empty except for a few droplets sitting on the walls of the bottle.

As she grew older, the small creature, whom Evelyn had named Michaela, remained on her shoulder. I learned the young girl’s name was Evelyn. Throughout the years Michaela made all the decisions for her, ranging from choosing an outfit in the morning — I always influenced her to wear more conservative clothing. Long pleated skirts and knitted sweaters were my personal favorites. — to encouraging her to volunteer to clean up the cafeteria tables after lunch at school. I assumed that donating her time to helping out her school’s staff was far more beneficial than developing friendships with her peers. I always made sure she did her chores and pushed her to go to Mass every Sunday with her parents. Evelyn passively complied with each of Michaela’s demands, never thinking of doing otherwise.

The young girl was ecstatic to have undergone a growth spurt of two inches and a third. She was now the second tallest girl in her third grade class of forty-two students. The old wooden desks of her classroom were arranged in seven columns and six rows; Evelyn’s was the third desk in row four. Michaela lay down idly on her shoulder, staring at the large ceiling lamp that illuminated the room. Evelyn opened her red spiral bound notebook to a blank page and reached out her right hand to grab her number two pencil. Rather than picking it up, her index and middle fingers exerted too much pressure onto the pencil, causing it to roll sideways off the desk and onto the tiled classroom floor. Her friend, Christa, sitting at the desk next to her, the third desk of row five, quickly bent down to grab the pencil and return it to its owner. Christa lifted the pencil into the air, holding the end with the pink eraser that was barely visible after weeks of use; Evelyn caught hold of the sharpened end. “I want to tell you something,” Christa whispered. “I think I have a crush on you,” she said and shifted her body back to her own desk.

Michaela immediately corrected her postured and fluttered her wings. How dare this supposed friend of Evelyn act with such impurity? I was determined to expose her before she infected Evelyn with her disgusting desires. I wrapped my fingers around a strand of her blonde hair and forcefully pulled downward, causing her to shift her gaze toward me. Evelyn looked into Michaela’s hazel eyes and knew what she had to do. She raised her right arm into the air, only waiting a few seconds until the she was given permission to speak. Evelyn parted her lips. For the first time in several years, her words did not feel like her own; instead, she was merely a vessel for Michaela’s wishes. “Christa’s going to hell. She told me she likes me.”

Evelyn lost a friend that day. Christa lost all her friends that day. Days went by as the students in their class incessantly called her terrible names, going so far as to shove her into lockers or kick her to the ground. Evelyn refused to do anything. Three weeks later, Christa was expelled. Rumors spread of her being transferred to a special program for others like her.

Evelyn, now in the sixth grade, wandered through her middle school’s garden. As she passed by the sunflowers her class had planted a week before, she noticed a small creature with red wings and horns protruding out of her forehead lying in the soil. Michaela immediately stood up and fluttered her wings, lifting herself two inches above Evelyn’s shoulder. My jaw dropped at how she looked exactly like me, with the exception of the horns, of course. Evelyn dropped to the ground and scooped up the creature into her palms. She might have thought she was dead if it were not for the slight rise and fall of her tiny chest. Evelyn gently placed her on her left shoulder, atop the knitted wool of her sweater. I wanted to have a look at her, so I temporarily left my post on Evelyn’s right shoulder and flew to her left. Batting my wings to stay in the air, I tapped the red sleeve on her forearm with my foot. She immediately woke up, and I saw in her eyes that the only appropriate name for her could be Lucia. I returned to my post, satisfied with how Evelyn seemed to agree with me.

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I did not object as the tall girl, whom I learned was named Evelyn, referred to me as Lucia. I rested on her left shoulder as she strolled through the dimly lit halls of her school. A particular girl caught my attention; her hair as vibrant as a batch of summer strawberries. I willed Evelyn to change course and approach the beautiful girl. Evelyn paused in her walk, turning her head to her right and laying her eyes upon Madeline. She shifted her weight onto her right foot took a step in her direction. She walked with a slight wobble in her knees, a feeling of nervousness trickling down her spine and spreading throughout her limbs. Madeline was gathering textbooks from her locker, stuffing them into her already overflowing backpack. Just as Evelyn reached her, one of the textbooks fell onto the tiled floor, causing Evelyn to drop down, her long flowy skirt brushing against the tiles. Her hands gripped the two sides of the glossy hardcover textbook; she straightened her legs and returned the object back to its owner. As the two girls made eye contact, Evelyn’s cheeks turned rosy, her heart rate quickening. I felt like I could stare into her forest green eyes for hours on end.

“I think you’re gorgeous,” Evelyn blurted out, immediately regretting her words. She didn’t understand why these feelings of attraction suddenly overtook her, yet some part of them felt strangely natural. Her eyes frantically moved back and forth between Madeline and the other students scattered across the hall. Her heart dropped as Madeline took in a deep breath and let out the words, “Hey everyone, Evelyn’s in love with me! She’s going to hell!”

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I realized this must have been Lucia’s doing. Evelyn would have never committed such a vile act if I were in control as usual. I knew I had to get rid of her. Only a week passed until Evelyn was expelled. Days later she entered the same special program that Christa, her former classmate, had attended years before. It took a while, but within three years Lucia was gone. I relished that beautiful March afternoon when all the children sat in Church, praying for their foul desires to exit their souls. As the prayer came to a close, I watched as Lucia soared into the air, leaving behind only a trail of bloodred dust, staining Evelyn’s bright blonde hair and white cotton dress. Now that Lucia had disappeared, I could finally turn Evelyn back into the perfect girl she was all those years ago.

Evelyn sat on her bed, scrolling through her phone. She had just woken up to her last day of the special program. Her right hand dropped the phone and grabbed her left shoulder, tugging at her red pajama shirt, feeling as though something was missing but could not comprehend what. Closing her eyes, her upper body fell onto the white sheets of her bed, her arms extending outwards. She lay motionless for twenty-seven minutes. I didn’t understand what she was doing. I willed for her to get up and wear something other than her pajamas, though she didn’t budge. I even got up from her shoulder and pulled at the bottom strands of her blonde hair. Did she not care for me anymore? I batted my wings to gain some altitude and traveled to the region of air above her closed eyelids. I must have clapped my hands thirteen times before giving up. I truly didn’t matter to her anymore. Michaela turned around and flew past Evelyn’s long white curtains and out of her open window. She soared into the sky and was never seen again.

Ariane Vidal '22

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