Beyond the Lavender Skies

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. Very few were able to witness such a beautifully unusual sight, but Violet was fortunate enough to be one of them. Every now and then, she would sneak out of her window when she was sure her family was asleep and tiptoed through the glistening emerald-green grass and crawled underneath the dampened, moss-covered rocks until she reached the field with the lavender skies.

Violet was greeted by the smell of fresh rainfall and newly grown flowers, and the only sound surrounding her was the sound of the gentle breeze against the grass. Her dull gray eyes filled with color from the twinkling of the stars in the sky, and her thin lips curled into a smile. She stretched out her arms, and looked up at the sky as her ivory-colored gown and jet black hair gently flew with the wind. Even her wings, which were wilted and worn out, became full of life when touched by the starlight. She was where she belonged.

The best part of it all was that this place was hers. Her parents couldn’t take it away from her if she missed a spot when cleaning their room or when washing the dishes. She wasn’t going to be forced to share it with her spoiled brat of a brother. The kids at school couldn’t tell her that she didn’t deserve such a wonderful place to herself. It was hers.

One night, when Violet came to the field, there was an unusual sight in the sky. Within the lavender clouds, there was a ray of white light peering out. The mere touch of this ray of light onto the ground made the grass glimmer brightly. She looked up at the sky while covering her hands with her eyes, trying to figure out where this light was coming from.

Suddenly, Violet heard a shuffling through the grass behind her. She jumped, and quickly turned around. Usually, she was alone whenever she came out here at night. She thought no one else knew about this field besides her.

Unless someone followed her here. She felt her heartbeat racing at the mere thought of one of her family or classmates discovering her special place. This was the one place she could go to where she didn’t have to deal with being treated as a servant, constant yelling from her household, or being constantly ridiculed for everything she did. If anyone she knew discovered this field, she would be stripped away of the only thing in her life that brought her genuine happiness.

Violet heard shuffling again, and she realized it was coming from the garden of flowers in the field that were just a short distance from her. The flowers stood at six feet tall, and there were a different range of flowers such as roses, irises, sunflowers, and chrysanthemums.

Her body froze, and she felt her face grow pale with fear. “Hello?” She called out, her voice shaking.

A figure emerged from the flowers, and Violet’s mouth went agape. The mysterious fairy was a young woman that looked to be around Violet’s age. Her skin glistened as brightly as the ray of light from the sky, and she carried the sweet scent of the flowers with her. Her bright red lips were curled into a smile, and she approached Violet as though they were friends.

“Come here often?” The mysterious fairy said, her voice sounding soft and welcoming. She then reached her hand out. “I’m Wisteria, it’s quite lovely to meet you, darling.”

Violet just stood there in awe, her eyes fixated on Wisteria as she took in her breath-taking beauty. Wisteria was tall with a voluptuous body, and her lavender-colored hair reached down to her perfectly round breasts. Her rose-colored dress hugged her body tight enough so that her curves were visible. Her giant wings resembled that of a butterfly’s; the outline of her wings were an angelic white and the inner designs were a mixture of violet and pink. Her pale skin allowed her chocolate brown eyes to pop out even more. It was those big brown eyes that Violet found the most captivating, and she found herself getting lost in them. There was an aura about Wisteria that Violet could not pinpoint, but she knew it left her with a sensation unfamiliar to her.

“Darling?” Wisteria said, waking Violet from her trance. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah.” Violet stuttered. “S-sorry, I’m not used to, you know, seeing people here.”

“Oh dear, where are my manners? I do apologize for startling you. Rest assured, dearie, I mean no harm. I’m not used to seeing other fairies around here myself. Now do tell me, sugar, what’s your name?”

“Um, my name is Violet.” Violet shyly put her hand in Wisteria’s and shook it. She felt a tingle in her body and her face began to heat up. She couldn’t help but notice that Wisteria’s hand was warm and soft, and she almost didn’t want to let it go.

After a few seconds, Wisteria let Violet’s hand go and smirked. “So, what brings you here, darling? I rarely ever see anyone else in these parts, especially not someone as pretty as you.”

Violet felt her face heat up even more. She wasn’t used to receiving compliments from anyone, ever. She also wasn’t used to anyone being interested in getting to know her. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time someone spoke to her without insulting her or asking her for a favor. Why would someone like Wisteria that looked so flawlessly gorgeous be interested in getting to know her? Violet didn’t want to let her guard down in case this was a trap, but there was something about Wisteria that made her feel comfortable.

“I like coming around here, I guess, to just get away from everything.” Violet answered, her voice still shaking.

“Oh I don’t blame you, my dear. Fairy-kind can be so draining sometimes.” Wisteria sighed and shook her head. “I remember my days at Mystic Academy…”

Violet gasped. “You went to Mystic Academy too?”

“Unfortunately, I did. As soon as I became a teen, my parents didn’t hesitate to force me to enroll. Now, don’t get me wrong, sugar, I know they meant well. I mean, Mystic Academy got a reputation as one of the most prestigious schools in all of Gardenia. My family hoped it would shape me into the same upstanding rule-abiding citizen my older sister turned into. Now, bless her heart, but my sister didn’t need the backing of some academy to turn into the dull, goody-two shoes she’s become, so my parents didn’t know how Mystic Academy truly is. You know, the stuff they don’t include on the website.”

Violet knew exactly what Wisteria was referring to. She enrolled in Mystic Academy four years ago when she was fourteen, and these four years were even more miserable than her life beforehand. At least before, she could rely on school to escape her dreadful home life. Sure, she was still isolated and struggled to maintain proper grades due to her inability to learn at the same pace as her peers. However, she remained mostly invisible to her classmates and teachers, and that was just how she liked it. Her teachers gave up on forcing her to participate, and she was able to sit down and read her books alone at recess without anyone bothering her. Violet’s parents were disappointed in her grades because they wanted to push her to go to Mystic Academy just like they did, but she didn’t want to go because she knew she wouldn’t fit in. She hoped her grades would hold her back from qualifying from Mystic Academy, but her dad had connections within the school board that granted her an immediate enrollment after she finished primary school. So much to Violet’s dismay, she was forced to attend Mystic Academy without much of a choice.

Violet knew she would struggle to fit in or keep up with the abnormally high expectations of her teachers, but she never imagined just how much of a nightmare she had in store for her at Mystic Academy. Unlike her time in primary school, she was definitely noticed, but not in a positive way. Violet struggled to keep up academically, which her teachers caught onto quickly. They would purposely call on her to read aloud from textbooks or answer questions, and then chastised her for not paying attention. Even when Violet tried to study more and ask for extra help, she was unable to comprehend new information at the same levels as her classmates. She tried to communicate this to her teachers, but they would turn her away and attribute this to her being “lazy” or “stupid,” so she gave up on trying.

Her classmates were no better. She didn’t look like the other fairies in her school. She had flattened dark hair, a scrawny body, wings that were worn out and unable to fly, and her clothes were oversized baggy hand-me-downs from her older male cousins. Her parents saved their money to buy more expensive clothes for her “smarter” and more socially acceptable younger brother, so any worn out clothes donated by her cousins for her brother were given to her so her parents wouldn’t have to waste money on her. She also had no desire to socialize with others or engage in the same hobbies as them. While they partied and focused on dating, she was more interested in art and reading.

As a result, she was subjected to torment by her peers, which consisted of her being called “ugly,” “slow,” “weird,” “creepy,” or being told that she was a disgrace to fairy-kind because of her inability to fly. Her classmates would shove into her as they intentionally flew by her at a rapid speed, they often would tear up her notebooks full of her drawings when she stepped away to use the bathroom, or they would frame her for their own misbehavior or pranks on teachers. This discredited her if she ever tried to report her bullies, and she had no friends to vouch for her. She couldn’t turn to her parents either, because they only were interested in her when they could treat her like a servant or ridicule her for her mere existence.

When Violet did find time alone, she would find herself imagining a way to escape the hell of a reality that she lived in. As she hugged her legs and let tears run down her cheeks, she longed for a comfort she could not find within the fairies surrounding her. For many years, she believed that happiness could only be found if she no longer existed. She imagined walking deep into the ocean until she was no longer able to and life was drained from her body. She could finally experience a liberation equivalent to that of flying as she floated away, never to be found again.

When she discovered this field, however, she finally found somewhere that gave her the peace she always longed for. She didn’t want this peace to be disrupted, so she always made sure that no one followed her and that she made it back home before anyone noticed she was gone. She didn’t know if the field had an ending or if it was as infinite as the galaxy above, but she didn’t want to risk not having anywhere to go and being caught by the time her family realized she was gone. But she told herself that, one day, she would gain the courage to run away and never come back.

She couldn’t tell Wisteria all of this, though. Who knows where she came from and who she knew, especially since she went to Mystic Academy? Still, Violet couldn’t help but be drawn to Wisteria. Being near her made her feel a way she hadn’t before, and she couldn’t tell if it was intimidation or…something else.

“Not much of a talker are you, hun?” Wisteria said, snapping Violet out of her train of thought. “It’s okay, dear, I know I can be a bit of a chatterbox. I just think you and I have more in common than you think.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, those kids at Mystic Academy are vapid, shallow and very narrow-minded. When they see anyone that doesn’t look or behave as they do, they’ll make your life a living hell. I know, I experienced it firsthand.”

“You did?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You see, darling, I wasn’t like those other kids there with their big, perfect curls, slender bodies and dull white wings. I wasn’t into all that debauchery they like to engage in, and they knew that. I did my best to try and be like them while keeping up with my studies, but it just wasn’t possible. It didn’t help that my folks were too focused on my grades to care about what I was dealing with.”

“Sounds like my parents.”

“See? You get it, dear. They would tell me, ‘Who cares what those degenerates think? You’ll be out of there soon if you just focus and keep your grades up. If you keep letting them get to you, you’re gonna wind up messing up your future.’ Like really? Pardon my language, but they didn’t have to put up with the same bullshit I did.”

Violet’s eyes widened. She never expected someone as beautiful and open as Wisteria to get bullied or ridiculed by her parents too. Maybe they did have a few things in common after all.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”

“Oh no, I don’t have to deal with it anymore. I dropped out, and let me tell you dear, it was the best decision I ever made.”

“What did your parents think?”

“Oh, I have no idea. I haven’t seen them in five years.” Wisteria smiled nonchalantly. “When I dropped out, I didn’t just leave school, I left home all together.”

Violet’s mouth went agape. “You weren’t scared?”

“Oh honey, I was petrified. But I was planning my escape for some time, and after months of planning, I mustered up the courage to do it. I guess all that pent up frustration I had turned into confidence, so I ran to this field. Just like you, I saw this field as the perfect escape from reality, so it was the first place I thought of. I ran through the grass and those gardens of flowers without much of a destination in mind. I ran and ran ‘til my wings spread and I began to fly. I still had no idea where I was going, but it felt as though those clouds up there were lifting me up until I reached inside of them. And let me tell you, dear, what I found in those clouds was amazing and changed my life forever.”

“What did you find?”

Wisteria smirked mysteriously. “Want to find out?”

Violet was taken aback by Wisteria’s sudden invitation, but she felt a slight temptation to accept it. After all, what did she have to lose? If Wisteria had any disturbing intentions behind her invitation, it wasn’t like Violet had much of a life she was leaving behind. If Wisteria was just another bully setting her up, however, Violet didn’t know if she could mentally handle any more humiliation.

“I’m sorry but I-I don’t know.” Violet stammered. “I only just met you-”

Wisteria interrupted her. “I know we don’t know each other well yet, darling, but like I said, you and I have more in common than you think. Plus, I can tell I’m already going to like you.”

Wisteria put her hand on Violet’s shoulder, and Violet could feel her face turning red and her heart skipping a beat. She wasn’t used to this feeling, and she couldn’t understand how it was happening. Why did Wisteria have this effect on her?

Wisteria just giggled to herself. “Oh my, darling, you are just so cute.”

Before she could react, Wisteria wrapped her arms around Violet and pressed her lips against hers. Shock took over Violet’s body, yet she couldn’t get herself to pull away from the kiss. Wisteria’s lips felt warm and soft against hers, and Violet could feel her breasts rubbing against her. As Wisteria embraced her tightly while running her hands through her hair, Violet suddenly experienced a sensation of ecstasy running throughout her body. Her heart began racing, and she began to feel warm and damp down below. When Wisteria pulled away, Violet’s entire body was trembling with delight and her face was completely flushed.

Wisteria’s cheeks turned pink, and her full lips were curled into a smile. “I’m sorry, darling, I just couldn’t help myself. You’re just so…beautiful.”

Violet opened her mouth to speak, but before she was able to do so, she began to feel herself levitate a few inches from the ground. “W-whoa, what’s happening?” She asked, startled.

“Oh, you’ll see darling.” Wisteria responded mischievously.

Violet felt her wings erect for the first time. Her wings developed a black outline with splotches of bright red, dark blue, and golden yellow. Her nightgown transformed into a violet dress with a corset and a tiered ruffle skirt that went up to her knees. Her eyes turned ocean blue, and her lips darkened into a cherry red. Her wings began to gently sway back and forth, allowing her to remain in the air without any difficulty.

Violet was in awe. For years, she dreamed of being able to fly just like the other fairies. . She studied different spells, tried different exercises, and even tried different ointments that were guaranteed to heal “damaged” wings, but nothing worked. Over the years, her wings began to hang lower and shrivel to a point where her dream of flying seemed hopeless.

But somehow, she was finally able to fulfill her desire to experience the wonders of flying.

“I’m flying.” Violet squealed. “I can’t believe it! Wisteria, how’d you do it?”

“I told you darling, I used to be in the same place you were, so I know exactly what you are feeling. You feel empty and hopeless inside, just like I did. But I was able to awaken the dead spirits within and find the motivation to keep going, and I know you have the potential to do the same. You just needed someone to help with that…awakening.”

Wisteria winked at Violet, causing her cheeks to burn up again. She didn’t know how Wisteria did it, but Violet began to feel the urge to take her up on her offer to start a new life up in the clouds. As foolish as it seemed, she began to feel like she could trust Wisteria.

“I-I want to go with you.” Violet said. “But my parents, what if they find me?”

“Oh darling, where we are going, they won’t be able to find you. Those normal folks aren’t able to reach it, even if they tried. Only special fairies like you and me are able to get there, I can promise you that.” Wisteria lifted herself up to Violet’s level and gently grabbed her hands. Wisteria looked at Violet’s lips, which were just a few inches from hers. “You know, you really were beautiful before, but you look so irresistibly gorgeous now.” Wisteria whispered seductively.

“You look beautiful too.” Violet responded. She then gently pressed her lips against Wisteria’s. Violet was shocked by her newfound confidence, yet she was pleased with it at the same time. After a few seconds, they pulled away and smiled at each other.

“So, are you ready to go?” Wisteria asked.

“I think so.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wisteria began to fly toward the lavender skies above. She still was holding onto Violet’s hand, though Violet’s wings began to flap at a more rapid speed to keep up with Wisteria. She was overwhelmed with many emotions. The cool breeze beneath her wings felt both exhilarating and relaxing. She also was slightly terrified that her wings would give out and she would be pulled down by gravity, but having Wisteria’s hand wrapped around hers felt comforting and eased her anxieties about flying. She also couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before her parents or brother noticed she was gone, and she even found herself worrying what will become of them without her.

It was too late to look back now, though, because Violet was now being pulled into the white ray of light that she noticed earlier with Wisteria. She began to enter the purple clouds, and she felt as though she was being hugged by warm, soft pillows. She was welcomed by the scent of flowers and fruity candy, and joyous music filled her ears.

Violet let out a sigh of relief, and she felt all the tension leave her body. She didn’t know what awaited her next, but she was excited to find out.