Rhiannon’s feet curled around the edge of the cliff and she stared down, cowed by the height but showing no sign of backing away.

She closed her eyes and spread her arms, imagining for a moment that they were wings and she could fly like her brothers and sisters. A strong gust of wind slamming into her broke that illusion and she crouched down, tangling her hands in the long, tough grass to keep herself steady.

She came here everyday, at sun high, when the rest of the tribe were out over the sea hunting. Standing on this cliff was a way of keeping herself sane. Everyday she went through such misery and coming here she had a choice.

She could end her misery and jump, exalting in those few glorious moments of flight before she hit the water.

Or she could live on, miserable but alive.

She was a strange sight she knew, standing on the highest cliff on their island, right on the edge. Add the fact that her back was bare of wings and you had the Outcast of Sky Island.

She was herself an oddity, her black hair, long and thick was the opposite of the short, blond tresses of the tribe and her pale skin and amber eyes stood out against the blue-eyed, tanned girls her age.

She tried to fit in as much as possible. She wore her hair in many braids, and she always wore the traditional low-backed shirt and supple breeches.

But nothing made a difference. She had no wings, which meant she was a liability and a failure, she would never lift off the ground and learn the secrets of flight. All of it was out of her reach.

She stood up, letting the wind play with her braids again. She tensed her legs and stared out at the sea, but after a few seconds her shoulders slumped and she turned.

She was a coward. She did not have the courage to jump and so did not deserve release from her misery.

Her feet carried her back down the worn path towards her village as they had done for everyday since she was ten, for six years.

She would be back tomorrow to test herself again, but she knew the result would be the same. Ending with her walking away in defeat, going back to the people that despised her and treated her as an outcast.

Such was the life of the girl with no wings.