I was sitting on the edge of the sunrise mountain cliff, chucking rocks because I was bored. Two days had passed and I was quite lonely. I began to understand why Cat had become so homesick for her pride - Sitting here boredly was no fun. The wild belonged to animals and I was no animal. The towns, cities, villiages belonged to humans, but I wasn't sure I could live with humans - they didn't understand my difference. So where did I belong? As I was thinking about this thing that was troubling me, I saw someone put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was - It was The Bird Girl!

The Bird Girl asked me,

"Is something troubling you Layla? I can see you're unhappy."

I sighed and picked up a rock. I said to The Bird Girl,

"See this rock..." The Bird Girl nodded. I threw the rock off the cliff as far as I could before continuing, "See how it has gone so far from the cliff, that it cannot get back on the cliff again. I feel like that rock, I have done so many things wrong, that I cannot return to Dean and Kate Rivers."

The Bird Girl came and sat down beside me, on the cliff. We looked at the scenery for a while, before The Bird Girl began to talk,

"Layla, I don't think your foster parents are the kind of people who would be nasty and never forgive you. In fact, I know they are missing you - they reported you missing to the police and are trying to find you. They may not be your real parents but they do love you."

I replied,

"Bird Girl, What should I do if I go back?"

The Bird Girl told me,

"Bird Girl? I suppose that name suits me because I love birds, although my real name is Amy... anyway, if you decide to return - and I won't force you to although I think it would be better for you if you did - then forgive your parents and don't hold a grudge. Just because you are not true human does not mean you cannot live in society. You may be different but that's what makes you unique - and being unique is never a bad thing."

The bird girl stood up once she'd finished and waving goodbye, disapeered. I thought about what The Bird Girl, AKA Amy, had said to me. How could I live in human society? Then, I thought,

"If I am ever to move on, I musn't run away from danger, because you can't run away from everything. I will have to do big things, learn from my mistakes and move on from the past."

I suddenly realised that was what I needed to do! I realised I had been too wrapped up in my past to think about the future. But now I could think about the future... the past is in the past after all. And about moving on... In life, when I stumble and fall, what I need to do is not let myself keep falling. I need to fly high, soar above my troubles. At that point, I also realised another thing, I suddenly knew why my mum in Srrin had asked me to gather a feather when I had travelled to Atlo. My mum had often given people items that were symbolic of something, for instance, she had once given me a lion pendant because she wanted me to be brave. The reason why she had asked me to gather a feather was because she must've known I had a winged form - she wanted me to soar above my troubles and do well in Atlo.

"I didn't mean to get so angry with Kate and Dean..." I thought. "There's only one way to make it up to them... return home and say sorry."

I stood up, turned around and walked away from the mountain cliff. I left the mountain and the wild, never to try to live in the wild again.

********************

It is midnight, time for me to go and transform and I leave the house to go to my mountain cliff. This time, however, Dean and Kate are not suspicious or worried as to why I leave because they know why I have to go. They know my secret. It turns out, that while I was in the wild, Cat and her pride had gone to visit Dean and Kate. They had talked to them and they revealed my secret, as they felt it would be easier for me if they knew. They were right, things are a lot easier now I am free to talk to them about my past and my secret, knowing that they don't think I am lying. Dean and Kate are also surprisingly understanding about my secret - they treat me like I am totally ordinary, not like a creep. School is not that great but with Cat as a friend, I find school easier to endure than I used to. Cats pride still doesn't like her Wolver boyfriend, Shadow, although they have allowed her to meet him outside Feliner territory. A bird flys past me as I climb up the sunrise mountain to go to the mountain cliff.

I smile and think,

"It's nearly sunrise, I'll be able to fly soon."

I manage to get to the mountain cliff just in time to see the sun begin to rise. I fully transform and then step to the edge of the cliff. I jump off the cliff and flap my wings. As I fly, the sun has fully risen, shining a golden light over the mountains.

I'm not going to let my problems make me fall, I am going to fly high and soar above my troubles.

The End