The Skylark Bell - Wingspan, by Melissa Oliveri

In today’s episode we read chapter 2 – Birds of a feather fly together – where Magpie has an eerie premonition as she, her mom, and Lucas fly across the ocean toward their destination.

Brought to you by: Phaeton Starling Publishing and Things with Wings Productions.

The Skylark Bell official website - http://www.theskylarkbell.com

The Skylark Bell on Instagram: @theskylarkbell

Author/Producer: Melissa Oliveri - http://www.melissaoliveri.com

Join Melissa's Patreon for early access to podcast episodes, music downloads, and more: http://www.patreon.com/melissaoliveri

Melissa on Instagram: @the.mop.pod

Melissa on Twitter: @melissaoliveri

All music by Cannelle - http://www.cannellemusic.com

Cannelle on Instagram: @cannelle.music

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 2 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.  

In our previous episode, Magpie had a strange vision as she was packing for her trip to Scotland, and an eerie figure appeared to be watching them from the windows of the house at Meadow Lane as they were packing up for their trip.

In today’s episode we read chapter 2 – Birds of a feather fly together – where Magpie has an eerie premonition as she, her mom, and Lucas fly across the ocean toward their destination.

Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.

Magpie buckles her seatbelt and tightens it per the instructions given by the flight attendant. She smiles nervously at Lucas, who gives her a reassuring wink. Magpie has never been on an airplane before and is feeling a bit jittery. As if she has read Magpie’s mind, Mrs. Phaeton takes a hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Magpie feels a bit of a thrill as the airplane speeds up and lifts into the sky.

Glancing outside the small oval airplane window at the world below she sees the city where she and her mom used to live. It seems like a lifetime ago, almost like it happened to someone else. Over the past two years in Pocket she has come to feel entirely at home. Her apprehension about fitting in with the other kids at Pocket High School turned out to be for naught, Lucas introduced her to everyone and, though they didn’t necessarily include her in all their activities, they were always kind. Perhaps because of the whisperings around town that she had stopped the silence at Meadow Lane. No one really spoke of it anymore, but the residents of Pocket always looked at her with a knowing gaze. 

After the events at Meadow Lane, and the ensuing discovery of her family’s connection to Farfalla and the Carnifex Family, Magpie and her mom had long discussions about how to proceed. They had decided that it would be best to wait for Magpie to finish high school before travelling to Scotland, figuring it would probably take quite a bit of time to sort out ownership of Carnifex House anyway. Last Christmas Mrs. Phaeton surprised Magpie with their airline tickets to Scotland for the summer. But in the spring, Mrs. Phaeton got the amazing news that her work was going to be featured in a gallery in London over the summer, filling up her calendar with interviews and tours, which made it impossible for her to join Magpie in Scotland, so it was decided that they would travel together to London with Lucas, who would then accompany Magpie to Scotland.

It seems surreal that high school is now over. The graduation ceremony on the vast lawn of the library was simple and beautiful, the weather was perfect, everyone in town brought a dish to share, the Bunting brothers brought their guitars and played some live music, MUSIC Sydney Finch hopped on the makeshift stage and sang a few songs, which caused everyone to start dancing. Magpie can almost hear the echoing laughter and music in her mind. Her eyes glaze over as she sinks deeper into her memories. She thinks back to the moment she and Lucas walked home from school for the last time, their sneakers grinding into the gravel road in unison. She remembers how he had held her hand as they ambled down the road basking in a warm, comfortable silence. There had always been a certain line in their friendship that neither of them dared to cross, but that day he had reached across it and grabbed her hand.

The flight attendant makes his rounds, bringing the passengers their food and drinks. Magpie isn’t particularly hungry, but she forces herself to eat a little, being unsure when she’ll get a chance to eat again in the next few hours.

“What do you suppose this is?” whispers Lucas, poking at some of the food with his fork. 

Magpie giggles and shrugs her shoulders. “I’m sticking to the bread and butter!” She whispers back, “and the cookie, of course!”. 

“You’ve always had a sweet tooth!” says Lucas, smiling at her.

The flight attendant works his way back down the aisle to gather dishes and trash. Once he has passed their row Magpie clips her tray back up onto the back of the seat in front of her. She heaves a sigh and looks out the window, it is sunset now and the view of the sun’s orange glow on the top side of the clouds is absolutely stunning. Magpie thinks back to her last day at Meadow Lane before leaving for the trip. She and Lucas had spent the better part of the day scraping off the peeling wallpaper and prepping the walls to be painted, they were both pretty exhausted and were sitting out on the front porch with some ice-cold lemonade enjoying the cool breeze. Lucas suggested they take a walk and they ambled down to the apple orchard, where the skinny trunks of the young trees they had planted stood in rows.

“According to your vision, this is where Marius asked Farfalla to marry him, right?” Lucas had asked. Magpie had nodded silently, looking down at the ground somberly, remembering the heartbreaking end to Marius and Farfalla’s love story.  When she had looked back up at Lucas he was staring at her with a look in his eyes that she’d never seen before. “You’re glowing,” he had said quietly, the light of the setting sun landing on them both as they stood staring at one another. She smiled at him and grabbed his hand, leading him back down the lane toward the road, where they parted ways. “See you tomorrow,” she had said, kicking herself for not finding something more meaningful to say, but the moment was gone.

She looks over at Lucas now, eyes closed with his head leaning back. She can’t tell if he’s asleep or just listening to the music coming through his headphones. His hair is shorter now, he had it cut after graduation. “Gotta step boldly into adulthood!” He had quipped. He’d grown taller over the last couple of years too, now nearly a full head taller than Magpie. So much has changed since she first came to Pocket. Magpie takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, letting the buzzing of the airplane motors lull her to sleep. Dreams come to her in a kaleidoscope of images; a beach, walls made of stone, blackberry waffles from The Early Bird diner, silver spoons and bells and gemstones tied to strings blowing in the wind, Farfalla with her white hair blowing wildly in the wind, the sketch with the words “I AM NOT FARFALLA” scrawled on the back, and finally, a snake curled upon itself in the shape of a circle, it’s mouth firmly clasped to its own tail… 

Magpie is jolted awake by the thud of the airplane’s wheels touching the ground. Her mom pats Magpie’s leg gently with her palm and smiles at her. “We’re here!” she says. Then, noting the look on Magpie’s face, “Honey, are you okay?”. 

Magpie nods slightly. “I had some strange dreams,” she says. “I don’t remember everything, but there was this snake in a circle, biting its own tail… it was so weird!”

“An Ouroboros!” says Mrs. Phaeton.

“A what?!” asks Magpie.

“An Ouroboros,” pipes up Lucas. “It’s an ancient symbol that represents an endless loop that doesn’t really have a beginning or an end. What a strange thing to dream about!” he adds.

“Ouroboros,” whispers Magpie, letting the unfamiliar word roll around in her mouth. 

It is finally their turn to get off the plane. They make their way through the airport to baggage claim and head to the row of taxi cabs outside. Magpie leans on the cool glass of the car window looking out at the city lights. She tries to read the signs above the various shops as they whiz by, and before she knows it, they have arrived at the hotel.  Mrs. Phaeton gets them checked in and they take the elevator to the 11th floor.

“Magpie, we’re in room 1111, and Lucas you are next door in room 1113,” says Mrs. Phaeton, handing the key card to Lucas. “The new time zone might be a bit hard to adapt to, I suggest we try to get to bed right away so we wake up in the morning along with the rest of the city,” she says.

“Sounds good,” says Lucas, taking a few steps down the hall to his doorway. “Have a good night!” he adds, stepping into his room.

“Goodnight Lucas!” says Magpie, following her mom into their room. She kicks off her shoes and rummages through her suitcase to find a nightgown. She changes quickly, leaving her clothes piled on the floor before wishing her mom a good night and flopping onto one of the beds. Though she slept on the plane, she doesn’t feel very well-rested. Probably because of those strange dreams.  “Ouroboros,” she whispers, her eyes getting heavy as her mind drifts into another realm.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 3, The Blue Dress in which Magpie and Lucas discover an odd vintage shop on a sides treet, and its mysterious owner seems very much invested in Magpie purchasing her blue dress.

Before I go, I’d like to thank Phaeton Starling Publishing for this fantastically eerie story, as well as Cannelle for composing equally fantastic and eerie music for this podcast. 

If you are enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating or a review, they’re both greatly appreciated. You can also support my work through a donation via my podcast provider or my subscribing to my Patreon where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, writing, recipes, and more!

Thank you

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/theskylarkbell/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy