The Wings Of Love

Moonshade Academy

It’s dark by the time I have made my way through the airport, when I get to arrivals I see I sweet looking plump woman holding up a sign that says Moonshade Academy, she waves to me and I walk over to her. “Hi Venus dear, come with me, I’ll be driving you to the academy. You can call me Lois” she says in a warm voice “Hi Lois, how do you know my name?” I ask, “Oh I know all of the students dear, it’s my job to know, I recognise you from your application picture” she says cheerfully. I follow her out to a large grey SUV, she tosses my luggage in the back and we get in. It’s only a short drive to the academy, and when we arrive, the campus is huge, it’s the size of a small town, there are building everywhere. Lois pulls up outside a large brick building that has the words ‘First Year Hall’ written across the front in large metal grey letters.

“Follow me” she says, and I get out of the car and do just that. When we’re inside there are around 50 other students in the hall, all chatting away, looking so excited to start their journey at Moonshade. It must be around 10pm when a large muscular man steps into the room, “Welcome Students!” He bellows, and everyone in the room is silent. “My name is Richard Boone and I will be one of your coaches. Your time at Moonshade begins now, you will be showing yourselves to your rooms, but first you must be assigned a key. Please follow me to the lake, leave your luggage and personal belongings here, they will be taken care of”. Myself and the large crowd of students follow Mr Boone out of the hall and down a long corridor, at the end of the corridor is a large wooden door with a heavy metal handle. Richard opens the door and leads us all out into an open space where there is nothing but a moonlit lake.

I peer out at the lake and can see what looks like different coloured gems glistening in the water, just as I am thinking about asking what they could be, I hear Richard’s voice giving us our next instructions “In this lake, you will find a lock and key, each key matches it’s own lock, you need to find the matching lock and key, only then will you be able to access your room”. I take a minute to process what he has just said, and just as I am about to ask a million questions, the other students start jumping into the lake to retrieve the locks and keys. I make my way to the edge of the lake, some students have jumped in fully clothed, others have left their clothes at the side of the lake and are wearing swimsuits. It’s almost as if they came prepared.

I take another minute to think about going to get my phone and book the next flight out of here when I hear “Great job Annabelle, I hope you like your room!” I turn to see a slim auburn haired girl looking very pleased with herself run off to a building in the distance. I am so tired, I think I must be mad, I jump into the lake and my whole body tenses up as I feel the cold water against my skin, I dive under and grab the first thing I see, it looks like a lock, but it’s made from sapphire, a gorgeous deep blue, I’m so distracted by its beauty that I almost forget I’m underwater. I come up for air and brush away the dirt that has been left behind from the bottom of the lake, the lock glistens in the moonlight, I see people around me leaving, I assume they’ve found their lock and key. As I rub the beautiful gem I see that it is engraved, I take a closer look and see ‘Venus Harwood’. That’s my name, I rub my eyes, it must be the jet lag, but there is it, the most beautiful artefact I have ever held in my hands is engraved with my name. What does this mean?

I look around, there are only a few students left in the lake, Richard checks his watch as I dive under the water again and swim around to look for a key, I don’t see many, but the ones I can see are just as beautiful as the lock I have found. I find a sapphire key, and pick it up, I come up for air and try the key in the lock, but it doesn’t fit so I drop it back in the lake. As I look around I see that there are only two other students left in the lake. I swim around some more looking for the key that fits this beautiful lock, I find another key, emerald this time, but this doesn’t fit in the lock either. I swim around and try a few more keys, but none of them fit. I take a minute to look around and realise that I am the only student left in the lake. It feels like I have been looking for hours, I dive under again and can’t see any keys. As I come up for air I hear a familiar voice “I’ll take it from here Richard, have a good night”. I turn around, and there he is, the gorgeous man from the plane.