Flying

      I wish Mummy and Daddy would stop fighting. They're so loud, and I hate it when Mummy cries: it always makes me want to cry. daddy can't take it either: he always gets angrier when Mummy cries.
  I hide under the covers, balancing a torch between my neck and chest. I am reading Peter Pan again, my favourite book. Usually Daddy reads to me before I go to sleep, but they've been fighting for such a long time that I can't remember the last time he read to me.
  I'm all the way at the beginning, where peter sprinkles pixie dust on the children so that they can fly.
  I wish I could fly. I wish I had wings, like a swan, and I'd be able to fly anywhere I want. I could take Mummy and Daddy with me on one of my flights: they would see how much nicer it is to fly than to fight.
  I think Daddy has slapped Mummy, because it goes quiet and I heard the "whoosh": Daddy hits hard. The bruises on my legs are still there from the last time I tried to stop them fighting.
  Now Mummy's crying again.
  I wonder if she ever thinks about flying.
  No, I want the wings of a butterfly. I like the colours and that they seem to clap silently together. Butterflies are beautiful. Sometimes I wonder how a little caterpillar changes into something so beautiful.
  Do caterpillars know when they are born that one day they'll be able to fly?
  Maybe I am able to fly too: I just don't know it.
  Wait, someone threw something downstairs. I heard a crash.
  Yes, what if I was meant to fly? Like Wendy and hr brothers in Peter Pan. All I need is a little pixie dust.
  I think I know where I can find some.
  I get out of bed and tip-toe out of my room. Mummy and Daddy are whispering to each other. Daddy keeps calling Mummy a "bitch", a word I'm not supposed to use.
  But if I'm not supposed to use it, if it's a bad word like Mummy says it is, why can Daddy use it then? Things they say don't make much sense.
  I try to imagine that I'm flying as I tip-toe to their room, fluttering my feet like wings so they won't know I'm still awake. I look for Mummy's make-up bag in her bathroom and look for her eye-shadow. She has gold, glittery eye-shadow, and I'm sure it's magical because it makes Mummy's green eyes beautiful.
  I take it and flutter back to my room. I decide that I must practice first before I try flying like a bird in the outside world. I sprinkle some pixie dust on my head and climb onto my bed.
  I am a little scared but I believe in fairies so I should be alright. I jump off and land on the floor, making a lot of noise. I try and try again.
  No, I think it will only work for me if I do it outside.
  I don't realise that the shouting has stopped until I hear Daddy's heavy footsteps on the stairs.
  Oh no, he is going to hit me again for making so much noise.
  I open the window and try to climb onto the ledge. I panic.
  I throw on some more pixie dust and Daddy storms into my room.
"What the hell is wrong with you Annabelle?!"
  I jump out the window.
  I am flying.