Age:
Middle School
Reading Level: 3.2
Chapter One
“No man is an island entire of itself…”
– John Donne
Gasping for breath, Isle glanced over her shoulder. Her leather boots barely touched the sand as she raced away from the town.
She could hear motors starting behind her.
The Rounders would be after her soon.
Isle hiked the backpack up on her shoulders and continued running. Sweat trickled down her forehead and into her eyes.
Wiping her sleeve across her face, she cleared her vision. Quickly, she looked back again.
The Rounders were flying over the town’s wall. As the circular machines sped towards her, Isle put on another burst of speed.
Leaping over a patch of thorny bushes, the young girl stopped. The ground in front of her fell away into a deep ravine. A few rocks beneath her boots dropped into the blackness.
“Hey, kid! Stop!”
One of the pilots stepped out of his vehicle. Raising his hands, he slowly moved closer to Isle.
She drew back until her heels were on the edge of the cliff.
Chapter Two
“Are you crazy?” the pilot yelled. “Get back here before you get hurt!”
Looking up, Isle saw that the flying machines had formed a semicircle around her, blocking escape routes.
The pilots dismounted and began walking closer. Isle’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
“You might as well give up. We don’t want to hurt you.” The man gestured to his men. “You don’t have anywhere to go.”
“There’s one place,” Isle answered.
Spinning around, she jumped off the cliff.
Chapter Three
The men shouted in horror and sprinted to the ravine’s edge. A metallic blur whisked in front of their faces and into the sky.
Isle smiled as she pressed the lever. The top of her cockpit sealed shut.
Her small ship accelerated, leaving the desert sands behind.
Taking off her backpack, Isle put it behind her seat in the cargo space.
She knew she was safe. The short-range Rounders would never be able to get this high in the atmosphere.
Leaning back in her seat, Isle set her ship to automatic. She gazed out the window as the world outside faded from blue to black.
Bright silver specks sparkled in the distance.
“Time to head home,” she whispered.
