I jumped as a hover-car pulled up in front of us and beeped its horn. It was a nice one. Its chassis was long and angular and its head was flattened and laterally extended – It reminded me of one of those hammerhead sharks. It was the engines though that caught our eyes. They were big. Very big. Pulsating blue light from the ion charger lit up the whole street, reflecting off the dazed eyes of onlookers. I spied my reflection in the silver hide of the beast in front of us. I fiddled with my hair until I felt a sharp elbow dig into my ribs. “Not now sister.” I nervously abandoned my efforts to tidy myself up and tried to look my best; standing as I had been taught – hip thrust out, chest pressed forward, wings held straight up at attention, eyes dreamy and lips in a sort of… kiss.

Then the moment of truth. Well, the third moment of truth that night. I felt our anticipation rise as the window was slowly drawn. The murky blackness of the cabin’s interior was penetrated as an arm slowly rose out, finger extended. I could see several shiny rings and a designer cuff. I even thought I could smell tobacco from inside the hover-car. This one was definitely rich. Well of course. He could afford us. We were the best… or so I was told. The arm seemed lazy and uninterested as it skirted our line but then… something caught its attention. It stopped and pointed at someone to my left. Who was the lucky one this time?

Sister Titania strutted forward. Her entire body was dripping with a smug satisfaction. I knew it would be her. She had that rare purple wing genetic defect or whatever… and her hair was tidy. I let out a gasp of frustration as the hover-car sped up the street and into the sky. I relaxed my posture and stretched my wings, absorbing the moisture – and no doubt the industrial fumes – in the air. “Chill out sister.” It was Sister Cleopatra. “Nobody is chosen on their first night” She smiled encouragingly and I did my best to return the favour. It was true. It was my first night, but as my whole life had led up to this moment, my anticipation could have exploded inside of me. All the training, all the hard work, the hours of grooming and self maintenance, dieting, exercise, learning to walk and fly in the right way… everything. My whole life up until this point.

Some of the older sisters were talking now. They were talking about the only thing that any of us every talked about. What happened after you were chosen? The truth is… nobody knows. We only knew that it had to be a wonderful thing. If our lives were dedicated to it, how could it not be? But there were always naysayers. Sister Boudicca swore that she heard from a friend that terrible things happened when you were chosen. She claimed that chosen sisters were forced into a glass case with no food and no water, and stayed there until they died. “You’re just bitter ‘cause you’ve been here for years without getting chosen.” Claimed someone else. Sister Cleopatra was fixing my hair at the time and muttered something about hoping to be chosen before she got old, ugly and bitter like Boudicca. I giggled.

Then it happened again. Headlights in the distance… We all ran into position. The hover-car pulled up and beeped its horn. My heart started pounding in my chest. The rhythmic thump, thump. Beads of sweat dripped down my back, my forehead, and between my breasts. This hover-car wasn’t as... sporty, but it was no less beautiful. It was a classy matte black with curvy edges. It reminded me of a voluptuous she-panther (they all remind me of animals). It even had glowing yellow eyes. The window slid open. My breath stopped. This time the arm was much more decisive. It shout out like a snake striking its prey, the finger pointing straight at me. I let out a gasp. Collecting myself, I walked towards the cabin doe eyed. I didn’t feel the excitement I thought that I would. Somehow, I was afraid. Some instinct was telling me that this hover-car, and its contents, were bad things. My wings fluttered nervously. The door opened, and I stepped into the blackness.