3/13/96
Hey you! Old Maid! Ya, the one who's almost 40 and
still hasn't found a man to stay with. I'm available.
I'm young, I'm fresh, I'm vigorous. I'm willing to
be sacrificed to the gods. Wanna try me? I might
just be tricking you. Think about it. I might
just be another fake. You wouldn't want to take that
risk, would you? No, of course not. You're
conservative, you're not ready to make a commitment.
Good, because I am too, and neither am I.
You'd better hurry up, otherwise I might just fly
away. You gave me my wings. Who says I won't use
them? Do you regret giving them to me? Do you want
to remove them? If you clip my feathers, I'd have
to stay with you forever. Are you willing to take
that risk? If you're gonna clip 'em do it now.
Otherwise, you might not get a chance. Run! Go
get those scissors! Do it now! That's right,
go back in the house. Good. Now's my chance.
If I don't get out now, I never will. Time to see
if these wings actually work. Leave the nest, so
to speak. I'm ready to FLY!
...
...
...
...
...
Ahhhhhh...
Fresh air ... .. . Clouds .....
..... Whiteness
.......... ....... ....
...... I can see the whole world from here! ....
...What wonder! ..
.
...... ..... ..... ..... ..... ....
.... ..... ... .... . . . . . . . . .
. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
... .. .... ... ... ... ..... .... ...... ..... ..
Whew!
....
I'm hungry!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
There's a tasty morsel of a mouse!
...
Swoop!
....... mmmmmm ..... ....
Yummy.
..... On and on .....
.....................
I'm being watched.
I'm being followed.
I have to fly faster.
Faster.
Dodge!
...
Ouch!
I lost a feather.
Gotta keep movin'.
Gotta keep movin'.
Spiraling down...
Down...
down...
DOWN
plop.
----------------------------------
I must fly again. I must mend my wing.
I must get back home. I must.
Try again. My wing won't move. I can't get up.
I've fallen and...
Feeling weak. Must find food.
A dead worm. Yuck! I must eat.
Oh no! The vultures got it first!
Hey vultures, can I have a bite?
Guess they don't want me. I'll never be one of them.
I MUST EAT! I'll be a vulture. I'll feed off of the
remains of vultures. Gotta go on.
I eat the dead. I eat the partially dead. I eat
the living. I stay alive.
I feel sick. I vomit it back. I'm hungry again.
I smell the vomit. I lick it. Uggghhhh.
Never will I eat that again. I taste the shit of
dogs. Never again. I taste the bitter roots.
Never again. I taste the blades of brown grass.
Never again. I eat the flies. Never again. I
eat the spiders. Never again.
I see pain of the dogs chasing the cats. I see
the pain of the mice and of the rats. I listen
and I hear the groans of the vultures and
vampire bats. I open my eyes and I see others like
me. Never again.
I will starve. I will not eat them. I will be
eaten. My soul shall die.
I fall asleep.
I awaken. Someone has helped me. Someone has healed
me. Someone has strengthened me. Someone has touched
me. Someone has mended my wing. I know my destination.
I fly with my new wings. I soar above the clouds.
I see my home. Down, out of the clouds I come.
I perch atop a rusting cage. They sky is dark. Rain
begins to pour. Thunder and lightning are all around.
I see no one. I stand on my cage and chirp with
the boom of the sky. My feathers are soaked. My
eyes are wide. I let out a chirp for the whole lonely
world to hear. There is no one around. I chirp for
the rain. I chirp for the grass. I chirp for the
rats, who hide in the shadows. I chirp for the eggs
in the nest in a tree nearby. I chirp for myself.
The rain ends and the sun comes out.
I see, sparkling in the bright sunlight, a shiny object
on the ground below. I flutter down to look. They
are shiny. Two long, sharp, shiny objects attached
at the center. At one end of each, there is a circle.
I look closer. On one of the sharp blades, there
is a faded stain. It is dark red, and almost invisible.
I look even closer, and a dank odor emanates. I
see that the stain was much more. The shiny metal
is coated with scarlet red from long ago. I see
the stark droplets from the past, washed away by
the rain.
My healer is nowhere to be found. I wander the
earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hi honey! I'm home..."