Icarus

Fire, glittering across the sky.

Fire sinking into the white clouds.

Fire, burning a pattern over my memory.

Sunset

Sharp, cold hands. Metal.

They drive into my back, ripping at my flesh.

Frigid, solid claws. Machinery.

They shred my shoulder, sending blood out of my body.

I arch my back in pain and shock.

Heart jumps. Stomach drops.

Falling. I lose the mountain grass below my bare feet.

Oranges, browns, whites, blacks: the colors around me blend into a thick pool of mud.

Wind. It assaults my broken body.

Wind. It rushes into my cuts, stinging.

My eyes dart to the fires in the clouds: they are now a muted purple.

Will I die like so many before me?

Will I meet them in the next world?

Surely.

Ranges.

Hills of rock in the distance.

Their stance is firm.

They speak.

They cry out to me.

A blessing:

"Icarus! May you be as strong as we!"

Air. It presses my hair back.

Air. It dries my eyes.

Willows.

Living green beasts below me.

The breeze is their messenger.

They speak.

They cry out to me.

A blessing:

"Icarus! May you be as free as we!"

Water.

I pass through a cloud.

Drenched hair.

Soaked britches.

Eagles.

Masters of aviation.

Kings of the sky.

They soar around me, diving on the smaller birds.

They speak.

They cry out to me.

A blessing:

"Icarus! May you be as graceful as we!"

Crimson.

The wings secured to my back stiffly spread, resisting the rough winds.

One wing is snapped from the talons tearing into me.

It causes me to roll uncontrollably.

Spiraling.

Falling.

Faster.

Gaining speed.

Struggling.

I fight to detach my broken wings.

I find the pin.

Woosh!

They fall back behind me, their burden dropped.

The roll halts as quickly as it began.

"Strong. Free. Graceful."

I am all three.

"Strong. Free. Graceful."

The words form a lurid chant on my tongue.

"Strong. Free. Graceful."

The filthy reek of cattle overwhelms my nose.

"Strong. Free. Graceful."

Bugs splatter against my chest.

"Strong. Free. Graceful."

Almost to the base of the cliff.

"Icarus! May you be as immortal as we!" The great stars shout at me in desperate terror.

I am falling.

I flip to my back.

Ranges.

Willows.

Eagles.

Stars.

"Strong. Free. Graceful... Not immortal."