AVIARY

The outside had always amazed her. The way the stars shined so bright through all that darkness, the way the moon followed her shadow wherever she went, the way the trees danced to the songs of the wind, and the way the rain melded in perfectly with the ocean. Something about it just drew her soul in.

She remembered the emotions she felt when she taught the wind its melody, or when she kept the fire away from the birds.

Now she’s trapped in this world of eternal darkness, watching as butterflies drop dead onto the ground. There’s this feeling building up inside of her, brewing up slowly until it boils.

Oh, how she wishes she could be free. She outstretches her arms and lifts herself off of the ground, screaming in agony as she goes up. As her anger gets stronger, so does her power, and she can feel it filling up her soul like a dam, burning at the tip of her skin, waiting to be unleashed.

Let me out, it begs.

And god, does she want so badly to let it out. Maybe then she can break away from this force. Maybe then she can get out of this cage and finally be free. She floats to the edge of the sky, above the clouds and just a touch away from the dark abyss of space.

Let me out, she cries. Let me be free.

She wants to climb into space, reach for proxima centauri and hold onto it for dear life. Her cage can’t reach her there.

So she keeps flying higher, her wails of excruciating pain dissolving itself in the vacuum. Just a little more. She’s so close to touching the star, she can almost taste it.

control the pain, she thinks. it’ll be worth it when it’s over.

but as she floats there with all her strength, desperately trying to break away from the force that pulls her back down to earth, her fingers slowly turning into ashes, silvery tears streaming down her cheeks, she knows there’s no point trying anymore. she’s almost there, but that’s all she’s ever going to be.

she lets out a whimper of defeat, the glowing chains appearing around her wrists again as they catapult her back down, her luminous hair shielding her face from the scorching air around her. her insides twist and turn, but it’s so quick that she barely even feels it. the only thing she feels is the burning of skin in the place where the red hot chains are wrapped around her wrists, preventing her powers from escaping her.

for a swift second she fears for her life when she looks down at the land she’s falling into. there’s no way she could survive it.

but as she recalls the amount of agony she’s endured trying to hold everything in, she thinks maybe this is a good thing. maybe death is the only way for her to be free.

so she embraces it as it comes towards her, smiling softly as she lands head-first into the same soil she originally emerged from. the last thing she feels is the breaking of the chains on her arm as the fire inside of her finally sets itself free, engulfing her and everything else in sight.

It was in this moment that the very same chains that the monsters of the Earth had put on its guardian to seemingly protect themselves, had caused the planet to diminish into nothing but thick, flaky ashes. Their actions - fuelled by hatred and fear, had taken not just her, but everything else in existence too.

But at least finally, she was away from the chains, away from the aviary. She was free.