5 July 2012
They cheer, jeering, laughing. They don't know me. Don't know what I can do. My muscles twitch in anticipation, heart rate increasing with every passing second. I flinch as something hits the back of my head. A water bottle. It lights the fuse in my mind, sparking a reaction that I cannot control. My feet break into a sprint, legs pounding away at the earth. The crowd laughs, shouting. They are simple, never to know what I can feel, what I can do. I fling my bag away, I have no need of it any more. My blazer and tie soon follow, adding to the path of discarded things. I slip off my shoes, running in my bare feet, the hot Tarmac scorching my toes. They may laugh but soon I will win. Soon I will wreak my revenge.
My instincts growl, controlling my every movement, my common sense cowering in the back of my mind. The jeering crowd is long gone, left behind, their simple minds too slow to catch up with me. I know I should stop, but sheer momentum keeps me from slowing. Tarmac gives way to dirt tracks, which in turn, give way to fields. I am free, alive, bewildered. All my thoughts are lost to the electricity pulsating through my veins, my heart in a fluttering frenzy. I can feel it spread through me, calling, singing. A scream, a flinch, a uncontrollable urge to let go. I reach up to my bun, letting my glossy raven black curls fly behind me, an ocean of darkness. This sparks a change that starts at my hands, fingers to feathers and arms to wings. My body shifts from one state to another, mind melting and reshaping in a moment of uncertainty. Finally, I am free. Really free. Free of the earth, free of the tether that binds me to the ground, free of the jeering crowds, free of life. Here is where I belong. Here is where I can be me.
The sky is my home, where the air is sweet, the sun is soft, the night is gentle. I flap my wings, gliding through the clouds, feeling the air rushing past my glossy feathers. Below me, the school is but a mere speck of life, unneeded, unwanted, nonexistent. The crowds are still there, waiting for something to happen. I smirk. I'll be that something. I fold my wings, letting gravity do it's work, leaving me plummeting to earth. A girl shrieks, the first to run. I chuckle. She won't be the last. The crowd breaks up, cautious yet unaware. I scream, watching their faces twist in terror, watching the giant raven fall from the heavens. A group of people start to run, another pull out their phones, taking photos of tomorrow's hot topic of conversation. I glance around, looking for a place to land. There. My wings beat down, causing another gaggle of students to scream and back away. I watch them convulse in horror as I shift from raven to girl, beast to human, power to weakness. A grin spreads from ear to ear, the group drifts away, some running, in fear for their lives, some strolling, trying to act cool. They know who I am. They know what I can do. I don't have to hide anymore. I am free, free from this shell I have been locked in for so many years, kept from spilling the truth for all to see.
Now, I can be me.
Raven • Opuss № I