Darkness.

Once again I find myself in darkness, this time because I am incapable of opening my eyes. At least this time I have a sense of touch. Although hard to discern, I believe I have arms and legs like a human. I also seem to have the same amount of fingers and toes.

Some vague noises can be heard from time to time. My body feels uncomfortable, which might have to do with the fact that I don’t think I am breathing. Also, my muscles spas on intervals and I have intense growth pains all over my body. Scratch that, it feels more like I have been torn apart and someone is reassembling me from scratch!

It can only have been a few days but I don’t know how much longer I can take this. Even though much better then the first few days, anyone would go insane in complete darkness and constant pains.

As that thought kept going through my head for days, I didn’t notice that the pains had already completely gone not long after I started complaining to myself. I kept doing the only thing I could, move any muscle and thinking.

That is until sudden movements woke me from my thoughts. My body is being pushed and I am rushed towards something. I can feel my surroundings changing. It feels like I have been underwater for the last weeks and am finally meeting fresh air.

I feel the touch of someone else. My eyes slowly open and my brain is met with surging pain from the brightness. The sounds in my surroundings became clearer; although I am too confused understand them.

As I orientate myself, I can finally focus my vision. What meets my eyes are another set of eyes, full of happiness. They are hypnotising, a light blue with white speckles all the way through, with a deep black large oval pupil in its centre.

This is new. I turn my face to get a better look. It is a woman. Her hair looks like it’s made of feathers, the same pale colour as her skin with blue strands, falling down just past shoulder length and then down her back out of my sight. The rest of her features look human like. Then she smiles and two beautiful rows of teeth, with very sharp looking k-9 show themselves.

“kafe yoe teka gim?”

The woman says something to someone beyond my vision that I cannot understand. Suddenly I get picked up and put on the floor. I try to move around and stand up, however very wobbly. I stabilize when I open up my wings.

Holy shit, I have wings! After a small struggle I’m able to stand up straight. I look down at my hands and feet; they are like a human's, just very slightly claw like. The rest of my body is practically human, although my reproductive organ seems very small. I am covered in blood, but my skin is soft and smooth. Did I just get reborn? But I can walk. I must be a precocial newborn.

I try to move around as best I can. When I look up, two people look down on me with happy faces. The woman and a man with similar features, however with green eyes, darker skin and brown feather like hair with black locks.

Able to have a better look, their feathery hair seems to reach down all the way to the ground. However, going by my own autonomy, it must be their wings. Well, the likelihood that these people are my parents is very high.

The man walks over and grabs me under my armpits to pick me up. Before I have a chance to complain I’m dropped into moderately warm water. I get washed and picked up again. This is extremely degrading! I am a 103-year-old man you know!

Well, I guess they don’t know. I get carried over to a closet and, the woman whom I suppose is my mother, gets me dressed into some small clothes similar to what they are wearing. Which, now that I get a better look, seems very modern, made of some flexible metal. Almost like armour! What does a new born need armour for?

My mother grabs my hand and I struggle to walk as she leads me to where my supposed father is waiting. There seems to be a balcony without hand railings. Don’t they know that it’s dangerous, especially with a newborn around!

As my faith in my new parents is plummeting, my father picks me up holding me with one hand under my butt and one hand behind my back, facing him. Then they walk to the edge of the balcony and JUMP! No, no, no, no, no, no NOOO!

When I realise the falling sensation I was expecting never came, I open my eyes, which I had squeezed together. I’m clenching on to my fathers clothes. Loosening my grip, I turn my head to the side to look around.

I find my mother laughing, clearly amused at my actions. This is far too embarrassing! I’m just happy I can’t hear sounds due to the wind that is blowing against my face. The rocking sensation is making it hard to stay awake. Soon my eyes fall shut, as I fall asleep.

***

Finally, some time to myself! Today I wake up and my mother is dragging me all over the place, first cleaning me, changing my clothes, feeding me weird looking food!

I did get to see my own reflection. I look like a 2 year old, with the same features as my parents. I have the same eyes as my mother, stubby looking k-9’s, and white-feathered hair with dark blue almost black strands. My wings have similar patterns as my hair, yet they are completely white on the underside when I unfold them.

Having wings is a new and exciting development. They stretch the entirety of my body; yet fold away behind my back perfectly. Sometimes I forget I have them. Too bad biology never interested me too much; I only have very limited knowledge of my own body.

As I turn the corner, I can see my father sitting behind a large wooden desk with my mother standing next to him. They are talking while my mother is handing him papers that he signs.

Although my father is sitting in the big chair, behind the big desk in the office packed with books, he doesn’t look like he is in control at all. My mother seems to be telling him what to do, and he doesn’t even bother to read the papers he signs!

Amusing to say the least. Shit! My mother spotted me in the corner and is coming over. I try to run, but before I can even take a step, she is already holding me in her arms. How fucking fast is she?!

Although large for a newborn, my mother effortlessly carries me around with one arm. My new species must be quite strong. I get put down on a chair and my mother starts straightening my clothes and hair.

My face distorts into a grimace, but I can’t move as my mother easily keeps me in place going about her business. My father gives me a sympathising look from the side. This spineless man!

Once I’m all cleaned up, my mother admires her handiwork for a moment. Then she looks me in the eyes. They seem very overpowering and I get a shiver down my spine for a second.

“Stei”

She signals at me with her finger. Although I still do not understand the language, it is pretty clear she wants me to sit here. Then she goes back to my father and keeps handing him documents, talking about who knows what.

When my mother is once again too occupied to notice, I slip off the chair and sneak towards the door. Damn, she closed it at some point. My new house is impressive; we must be a well off family. It seems to be completely made out of wood, with elaborate designs.

There are no other decorations, only objects with specific functions. Yet they all compliment the entire design. Everything looks very modern, even though it is completely made out of wood.

Anyway, the door to the office has a specific way to open it. Lucky for me, I’ve seen my parents open it before so I should be able to open it. I turn the disc surrounded by engravings on the side of the door, a few times left and a few times right, lighting up the correct engravings. When I finish, I feel something seeping out of me and into the engravings. Then the door opens.

Before I make my escape, I look back one more time to see my father look at me like he cannot understand what he just saw. My mother seems oblivious. Before he can snitch on me, I close the door from the other side and toddle off. I go as fast as I can until I reach a door. I know it goes outside, and open it. Then I just stand there. Holy shit! How high is this?

I look over the buildings that surround me. It is a city with high-rise buildings all around me. They look like giant elven castles with towers like in the stories I’ve read as a child. Giant domes covering the buildings all around me. Most impressive are the green grass, green trees, and spider web looking tubes made of white wood rising into the skies, filled to the brim with flowers and plants.

It’s like the whole city grew with the wildlife around it, and nature made place for the buildings to grow. Crawling on my knees to the edge of the platform that the door opened up to, I make out the rest of my house below me.

I’m on a tower, surrounded by smaller towers. Well more like half tree, half tower, it is hard to discern. Large windows cover all the buildings unhindered by the growth of plants around them. The towers have long pointed roofs; wooden Staircases and bridges go from one tower to another. The branches of the trees support the arches and platforms forming one giant building.

However the platform has no way to get down. I guess I could use my wings and fly down, but I’d rather not test that theory right now. A sudden gush of wind almost pushes me over the edge and I grip the side of the platform in order not to fall down.

Too close! I turn around and run as fast as I can back the way I came. I quickly close the door and don’t look back. I don’t know anything about this place! I’m tiny! I don’t even know how to get out of my own house, let alone anything else.

I go to the office where I left my parents and open the door the same way I did before. My parents are still talking about stuff I do not understand. I sneak back in and climb on the chair.

At that exact moment my mother turns around and looks at me. She gives me a knowing look and smiles. Even though it is a loving smile and I believe my mother is a beautiful person, her pointy teeth make sweat drops appear on my forehead.