Broken Wings

Chapter 1: Icarus

        The Greek tale of Icarus is the story of a boy, his father, and a pair of wings. Icarus had always dreamed of freedom from Crete, and his father Daedalus was the key. Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth, constructed a pair of beautiful wings made of feathers and wax. Icarus was overjoy to finally escape Crete, he was finally able to be free. However Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high or else he'd be consumed by the Sun. Icarus did not heed his father's warning and in his excitement, continued to fly higher and higher until eventually he was burned up by the Sun.

        I find the story of Icarus to be detestable and yet beautiful. He was able to escape from a dire position with seemingly no hope, unfortunately his key to freedom was the same to his downfall. It suggests that no matter what it is, there is a limit to what you can do, infinite growth simply is not possible. Yet I find myself wanting to be like Icarus, I want to leave this world for a better one, however my wings simply can't get me there and I'm too terrified to fix them, for what if I end up like Icarus?

        I am stuck in this perpetual loop of wanting to better myself and fearing the consequences of doing so. Maybe it's the fact that I don't want to fix my wings, or maybe it's the fact that I can't. Maybe I'm destined to be at the lowest of the low.

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        I couldn't sleep last night, the dread of this school year had been encroaching on me throughout the night.

        Nevertheless, I got up anyway, throwing on a simple gray hoodie, some black jeans, and a pair of grey shoes. That selection of clothes should prevent me from standing out. I made my way downstairs and towards the front door. The house echoed with an unbearable silence as I made my way out.

        The walk to school was filled only with the sound of my footsteps then eventually the noise of other people as I arrived closer to Paradis High.

        So many faces here, some familiar, some new, some despised. Many of these people despise me and vice versa. For years some of these faces gave me shit and I just sit there and take it, after all I probably deserve it.

        Taking my schedule, that I had received in the mail, out of my bag I saw that my first period was with Miss Ral for algebra IV. Great. Starting the day off with algebra.

        I've had Miss Ral as a teacher before for algebra II and she was really understanding and helpful with the class, so not all is bad.

        I made my way into class and saw Miss Ral

        "Ah! Hello again Eren! It's good to see you!" she greeted with a smile

        "It's good to see you too Miss Ral." I replied.

        "How have you been Eren?" she asked with curiosity.

        "Fine. You?" I said

        "I've been great! Thanks for asking! Just take a seat anywhere you'd like!" She said with excitement.

        I don't get how she be so cheerful all the time, it's almost unnatural, especially since she seems even more cheery then two years ago.

        I took a seat in the back corner and luckily I was still able to see the board clearly.

        Soon, more and more people started filling in the classroom, Miss Ral making small talk with all of them. Of course people were filling seats seemingly trying to sit as far away from me as possible, it's not surprising at this point. Eventually all the seats were full and Miss Ral had us stand and introduce ourselves to the class. Everyone started to do so, and I heard a few familiar names such as Connie and Ymir. Then it was the back rows turn. As they went down the line of introductions it got the seat in the middle of the row. He stood up and his name was Jean Kerstein.