It All Started When...

Chit-Chat on the Choo-Choo

Whooooo!

My eyes snap open.

I blink, trying to remember where I am. The gentle rocking of the car reminds me.

I'm on a train. On the run. Flying as fast as possible away from the delusional man who wants to keep me as a toy.

I shudder. Sitting up, I glance around. There are storage crates labeled NEW MEXICO stacked in the corner. A thin dust covers the hard board floor. Other than a few holes in the thin roof, the only light comes from the door, which rests wide open. The moons light spills into the car, basking everything in a blue-ish glow.

"Couldn't sleep?" Liam's propped up against the opening, peering out.

"No. That darn train horn keeps waking me up." I mutter. I stand and walk over to him, sliding down on the opposite side of the door. My bones ache from the hard floor. "Why are they even honking? It's the middle of the night!"

"Probably deer." His face is washed in a pale shine. The wind tugs his hair about, blowing it every which way. His eyes are dark.

We settle into a comfortable silence. The world rushes past, trees flying past in a blur of dark green. I watch as we go over a bridge. The water reflects the starry sky, more beautiful than anything I've ever seen. But then it's gone in a breath.

    After a while, an owl appears and coasts along side us, incredibly matching the train's speed. It clicks its beak, then dives into the woods, disappearing as quick as it came.

"I think they miss me."

I glance over at him. He's staring up into the sky.

"Who?" I ask softly.

"The birds."

I tilt my head slightly and peer upward. The moon glints off a pair of deathly black wings. Then another and another, glinting like fallen shards of stars. The group slices silently through the air, hovering over us like guardians.

"Crows." Liam whispers, "they've been following us for a while."

"Why?" I wonder aloud.

   Liam doesn't say anything for a while. I watch as the crows glide softly above us.

   "I think family." He says finally. "I think they can sense that I belong... that I belong to the sky too."

   He reaches his hand out, letting it drift in the raging wind. One of the crows caw.

   "What do you mean?" I tear my gaze away from the birds.

   "I don't know." He hesitates. "When I'm up in the sky, flying, I feel... free. Like one of them."

   He looks at me. "At the lab, they didn't let me fly outside. The scientists put a net over our courtyard, trapping me in. The longing to fly high, to slice through the clouds, it nearly killed me every day."

   I furrow my eyebrows. "They didn't trust you to come back?"

   He laughs humorlessly. "No. Never. Especially not me."

   I stay silent. Liam is back to looking at the birds.

   "I was unpredictable. They couldn't win me over, couldn't control me. I was the one who tried to run every chance I got." His brows furrow. "So, eventually, they just made sure I wouldn't have that chance."

   "The General-" His fists clenched tightly. "He took a sort of sick fascination in the matter. He loved to watch me stare at the sky, loved to turn me down when I begged to be let out."