Once upon an orbit
Of First World Fait
There flew a bird on fire.
She had been ablaze for so
Long she could no longer
Remember who started it.
So she blamed everyone
And anyone for her flames.
The farther she flew
The harder she burned.
The faster she beat her wings
The deeper the flames' sting.
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She grew lonely
To burn all alone.
She wanted company
But other birds would like
Her light and warmth
A little while only, until
She wanted to share
Her pain with them
And pass her fire on to them
And they all flew far away
From her, for who would want
A "friend" who spreads fire?
(Not me, for sure. Would you?)
One day she screamed over
A birdbath sparkling blue
And ecstatic, she dove right in,
Splashed merrily, chirping,
"This is it! At last! I'll be out!"
But when she opened
Her eyes, still she was burning,
Standing in a thick cloud of steam.
She cried and cried and cried and
Could only cough on her own
Smoke.
She flew away again.
She chirped and squawked
For anyone who would listen.
For help. For sympathy. For love.
But if ever anyone came over,
She attacked with her blazing beak
To spread the fire to her, to him,
And fast away those helping hands ran.
Finally the little bird on fire
Found herself spiraling across
A great big desert wasteland.
She set down, and found the sand
As hot as her, which was no comfort.
She resolved to sleep
To ignore the problem, the heat,
Until tomorrow she would find oasis.
She believed she deserved paradise,
Deserved peace—
Not because she ever helped anyone
Not because she ever worked hard
Not because she ever was kind
But because
She was
Herself.
As the sun set, her little light
Flickered long into the night
A tiny orange star atop big black dune,
Ignored by blue-black sky of beauty,
A pebble for her pillow.
The next white morning Fait's weird sun did rise
And in the shadow of the cactus-flies
Smoldered weakly little black bones,
Finally silent, and as a great wind came,
And quickly, easily buried the little bones
Under a blanket of black sand,
In time the bones were cool, so small,
But no one ever knew they were
Under there, no one ever knew her,
Or why she burned, or whose fault it
Really was, or that she burned at all.
YOU ARE READING
Redemptor Secret Origin
FantezieOnce upon an orbit of planet Fait, a playful young girl and her flustered yet resourceful single father must endure sickness, encounter exotic creatures, escape a predatory government, and outwit a wicked wizard to survive just one more day. Having...
