Magic, Madness And Sadness

Wings

He awoke to find her fast asleep on his right arm - whoever she was. He likened his predicament to that of Tom Cruise dangling precariously from the roof in a room full of deadly lasers. In his case however, instead of being shredded to pieces, he'd end up waking the girl should he make one wrong move. He wiggled and he jiggled, bottom lip clenched and sweat dripping from his forehead. What would I even say to her if she woke up? He wondered. After a few close calls, he finally managed to slip out from beneath her undetected - mission accomplished.

Unfortunately for him, there was no time to celebrate this small victory. His thoughts soon dwelt on his escape. Was he to leave a note before his departure? Wake her up to bid her farewell? Or simply just leave with the hope that her memories of their night together would be enough to tide her over? Decisions - decisions! Suddenly she began to stir, panic took over. He dove to the ground hoping to escape her sight. As he laid belly to the floor, he spotted several pieces of his attire scattered about. He slowly raised his head to take a peek once the stirring ceased, eager to pick up his belongings and head out with utmost haste. Much to his relief, she was still asleep. He tiptoed across the room, picking up his attire one garment at a time. Shirt. Boxers. Socks. Shoes. Pants?
"Where are my pants?" he whispered.
He frantically looked around the room for his missing pants, occasionally patting himself down to check if they weren't somehow still on him. When all his efforts had failed, he found himself surveying the room in hopes of finding even the slightest clue as to where the pants may have been. That's when he noticed her small three-door wardrobe. Even he couldn't fathom how they could have possible made their way in there, but in times of desperation, logic is often the first casualty. The wardrobe stood at the corner of the small bedroom with all three doors slightly ajar. Something from inside it seemed to call to him. He could hear voices - whispers. The closer he got, the louder they became. He opened the first door, eager to find the source of these voices, but all he saw were neatly hung coats and dresses. He combed through them one at a time, hoping to at least find his pants so he could make his exit. As he perused through her clothing, one mystery item caught his attention. Unlike the other articles of clothing, this one was inside a zipped bag. As he pulled it along the rail, a lone white feather gently fell beneath it. He had plucked his fair share of chickens in his day, but none of them had feathers quite like this one. It was larger than any feather he had ever seen, more rigid too. Running his fingers along its edges felt like he could get cut even from the slightest increase in pressure. The more he inspected it, the more he could've sworn it had a faint glow about it.

His first instinct was to unzip the bag and perhaps learn more about this peculiar feather. He looked back to check on the girl. She was still fast asleep; an open invitation for him to proceed with whatever mischief he had planned. As he gradually lowered the zip, more feathers came bursting forth from the largest pair of wings he had ever seen. They were packed rather tightly and could barely fit the coat sized bag. After fully opening it, he realized that the wings were a mixture of scattered clusters of feathers and bumpy patches of skin from which the rest had been plucked. He tried to yank one out, but try as he might, not a single one of them would budge. All he had was the lone feather that had fallen from the bag. The glow from the feathers was even more beautiful with more of them so closely packed together. He couldn't help but stare at their beauty, and after a while, completely get lost in it. It was then that he heard the whispers once more. He still couldn't make out what they said, but for a split second, he could've sworn they were screams. Their beauty had enchanted him to a point where he had completely forgotten about the lady in the bed behind him.
"I see you found the skeleton in my closet." said the girl, eyes half open and her hair dishevelled.
He quickly hid the feather in his hand behind his back like a child who had dipped his fingers in the sugar pot. He darted his eyes, bouncing his gaze off of every surface in sight in a bid to evade hers.
She slowly removed her covers and slipped out of bed without so much as a stitch on her. On an ordinary day, his jaw would be several meters below the earth's crust at that point, but this was not one of those days. He found himself at a loss for words as she walked straight toward him. All he could think about was keeping the feather concealed. He just had to own it. She reached into the wardrobe and pulled out the now unzipped bag before turning back to the bed from which she came. She gently pulled the wings out one at a time and laid them out on the bed. The three quarter mattress was barely large enough to contain them both as she spread them open.
He slowly walked to her side, hand still clutching tightly to his feather and glued behind his back. As he walked behind her, he noticed two massive scars below her shoulder blades. It was at that moment that he came to a shocking realization.