I know times are changing Who: O & Cohen What: Perching and thinking When: December 10 - very late Where: Parakeet Park Rating: TBD Status: Complete
It’s time we all reach out for something new, that means you too Underneath the purple rain
The park was usually quiet about this time.
Any children, pets that frequented the park vacated when the moon reached the highest point in the obsidian sky. Not even the lovers dared to roam these sidewalks but O had no fear. She had seen fear, lived it, breathed it. Her wings rustled, feathers fading into the depths of the shadows as she stretched them to their fullest extent, the muscles strained but free. It had been so long since she could do that without being afraid. Part of her wanted to be feared, to strike that same feeling into humans, and the rest of her wore that emotion like a shroud. She did the best she could to cover it up with silence, stoicism.
Perched upon the pinnacle of the swing set, O moved her legs capriciously, one and then the other kicking silently at the night for no other reason than just enjoying the serenity. Those wings flapped once, shedding loose feathers which floated to the ground below in a gentle cascade. Pale fingers wrapped around the bar she sat on. It was cold, the digits were nearly numb from the onset of the cold, that bone chilling drop in temperature. But she was feeling for the first time in her life and it was beautiful. O had not been sure that she would ever feel anything more than agony - physical and mental, wings were a burden and they took their toll on one’s physique. She still was not sleeping much but it came to claim her when it felt she couldn’t resist it anymore and into the depths of slumber she went.
Not this night, though.
She was not on patrol. The park was quiet. Inhaling the sharp, cold air deeply O opened her eyes, looked up at the sky and exhaled a cloud of that strange steam. Her feet kicked slowly. Counting the infinite amount of bright corpses in the graveyard that was painted across the sky she finally smiled a little bit.
This was starting to feel more like home. There were challenges, but learning was part of recovery. Jayati had been kind to her, Graham had been kind to her. She was grateful to both of them as they assisted her in acclimating to the new world.
Somewhere close by she could hear the soft rustle of the leaves. Once in a while those fallen dancers whisped across the earth taken by the wind in a waltz that she would never truly know.