They forced us to fly; in the beginning we enjoyed the wind ruffling the tips of our wings. Then the days grew longer, where even the sunsets ached to dip beneath the horizon, and we still flew. In the beginning they pretended like the choice was ours, that the vast sky’s under the stars were our domain. Viktor would make such elegant spirals, those spirals mocked our twisted fates but we continued anyway. One day, a day I knew would eventually come, Viktor tried to leave. I watched from the deck as he pounded the air furiously, every ounce of his being trying to get away. A big gun turned towards him, just one gun. The long snout tilted up and it screamed with a blast of fire. I still remember the angry recoil and the wave of faint heat. Moments later, Viktor was struck in a blinding puff. He fell straight down, fast , into the cresting waves. At least Viktor died flying, feeling the breeze whispering around him, soothing him to his death. Even after this, they told us to keep flying. We flew in unsteady circles and swatted at the airs with lethargic sweeps. In the evening, the menacing shadows thrown were thrown off of steel and guns onto the flight deck. We landed completely exhausted and they told us we did well. At night we slept restlessly, dreaming of sky’s that stretch to the other side of the universe. We flew at their command and the days all grew close together and intimate. Every day, the ship got a little closer to a distant shore. One morning we woke and the deck faced a blackened and pot marked beach. Then they asked us to the deck, we all piled into a small boat and were transported to the heavy shore. They lined us up and I quivered. It wasn’t some dark intention, a cloaked dagger yearning for blood, they didn’t bring hot fires over us. They freed us. Just like that we were all free. The trees slipped in the wind, the sun winked as it descended and the clouds masked the ceiling of the other side of the universe. I didn’t know what else to do, so I jumped up into the sky, and I flew.
Upsidedowncloud 