As I soar through the majestic skies, bright yellow clouds tickling my skin with their dew as I pass, I wonder. What is next? No more laboring from sunup to sundown, gone were the days of cautioning my words to keep the peace. No more fighting alongside friends to create order. Their all dead now, except one. My last moment with him was fleeting, with the only word, “ Fly,” pulsing through my memory. No more, Timothy. Suddenly, a picture of him flashed in my mind, his slant smile and round, coily hair. He’ll be the one thing I miss. I steady myself with the wind as I remember the friend I’ve left behind.

I longed for a friend during my times of loneliness. Someone to pick me up and encourage my desire to fight. Little did I know it would happen so swiftly, a friend, then an ally, then a revolution. I can’t begin to wonder what life will be like now after the passing event. But now there is no sadness. Just relief with a grand smile on my face that reaches from ear to ear, as I twist and turn with a flock of birds that are following my path.

I jump out of my moment of thought, remembering that I have to concentrate. Keeping my mind focused on flying, or I will plummet to the ground. So I fly higher and higher so I won’t be noticed by peering eyes. I have finally passed the border of the once-intimidating republic. A separation of dreadful grey cities from a beautiful green landscape marks my path of transition. Now, they will never find me.

Maybe I should go east to the Siren Mountains that sing as the wind passes through them. Making a beautiful hymn as the wind passes through the entryways of the mountains. So few know the song anymore because of the restrictions the Republic had placed. Or maybe the mirror desert, whose storms create glass.

Oh, what a sight that would be. To see all the things that were just stories of adventure told by my sister before the Republic took over. Maybe she’ll be there, hiding all these years. Or I just might feel her presence in these places she’s seen. There is nothing but hope on the horizon for me. No longer chained by the bigotry of others, and no more hiding. Never again will I hide.