Hold my hand; Let's learn how to fly

The night was perfect, the stars littered the abyss-like sky. A lone figure was atop the skyscrapers, admiring the beautiful world they were in. Stepping on their tip-toes, they felt like they could touch the top of the world.

“Hello.” A voice suddenly appeared, a creature born in a child’s nightmare. It was dressed in a black cloak and held a crooked grin. The once lone figure didn’t bat an eye and instead focused on the still glowing stars above her shining figure.

“Lady, aren't you scared?” The voice wasn’t comforting in any way, it felt like fingertips being scratched over a coarse blackboard. Uncomfortable, the voice was.

“No, should I be?” The breeze swept away a stray poster, the lady glanced at the contents; recognizing it as the famous ad in her neighborhood.

The poster was flashy. The words ‘Want a perfect body? Be the perfect lady!’ were written inside it in big bold letters, with a couple of coupon sticks always missing from the bottom.

“Everyone would naturally be, though.” Scritch Scratch. The voice reminded her of the teacher who never paid attention to the students; the teacher who was always scribbling on the chalkboard opting to teach even with nobody paying attention.

“.. I was part of that ‘everyone’ before.” She reminisced, that time was great; she felt like she belonged. That time was also when she lied to herself, convincing herself that what she felt was a lie.

“What happened then?”

‘I found myself.’ was abandoned and instead came out was,

“I don’t know, was it because of me? Do you know the reason why?”    

“... Human minds are too complex for a programmed being like me.”        

“Guess so, humans really are complex. They have all the intelligence in the world to build and create anything they want, yet they're somehow stuck with bullying the oddities in their perfect society, or as what they refer to it..” She smiled and the creature felt curious, for the time it had spent on this land; there were only a countable few who had smiled this sincerely and yet hollowly at the same time.

The clock turned and then silence. A curious voice broke it down.

“Do I look pretty to you?” The tattered dress she wore then finally became more visible, as they fluttered with the wind, the city lights behind her made it into a perfectly breathtaking scene.

“By human standards, you would indeed be deemed attractive.” A simple reply.

She chuckled, the kind that one made when they were tired and bitter.

“Even if you knew I was a boy?”

There was only silence for a few seconds. She scoffed, of course. What made her think this otherworldly creature would try and comfort her.

“What do you mean you want to be a girl?! You are a boy! You will never leave this room until you realize that!”

“Look everyone, it’s the freak who thinks he’s a girl!”

“I don’t know why I even became friends with him, he’s such a total freak.”

“I think you are beautiful, you’re such a pretty lady.” The sincere voice broke the crashing waves she felt within her.

They were simple words, something uttered and heard every day and yet they gave her such a sense of comfort.

“You- Thank you-” It was embarrassing, how a few words had made her cry. She had only wanted acceptance, acceptance for what she truly felt. She only wanted them to accept her, acknowledge the fact that it took her so much courage.

“It is such a shame that this place is once again losing such a kind soul. Lady, do you have regrets?” The creature held his hand out.

“A few, like how I never got to try how to use a parachute or something. I really wanted to try flying at least once. Maybe I should’ve never revealed my true self, it only caused me such pain.” She wiped her tears and reached out to hold the creature’s hand.

“That’s a deep regret, do you really feel that way?”

A small pause.

“Only a bit, I think. I don’t regret the courage I took to reveal myself, it is what I feel after all. It feels so much better instead of hiding everything.”

“There’s one regret I can help you with, do you want to take my offer?”

“So, would you take me flying then?”

“Sure, pretty lady. Now, hold my hand properly, I’ll show you how to fly.”