Sparrow

Fluff clear and bright, so much that it her the girls eyes when she looked upon it. It was cold, biting at her cheeks, making her nose sore. It didn't match the scene above it. Dark colors swirled about, blocking out a lot of the light that would come through in streams. The light had come from the round thing in the sky that was the same color as the stuff falling through the air, but had darker pigmentation in it.

The girl sat up and blinked her eyes repeatedly. There were strange things coming out of the ground, malnourished and tired looking. The white fluff clumped on top of their many arms sticking out of their sides. What is an arm?

Her eyes darted about once more before she shakily pushed herself to get taller. Soaring pain was sent through the bottom of her body and she felt herself fall into the snow. Cold flooded her body and she shivered. The girl tried once more to make herself taller and succeeded. The two arms that protruded downward wobbled, but otherwise did as they were told.

She took a few shaky paces forward and stumbled. She wanted a closer look at one of the things sprouting from the ground that seemed to be moving. She wanted to tell it to stop going away but didn't know how. Just when the girl was about to give up, the thing came toward her. It looked stranger than the others, shorter too.

It stopped a little more than the length away features can still be distinguished. "Who are you?" The girls eyes widened and she felt her body drop. All the girl could think was to get away, this creature would hurt her. A frightened , blood curdling scream came out of her throat, making it sore. It hurt the girls ears. She tried to turn and run, but her legs gave out beneath her. Once more her face met with the cool fluff.

This time, she felt streams of warm roll down her face. She felt something on her back and jumped, trying to place distance between herself and the creature. This one was unlike the others: it had two circles that were intricate and not dull on it that moved, a protruding stick with two cavities in it at the center of the top, a large whole that seemed to be moving, and long strands of dark color that went down the back. This one, the girl noticed had as many "arms" as she did.

"Are you lost, little one?" This time the sound was much softer. But what does lost mean? The thing once more placed one of the arms upon her. It was warm and soft. The girl snuggled into it and tried to steal the warmth. Oh, how cold it was for her. As if in agreement, some of the fluff found its way in the thing wrapped around her to bite at her skin. "What is your name?"

The girl squinted. Nothing made sense. What was all of this?

A sweet cry filled the air and the girl spun around to locate the sound. It sounded around the area, casting over itself in wavelengths. There were others that seemed to reply back to it, and those as well resounded. Small and brown objects were gliding, moving, between the things that came out of the earth. It was them that made the sound.

The girl picked herself up again and tried to make her way toward them. She wanted to hear them sing again. she was so close... it went to another thing. Again she tried to make her way to the small thing, but it went to another erect object. Once more she tried, but when the small thing left, she fell back into the light powder.

"Do you like them?" the larger thing that could move, behind her asked. Yes, the girl did like them. Very, Very much. "They're called sparrows. It is a type of bird." Sparrow, she tried to echo, but couldn't make sound.

The large thing that had a lot of heat made itself the same size as her. "They are beautiful, huh?" The girl shook her head, a curious gesture that seemed familiar. "Would you like me to call you Sparrow?" The girl once more moved her head up and down.

The girl's cheeks grew sore and she touched at them. The pain didn't go away until she got sad. When it was gone, it took only a moment for it to come back. She felt her cheeks again. "That's called smiling," the thing said gently, pointing at her own top, where the largest hole was drawn back to reveal tiny, light as the fluff, mountains. "You, like the sparrow, are beautiful. Especially when you smile."

Beautiful? Smile? Me, Sparrow? The little girl looked back to the flitting "birds" moving across the darkened above. "One day, just like them, you will learn to fly."