The Winged

6- The Human

The bag I was trapped in was thrown to the floor, sending me flying into shapes I had no name for. I strained to twist my other leg free. No use. It was bound even tighter than my other one, and I was rapidly running out of time. I could hear the shuddering tremors of movement through the walls of the bag. Every snapping twig made me want to burst into tears.
I could only imagine what he was doing out there.

I didn't have time to ponder it, because before I knew it the slash of the zipper was tearing over my head. Light blinded me. I blinked frantically in an attempt to regain my sight— everything was happening so fast, too fast. From my wire prison I could see the blue sky above, not a single cloud in the sky. The first signs of summer. My freedom, if I could just fly-

The human's hand swooped into the bag, fingers stretching down. Dread and panic drowned every sense and I tried to shuffle away, but the wire still bound my limbs together. Before I could even take a breath he had clasped the end of the wire ball and began pulling it upwards. Towards him. Thread snaked across my skin as it was pulled up. The rest of it followed, stretching out of its jumble to form one long, straight line. I was ready to faint— but the miraculous happened. As the jumble straightened, the binds around me miraculously began to shift. Loosen. I found that only my wings and arms were still unmovable. I could just about kick out my legs if I tried. I didn't have time to celebrate though. The human was seconds away from pulling me out of the bag in a tangled mess. My eyes widened as the wire around my waist began tighten, stretching dangerously upwards. My legs were tugged off the bottom of the bag as the line rose. Then suddenly, snip.
The rest of the line collapsed back down on top of me as the human cut it.

Relief crashed down in a wave. I thanked each god whose name I could recall that I wasn't tangled in the part he had taken from the bag. The human was busying himself with something out of my vision, which gave me previous time to think. Get out. I had to, somehow.
Now only bound at my arms and waist, I managed to struggle my way over to a flat surface in the bag and flop myself on top of it. It was rough under my skin, harsh and... just so strange, but it was solid ground. Anything would do for now.

I took in some air, wasting time I didn't have. The air inside the bag was being baked beneath the late afternoon sun. Summer is here early— I thought to myself, rather unfunnily— the heat and the humans both.
I looked up at the sides of the huge bag, searching for a way out. The walls were smooth, impossible to climb. My wings were still tangled on my back...
I frowned, that distant panic still coursing through my veins. Think, useless girl, think.

I was able to kick away some of the wire binding me, finally getting close to freeing one of my arms. The strand that connected me to the main ball of wire fell away as I pushed and tugged. Only a few stubborn threads remained hanging across my feet.
Halfway free. My lungs demanded I rest a moment, but I wouldn't. At least now I wasn't attached to the rest of that tangled mess. Only my right arm was still bunched up against my chest. All I needed to do was find a way to detangle that, and I would be able to free my wings. Then it was a straight shot home.
I scowled, pulling at the thin wire that pressed into my skin. The skin pooled white and bloodless under its weight. I couldn't snap it.

The human abruptly shifted around on my right, wobbling the bag. His sigh echoed in the air between us. My head snapped up as I felt a whoosh of air, and sure enough, a huge hand swooped into the bag. Daggered fingers felt for something without him actually looking down.
Well thank the gods for that. I laughed purely from the nerves. What if the human decided to look inside the bag? Then what would I be able to do? Shoving the thought from my mind, I kept my eyes fixated on his fingertips as they brushed against the various contents of the bag. Quickly deciding that I would rather be nowhere near the huge things, I tried to shuffle to the edge of the scratchy surface I was on, but the wire made it almost impossible to move without making sound. My wings dragged uselessly with every twitch. Cursing under my breath didn't help, nor did trying to dig my hands under the restraints.
Come on! I struggled, the threads feeling tighter with every movement the giant hand made. He was so close, too close, a scene not even my wildest nightmares could have conjured. I glanced up from where I had been wrenching on the bindings to check the hand's position. It reached for me before I had a chance to scream.