over the fields // anzie

“come into my world”

dahra ventura - seventeen - district four

I see it as I'm leaving the house. It's just a coincidence, really. I'm in such a hurry to get out (away from the fight that's brewing between Darius and my mother there) that I forget to tie my laces. Halfway down the path, as I crouched down to do them up properly, there it was. Fluttering  pathetically and chirping like nothing I'd ever heard. So desperate, so fragile. How could I just leave it? Darius always said I was too soft, but he's the one drowning himself in drink and smoke and getting beaten half to death every day for sport. He's the coward. So I cupped the little broken bird in my hands and clutched it gently to my chest.

Who could I take it to? A fisherman wouldn't know how to save a bird, and nor would a marketsman or greengrocer. I needed someone who knew things. So, of course, I went to the logical place. Now I wander through the aisles of the library, looking for that particular person - I know that when I see them I'll be certain they're who I'm looking for. The bird is silent, now, but I can feel its little heart pitterpattering against my fingers. "Don't worry, little one," I coo quietly, and hastily approach to the nearest reader. His blonde hair covers his face but I can tell he's deeply engrossed in his reading. Perhaps he's the boy I was looking for? "Excuse me," I murmur, "I was wondering... do you know anything about birds?"