I was in the city known as New York. The Big Apple. Surely you've heard of it. It's big and fancy, and this was where I was born- or made- and raised for most of my life. All of it, in fact, until about nine months ago.

But it wasn't fun. I was pretty much tortured, and labeled as a freak.

But I had survived, and now I was looking at newspapers I had managed to find in the streets, garbage, whatever. But anyway, I picked one up, looked at the headline, and froze. I read it again.

Then I stared at the newspaper in disbelief some more. Sure, it was a month and a half old, but the picture on the front held my attention.

According to the accompanying headline, it said, "Miracle Bird Kids Put on Air Show".

I knew why this shocked me so much. Underneath my bandanna, my ears grew warm when I remembered that fateful day, nine months ago…

A clanging at the door made me, Spark look up anxiously. Surely they wouldn't want tests now. Another chink! and light peeked in through a crack. I flattened my ears and hid my tail in fear, but there was nothing I could do about the wings.

To my shock, six kids, of varying ages, ran in. Even weirder- they started opening cages.

They got to mine, and, amazingly, noticed only my wings. Without hesitation I slipped through the cage door and ran, ran like never before.

After a seemingly endless journey through twisted waterways, along with the other mutants, I burst into sunlight for the first time. I gasped at the golden rays. But a lady nearby noticed all the genetic mutants coming out of the subway tunnel, and screamed.

Some cars pulled up, blaring an alarm and flashing lights. I knew I might have been in danger, so I took a chance.

I opened my black wings and jumped high.

Pushing down with my wings like I had seen birds do, it hit me- I was flying. It felt amazing, and I climbed higher, 'til I was over the tallest skyscrapers.

I finally felt safe, so I let my ears prick up and tail relax. Then, I turned to the horizon, where I could stay near the ocean and still go south. Deciding on my course, I pushed my wings down hard and flew in my chosen direction.

Of course, that was nine months ago. Now, I recognized the faces on the front of the paper. They were my saviors.

I had to find them.

But I didn't know where to go. After collecting change from parking lots (there's a surprising amount), I had enough to pay a phone call.

I found the number for the bird kids sponsor, the CMS or something. Armed with this info, I marched over to a telephone booth in the city I lived near and dialed the number.

After a dial tone for a few seconds, a woman's voice came on, asking, "Hi, this is the CSM you've contacted. How can I help you?"

Choosing my words carefully, I answered, "Uh, where are the, um, miracle birds kids headed?" I'll admit, I'm not the best with words. Usually.

The lady, amazingly, gave away that answer easily, "Last I heard, they were in Hawaii. They're headed to Arizona after that." Okay, then. I shall not question this.

I thank her, and head off to where I live. Packing my few belongings, I figure which direction I should go. Then squaring my shoulders, I face my chosen direction and take off, the sunlight shining gold on my wings.

Oh, and faithful readers, I think there is one other thing you should know about me. My ears I can move, and I have a tail and claws.

Yep, I'm not only mixed with a bird, but I'm mixed with a cat.

2% bird, 6% cat, 92% human, to be exact.

By the way, my name's Spark.

Glad to meet you.