For years, I have been living in the shadows. Away from a social life, full of relationships and friendships. I always kept to myself, keeping everything inside. Even sometimes ,y own voice. Everything I do, I am afraid of doing. Because, at any time, he comes out. And he will kill everyone. But you probably don't care about the now. You must be wondering how he came upon me. How I came by this...this curse. Well, I shall tell then. But beware, it is a dark story. Full of death, destruction and anarchy.
I woke up on a warm summer morning in my little tree. Looking out from the entrance, I was blinded for a second by the sunlight, beaming right into my eyes. Putting a wing up quickly above my eyes, I managed to finally see the landscape. I lived in a mountainous region covered by lush green forests. The sight made my heart warm up, and then I began to do some morning stretches, leaning from side to side as I tried to reach my talons. By the time I was done, I was ready for the day.
Looking over to my companion, I found that she was still asleep in her bed. Of course, this was the usual thing I woke up to. And it was my job to wake her up. With one quick leap, I landed on the soft mattress of my human companion's bed and strolled to her side. Only her head and everything else above her shoulders were visible. Her skin was a light tan, and she had wavy dark brown hair, the rest of her body under the covers. She slept so soundly, her quiet breaths leaving her mouth in small wisps of air. That only made it more fun to wake her up. And I had the perfect plan to do it. It was one of the most devious, best plans I had ever thought of doing.
Quietly, I perched myself onto her shoulder, being observant of my talons to make sure that they did not dig into her pink pyjama shirt. Then slowly, I craned my head towards her small ear, and opened my beak before letting out one of my loudest squawks. She was up in an instant. The one thing I didn't count on was how fast she would rise up, and that mistake caused me pain. I was sent flying into the wall across from her bead and ended up sprawled against it, my head against the ground while my body was leaned against the wall upside down.
"Cody! Are you okay?!" she asked, her voice full of concern. I felt myself scooped up into her arms, followed her radiating warmth. Like a child to a mother, I nuzzled up against her, and I could hear her chuckle to herself. "Let's go get some breakfast." The one word had me shooting from her arms. If there was one thing I loved in the morning, it was breakfast.
I felt nourished by the sweetness of the strawberries I had, and laid back on the counter with my wing on my stomach.
"Oh, Cody! You silly bird, you!" She laughed at my pose, and I decided to act like I was a model to earn more laughs. She could barely hold herself up, and was laughing so hard she had tears. "Okay! Stop, please!" I obliged and glided from the counter to land on the brown couch. For the next hour, I watched a movie while she worked on the computer. This was basically the daily routine. Most of my life was spent inside. But today was going to be different. "Cody!" she called out to me. I beat my wings and flew to her to perch on her outstretched arm. Today, she was going to let me fly around outside. Give me a bit of freedom.
We stood out on the back veranda. I readied myself, and then took off into the air. It felt great to fly in open air. I had done it a few times before, and she trusted me because I always returned before sunset. Today, I decided to visit the forest. Flying through the trees, I took in the smells and the view. Little did I know was that things were about to get worse.
Sometime later, a big storm hit. I was left in the open, and darted for the trees to take cover. Unfortunately, the wind had other ideas. It carried me off, making me twirl in the air. I was so dizzy I didn't know which way was up and which was down. And I was scared. My heart thumped hard in my chest, it felt like it would burst out. I tried to cry out for help, but obviously no one was around. Eventually I was carried into the forest, and I was then released from the raging winds. I flew as fast as I could, heading for home. The problem was that I didn't know. I stopped, looking around to get my bearings. Then I felt a stabbing pain and found a small branch in my back. I could no longer fly, and yet I was still in the air. Once again, I was swept away. And as I approached that large tree trunk, my life flashed before my eyes. Then there was nothing.
That's the first part of my OC's origin story. And yes, he's dead. But not for long. You'll see how in the next chapter.
