I was asleep, and back in the institute. In a tiny cage where I couldn't open my wings, I could only stay curled up in a ball.
I was in that place where they fed me dog food and made fun of me. They would poke their fingers through the bars and say, "Freak! Want some freedom, freak? Too bad, 'cause you're a freak!"
They made me do lots of tests, and I was always tired. All I wanted to do was get out, but I couldn't. I was trapped by tranquilizers and tazers.
It was Rose that woke me. "Jade," she said. "A janitor just went into the building."
A janitor means trash. Trash means dumpster. And dumpster means finding us...
"Alright, everybody!" I said. "Up and at 'em!"
I shook Toothpick softly with my foot, as she could not hear my wake up call.
She got up immediately, stealthily, in that creepy way of hers, and stood at attention.
When I replaced the lantern in my backpack, we slipped out the back of the dumpster and quickly went to the back of the building. It was plan-making time.
"Alright," I said. "We're going to have to hide, and Toothpick and I are going to check the tabloids. Rose and Drain-O, you're in charge."
Everybody nodded their heads and we were on our way. Once we were all safely hidden in some bushes back in the park, Toothpick and I went to find a beverage center or newsstand where they might sell tabloids.
We checked the tabloids every day because they were most likely to publish an article and some pictures of mutant bird kids. The New York Times doesn't do that kind of stuff.
We searched and searched all of the tabloids and found nothing. I turned to leave when Toothpick tapped me on the shoulder.
She was holding, believe it or not, a New York Times. She pointed to a small article that said "Bird Kid?"
I quickly snatched it up and read it.
It said: "A small, ameteur blogger has been drawing in thousands to his site, leaving people wondering how he does it. According to his site, he is an avian-human hybrid, who is on the run from evil scientists and werewolves called 'Erasers'.
"People drawn to this blog, when interviewed, do believe it. One man mentioned the 'Disney Incident'.
"He was mentioning, of course, the incident at the Disney World amusement park recently when six children flew, with wings, out of the park.
"The blog is at .com/."
I smiled. "We've found them." We slapped a high five and rushed off to tell the others.