They fly about, cruising on the cusp of the wind. History, secrets: they bring nothing but sadness and pain. Guilt and remembrance of time wasted. Now, I was the phoenix – reborn, anew. This could be my chance to silence the ghosts. For how long, I did not know. But perhaps, for a little while, they would leave me be. I felt unsafe in my own skin, awkward. Restless and unsure, I roamed, tugged in directions by an invisible force I called Fate. I searched the people around me, searched in their faces for clues as to who I should become. I was a bringer of destruction, of pain, of misery… the marker of death, my purposes clear as a full moon. I had developed into nothing more than a monster. Even after I had struggled to retain my humanity, I had evolved into the creature that plagued children’s dreams. Not long ago, I had sat on a hardened pew, rubbed to a shine with linseed oil that glistened in the softened candlelight, and sung my Benedictions with the rest of the choir.
