Fly. Oh, no wait. Don’t.

Full of joy the little girl ran through the grass. It was so high that she would disappear into it completely if she crouched down. She loved the feeling of the grass and the earth beneath her feet. The way the wind played with her hair and whispered stories to her. It was like an old friend.

She reached the little stream she loved so much. She looked at her reflection in the water, at her wings to be exact. They have grown in the past weeks. The feathers were all kind of colours now: blue, green, pink, purple, red, orange, yellow. The feathers went into all and every direction. She loved them. She loved how every feather was different, unique.

With a last look at her beloved wings she turned around and took a few steps back. She stretched her wings and rolled her shoulders, then she started running and flapping her wings. As she reached the stream again she jumped a little so that her feet were dangling in the air. She put her hands over her eyes and held her breath. But when she didn’t fall she slowly looked down and screamed, full of excitement. She did it. Finally, she did it. She was flying. Happily, she tried to move forward, and soon she was right above the stream looking down at her reflection once again, her wings moving this time. She laughed and attempted a spin in the air. Not being stable enough, she started to waver. The ground started to get closer, and soon she came tumbling down onto the ground. But it didn’t bother her. She just laughed again as she tried to untangle herself from her wings.

”Honey! Can you come back inside?” The wind carried the voice to the little girl. She recognized it as her mother’s and got up.

At the door her mother already awaited her. “There you are.” She kissed the girl affectionately on the head. ”Come inside.” She followed her mother inside, still happy from her achievement. In the kitchen her father stood in front of the kitchen table. Seeing the look on her parent’s face her smile faded. “Are you sad?” she asked confused. Her mother took a deep breath. ”Honey… You know that we love you, right? And that we only want what’s best for you?”

”Yes,” the girl nods. Her mother’s eyes filled with water and she turned around. Her father put a hand on her shoulder and then kneeled in front of their daughter. ”You know how your wings developed?” the father asked the girl.

”Of course! I even flew today!” The girl grinned. Her father smiled a sad smile. ”That’s wonderful, sweetie. But there are people out there that do not like that.”

”Why would someone not like flying?” the girl asked, these people being completely inexplicable to her.

”That is just how it works out there. And that is why we have to … shorten your wings a little,” her father explained, his face unreadable.

The girl took a step back. ”What? But… That’s bad for them, isn’t it?” The girl’s eyes have grown big. Fear curled in her stomach.

Her father sighed. ”You won’t be able to fly anymore.”