.:Dreams and Swords:.

The Cage Walls Burn

This is a story about a girl with freckles on her nose and a big black curls. She's a curious one, always searching for answers to the questions she can't understand. Often times that leads to a great deal of pain, but that doesn't stop her thirst for the truth. Truth, she thought, was the only thing she could ever be sure of.

The people closest to her saw this trait about her and tried to shield her from the pain. Others saw her fascination and used it for their own gain. Soon the shields and the takers formed a nice, small cage around the girl, one where she cannot see the walls of which surround her.

Oblivious, the girl continued on her quest, continued to remain useful to others.

Time went by and the girl wanted to spread her wings. The ones who wished to shield her say, "No! There is too much out there for you to be hurt by." The ones who wish to use her say, "No! Think of all you can do where you are." Not wanting to cause any trouble, the girl nodded her head, her black curls hiding the look of fear.

By the time the girl becomes a lady, the walls to her cage have started to close around her. She feels their presence without seeing the confines. The ability to breathe becomes harder and harder. Why can't I leave, she thought, troubled. Why can't I see what is outside?

It is one day, by sheer accident, the girl realized that there were caged walls surrounding her from the outside world. The slithering whispers and backhanded words of the takers caught her notice, making the cage all the more visible. The tight chains around her ankles, placed there by the shields, rattled in the darkness, filling her mind with terrible things.

Suddenly, the girl understands. She has stopped being useful. The pretense of shielding her was needed no longer. She was left in the captivity for all to see, a cute bird in a small cage. She had outlived her soul purpose. Only the outside could hurt her now, mock her now.

The wrath built slowly, tumbling and turning inside until it rose through the night like phoenix aflame. Rage as hot as the sun and as dark as the depths of all sorrow filled her soul. A lone cry tore from her lungs, making all who were her closest to her flinch away in dread. It echoed endlessly off the caged walls, making them tremble down to their very foundations.

The sound was not human. She was no longer human.

Forever changed, forever scarred, the girl took her rage out on the walls that contained her. Fire spread from the palms of her hands to the surface of the cage, igniting the fury she wished to grow. Her world on fire, she yelled once more to the sky, the wrath inside breathing new life into the girl's heart.

All aflame, the cages walls laid in waste at her feet as the girl took the first deep breath of her new life.