Up in the Air

Chapter 4

The tingling comes and goes, and I still float in the liquid. The little light that seeps into the pod fades, so I assume that night has fallen. That is the only measure of time I have in the pod.

It must have been several hours later when a particularly long bout of tingling hits. I feel a slight pinch in my back, and it becomes numb. It must be a painkiller.

A tiny bit of light begins to infuse the liquid with a faint golden glow. Morning is coming. The tingling continues. For a while, I rest, floating in the liquid.

Suddenly, it grows much stronger, and I jolt wide awake. It feels like it should probably hurt, but the painkiller does its job.

The golden light grows brighter. Finally, the tingling stops.

Before I know what's happening, all of the fluid is sucked away to some unknown place, and I'm breathing air again. I cough up the excess fluid in my lungs, and it gets sucked through the walls as well.

I wonder when the door of the pod is going to open, but then, my attention is distracted by something on the wall.

A full-length mirror. It appeared soundlessly, and reflects my image perfectly. For a moment, I wonder why it's there.

"Ohh." I say aloud. I realize that it's there to look to see what wings I have. It isn't much of a question, though. Since my parents both have bird wings, I'll most likely have them, too.

If I focus, I can feel my wings. Slowly, gingerly, I open them.

They are dark brown-black, and I look for feathers that are sure to be there.

No. When I feel my wings, they are leathery. Bat wings. I flap them once. They work fine. I fold them clumsily behind my back, since I'm still not quite used to them.

I stand in front of the pod door, and it opens. I still keep my wings tightly shut. I don't want to knock someone over with them. 

I've watched several Ceremonies before, so I know what to do. Going inside of the circle of pods, I join a line of other thirteens, all with their wings. I see that I was the last one out. As soon as I join the line, the leader draws the pods towards him, exposing us for all the crowd to see. We all have our wings closed.

"Open your wings!" the leader says, throwing his wide. He smiles at us. 

We all open our wings. I find my parents, and wave a wing at them, smacking a person next to me in the process. They don't notice or care, however. We're all too happy to be concerned with things like that. We have wings!