Seeing Wings of Green

Chapter 4: Cat-Like

I took a minute to re-assess my surroundings as I stood perched on the lip of the tray that had the heat lamp hanging over it. Instead of going straight for the windowsill, I decided that I needed to steadily work my way up to it. The chair that the scientist was still sitting in was the next highest thing in the room after the edge of the sand tray, but I wasn't about to jump in his lap like a damn house cat and start purring. With a huff, I turned my attention from the scientist and the chair that he was in to the table, which was the next highest thing other than the windowsill. That will have to do. I bobbed my head as I calculated the distance between me and the tabletop. Too short, and I could get injured. Too far, and I could crash into an unforeseen obstacle. No pressure or anything. Once I was sure that I had gotten the distance correct, I gathered my legs under me in a crouch and arched my wings over my back. I'll either soar and fly, or fall and die. I thought with a dry mental laugh.

After a few more words of self-encouragement, I threw myself forward and up at an angle as I quickly forced my wings in a down stroke, which made a faint whump sound as they disturbed the still air of the room that I was in. A second wingbeat quickly followed the first, and I was amazed at how much height and speed that I had already managed to gain with just two wingbeats and pretty soon, I was soaring above the metal-topped table. I completed a lazy circle over the table before I folded my wings slightly and tilted them forward at a slight angle so that the tops of my wing arms were pointing towards the tabletop, and my body followed. Once I was close to the tabletop, I lowered my legs and spread my digits wide as I abruptly flared my wings in order to avoid a messy crash landing.

I winced at the ear-piercing squeal that my claws made as they slid across the cold metal surface from the speed of my landing. Well, that went surprisingly well. I didn't die. I thought as I took a couple of deep breaths and folded my trembling wings gently against my sides. It seemed that this new body already knew what it was doing, and I just had to put in the work to catch up.

That short flight had taken me a good deal of effort, and I was breathing somewhat hard and my wings were starting to feel a little sore. I realized that I had to build up the muscles in my wing shoulders as well as my endurance if I were to attempt to escape. As of now, the possibility of an escape was next to none, as I barely made it to this tabletop.

I decided to take a look around the tabletop while my wings recovered from the exercise that I had put them through. The glass cage and measuring devices had been taken away by the female scientist as she left, so I cautiously investigated some of the other items that remained. What would a cat do? I made my way over to the tray of capped syringes and empty vials and nudged a couple of them with the tip of my snout. They rolled nicely on the tray when touched and made a nice, musical ringing sound when they bumped into each other. A small jar of popsicle sticks caught my attention, and I quit playing with the syringes to investigate. If I really wanted to be a menace, I could swat the syringes and vials onto the floor, where they would undoubtibly shatter upon impact with the cold, hard floor.

Instead, I stretched my head out to gently nip at the nearest popsicle stick. The wood felt weird in my mouth, but it felt good to be able to chew on something that wasn't as soft as fruit. After a few more nibbles, I grabbed the popsicle stick between my teeth and jerked my head up; pulling the wooden stick from the confines of its' jar and dropped it onto the table's surface in front of me before I began to swat at it with my forepaws. The smooth wood slid very nicely on the metal, much to my delight, and I spent a few minutes pouncing and chasing after the popsicle stick after I had sent it sliding across the table's surface before it inevitably ended up on the floor. I craned my head and peered down at the splintered popsicle stick that now resided on the floor below me. Going down required energy that I didn't feel like spending.