Like You

• • •

I climb the large oak tree as I have every night for the past ten years, but tonight is not the same. I abandon the shrouded sanctuary of the leaves and sit on the side of the iron gate.

The village girl said they would come after nightfall. I wait, impatiently. At the girl's request, my hair is pulled in a loose ponytail, hiding my horns. I tie my wings behind my back. I light the torches by the gate. Creature of the dark I shall no longer be.

My eyes strain in the darkness, searching for evasive visitors. Two hours on the wall pass before I see a sole torch move. It shakes at first, side to side, so subtle I believe I have imagined it.

A moment passes.

The torch gleams brighter than it has in the thousand nights before. The light walks towards me.

They are coming. She has convinced them.

The torch becomes two, three, then more and more as the whole boundary of the village begins to move.

My stomach churns with excitement and nervousness.

They are halfway across the field I call to them.

"Hello."

The torches halt at my voice.

"No! Please, come. Please." I plead.

Their voices break through the silence of the night but I hear not what they say. I wait for them to turn and go. To flee from me. A tear wets my cheek.

They do not go. They march on towards the wall.

"Friends," I call.

Their faces are now visible in the fire light. I suspect they can see me as well.

"Look. Like you." I turn sideways on the wall to show them that I am the same as them. Remove the wings and the horns. I am the same.

Their mumble grows to a roar.

I lose my handhold and tumble in one blink to the grass. Pain radiates down my leg, but I push to a standing position. The villagers are mere yards away now. Their shouts surround me on the ground.

Last night, at the harvest celebration, they were cheerful — an emotion not seen often in the exclusion zone. Their faces are different now. They look like the Watchers. Their faces are tightly drawn. Twisted. Disgusted with what I am. They can't see me.

"Beast! Beast!" They chant.

The pain hits me in my chest, under my breasts. My body burns. My wings ache in their binding. My clothes are now wet. It's not from the fall. Something is piercing me.

They don't see me.

I pull my wings from their binding in one swift motion. My leg aches but I push to the side. My wings flutter but fail. A few feet in the air, I falter and fall to the ground.

"Like you. Like you." I taste the tinge of blood on my tongue. Darkness clouds my eyes.

"Beast!" The voice of the village girl whispers in my ear.

They slash their torches towards me.

Like you.