Rain clung to Loli’s borrowed fairy wings, plastering them to her shoulders. The shimmering fabric, a costume meant for a whimsical spring festival, felt mocking now. She’d worn it to meet him, hoping to show him the woman she’s become, someone worthy of his attention. But the meeting had ended with a silence heavier than the storm clouds gathering overhead. He’s said she didn’t “understand” how to please him, a barb that sliced deeper than any physical wound.
Now, lost and disoriented near a forgotten crossroads, Loli felt as fractured as the fairy wings. She wanted to vanish, to become invisible.
An elderly man, his face a roadmap of wrinkles, tended a birdcage nearby. He rocked the cage gently, murmuring to the occupant. “Little one, you’re eager, aren’t you? Ready to see the world?”
Loli hesitated, drawn to the quiet serenity of the scene. “Do you know how much longer until I reach the main road?” she asked, her voice thick with unshed tears.
The old man smiled, a warmth radiating from his eyes. “You look like you’ve been through a bit of a storm, little dancer.”
Loli shrugged, feeling a strange comfort in his simple observation. “I guess I have.”
“Sometimes, the most beautiful dances are born from the most unexpected falls,” the man said softly. “And sometimes, a borrowed costume is just what you need to find your truest self.”
He pointed to the bird. “I must release her. It’s my final duty.”
Loli watched as the old man opened the cage and gently coaxed the bird onto his hand. “Why let her go? It seems like she’s content here.”
“Contentment is a lovely thing, but a spirit craves flight,” he explained. “It needs to see the vastness, to experience the wind. To be truly free!”
The bird fluttered tentatively, then soared upward. Loli watched it climb, a longing echoing within her own heart. It seemed that bird felt similar to how she felt now, trapped by the past.
Suddenly, the old man vanished. One moment he was there, a beacon of quiet wisdom, and the next, he was gone. Only the empty birdcage remained.
Loli looked down at the cage. “What a responsibility you left me, old man,” she whispered.
She suddenly felt a surprising surge of strength. The rejection still stung, but it no longer defined her. She recognized in the bird’s flight a reflection of what she needed – a chance to break free from the expectations of others and discover her own path.
She remembered the old man’s words. “It’s your final duty.”
That’s what she would do. She would fly. Not in borrowed wings, but with the courage that had been dormant within her, waiting to be awakened.
She began to walk, her steps lighter than they had been earlier. She wasn’t searching for a road, but for a feeling – the feeling of being truly alive.
Along the way, she began to see the world with new eyes. The colors seemed brighter, the air sweeter. She noticed the resilience of a wildflower pushing through a crack in the pavement, the laughter of children playing in a nearby park.
She realized that her journey wasn’t about finding a destination. It was about embracing the uncertainty, about discovering her own grace, about the freedom to dance her own dance.
And as she walked, a single feather, shimmering like a promise, drifted down, landing softly on her hand, a gift from the bird and the wise old man, a reminder that even in moments of loss, there is always beauty and hope, waiting to be found. Her final duty was to carry that hope, and to let her own light shine, for herself and for anyone else who felt lost and in need of a little lift.
At this moment, a commotion at the bar woke up Loli. She picked up the feeling of disappointment from tonight, and the revelation of a big dream triggered by alcohol provided a footnote to tonight’s imperfect date. Perhaps it was time to grow up,to be a new self.
LKW, the work adapted from NanaBee’s original novel
