Page 7 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
Not knowing what else to do, I pulled over off the road, put the car in park, and removed the blanket from the cage completely so I could look at her. Had she somehow injured herself in there or something?
She’d been so calm and pleasant this entire time. What happened to make her react this way?
She continued squawking like an absolute maniac, so I shushed her and sent my empathic magic out, doing my best to calm her. It only worked a little, and the poor thing stopped flapping but continued making this wailing noise that broke my heart as she stared at me, panting heavily.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
I wanted to reach out to pet her, but my gloves were too thick to fit my finger through. After staring at her pretty eyes for another minute, I sighed, took my glove off, and reached through the cage. Maybe it was a mistake, but I needed to know what was wrong. Feeling her emotions would help me figure it out.
If she was injured, I’d need to find a vet or see if the sanctuary had one. But I needed to know what was wrong first.
How bad could a bird’s emotions be?
Well, that was a stupid fucking question.
Becausebaddidn’t even cover it.Her emotions could be overwhelmingly horrid.
The second I touched her feathers, unadulterated fear hit me so hard, I gasped and ripped my hand away. My gaze caughthers, and my eyes welled up with unshed tears, her emotions so strong they still sat within me. “What are you so afraid of?”
After a breath, I reached through again, better prepared for the onslaught, and I managed not to flinch when the terror hit me.
For a moment, that was all I could feel, but then a sudden assault of images raced through my mind.
A cage, much like the one she was in now.
Confusion. Fear.
Too small to spread her wings.
Alarm.
Need to get out. Need to get out.
Panic.
Wires and big machines hooked up to her.
Tired. Scared. Can’t keep her eyes open.
Another firebird being ripped away from her.
Heartache.
Humans grabbing her, hurting her, pulling out her feathers.
Terror.
The door left open, and she took her chance and fled.
Yearning.
The open sky out in front of her, and a building behind her.
Hope.
A big sign in front of the building she escaped from.
Whispering Pines Faerie Sanctuary.
