Why the fuck is there a bird in the kitchen?

            She thought, hands frozen on the pony tail she was just about to finish. Soft crimson curls slicked with a damp of wetness. She had just gotten out of the shower when she decided to grab a late night snack, a chocolate TastyKake...her one sinful desire. But that was all forgotten now, evaporated by the winged animal that perched itself so effortlessly on the wooden kitchen chair. What was strange about this bird is that it didn't flutter, it didn't even flinch as it locked eyes with this feminine form draped in a black tank and grey sweatpants. It just stared. Almost as if it wasn't breathing.

            It was a dove. A white dove. She realized, tilting her head to the side as the dove did the same. It surprised her, she tilted her head to the other side, testing out a rising theory. The dove was mirroring her, every move she made the dove did the same, caught in this silent puppetry. And then the dove broke the connection by turning it's gaze to the wall, she followed it's gaze in pursuit before looking back at it once more. It took flight, she followed its path with her eyes, watching it fly through the wall. Now as you and I know birds do NOT fly through walls, something she knew to be true as well, but this bird did. This bird had.

            She went after it, expecting to find a dead carcass on her kitchen floor, but when she found none she opened the door. The cool night air kissed her freckled blessed skin. The world lay silent, desolate, dead. Her jade green eyes found the dove on the wooden railing of the front porch, waiting for her, beckoning her to follow. She just knew it. It took off and she ran after it, forgetting any sense of shoes as feet trampled grass before they hit the rough slickness of concrete. She followed it down side walk and street as it moved in leaps and bounds, it reminded her of the foxtrot...something her sister was great at. The dove was calling to her, egging her as she refused to stop, the dove's pull stronger than the pain in her feet. The dove turned into a familiar spot, perching on the steal gate fence as she...froze on the spot.

            It was a park. A tiny jungle gym with vast fields and winding paths where one can jog and get lost in. One lone light radiating a golden hue. Barely enough light.

This is the place where you were killed...sis. 

            She hesitated to enter. Feeling herself being consumed once again. A coldness paired with a crushing darkness. She was being swallowed. The dove cooed and grazed her cheek with its wing as it zoomed by, stopping her implosion as she retracted her hand to her cheek. The dove cooed again, grabbing her attention as she witness it climb higher and higher into the sky. It began to glow like a star. Slowing it's speed as it reached the apex before diving straight down. A star falling back to the earth. She was waiting for it to turn back up, but it never did, letting gravity pull it to earth's surface at an unrecoverable rate. It would hit the ground...she waited for the impact. The dove got brighter.

There was no collision.

            In the split second where flesh and bone would have met rock and dirt...the dove dispersed into a myriad of floating golden lights. They resembled fireflies in a sense. And in this illumination was the smallest tuft of white and crimson. A tuft that mewed. She walked over to the pearls of light, to the figure that it illuminated. She knelt down and with her hands she picked up the scrawniest, dirtiest, most adorable kitten she had ever seen. It was yelping for a mother, calling for help, bluntly abandoned, alone. 

She was conflicted, a mixture of feelings unknown to her. She stared at the kitten for the longest time and with a sigh cracked a tormented smile.

"I'll help you get on your feet little one, but after that we are done-so. You hear?" She held the kitten to her breast, offering little warmth as she got up and began to walk away.

I couldn't save you, but maybe I can save this one.