The Life of Her Songbird

Chapter 1: Lost

I search for her.

This is the reason I exist, the reason there is a mind trapped inside this hulking form of leather and metal. She is lost, gone, taken. The one who gives melody to my song, the one who breaks the tedium of my days, the one who gives me a reason to live.

She soothes the stinging in my mind with her voice, with her touch. She is lost. Find the girl. I try to tell her how she makes me feel, short trills and sharp notes make their way from my chest to echo across the sky. She smiles. She echoes my song in a clear voice, calling me to her. She is gone. Find her. Find her.

I made her cage safe, brought her things. Books, pictures, music, all made her smile to rival the sun. I have shielded her. I have held her. She calls me friend. I soar across the sky with a harsh flap of wings. LOST. GONE. LOST. A never ending litany in my mind, circling through my body, digging into my flesh.

I search. The flap of wings and whirring of gears are lost in the rush of air as I circle again and again and again. Haunting notes echo from my chest, shivering in the sunlight. HER. I await a response, fearing it will never come. LOST. SHE IS LOST.